As we walked into this particular Syrian refugee family’s home, one of the daughters was mopping the floors. I lifted the skirt of my clothes, as I felt slimy water fill my sandals. I tried not to visibly grimace. As I entered the home I could see a huge pile of moldy bread that filled one tiny room—the family gathered old bread from the trash heaps around town and repackaged it as animal feed. My two teammates, our translator, and I were led into the other room.

As we sat with the mother and eldest daughter, we heard story after story of the pain this family had endured since the conflict in Syria began. At one point the mother burst into tears; her hopelessness was heartbreaking. We were visiting, specifically looking for people of peace who were receptive to Jesus. After listening to the women’s stories, we shared our own about things Jesus did and said.

The mother continued telling us of how her back was injured and she couldn’t stand up without several family members helping her. We told her of how Jesus healed people and then asked if we could lay hands on her, praying in the name of Jesus for healing to which she agreed. It was after this that we asked the “big question” that all of our visits had led up to. “Will you gather your friends and family to study more about Jesus directly from the Holy Books?” I asked.

To our surprise, she eagerly listed the names of half a dozen neighbors she would invite. We left feeling excited about the openness of her response. My teammates and I had been training for ten months to share Jesus in Muslim contexts through stories, henna, apologetics, and the Discovery Bible Study method. But, we were still not completely sure what all the theoretical knowledge was supposed to look like in real life.

When we returned to the Syrian refugee family’s home, we saw the reality our training had been preparing us for. Eight Muslim women had gathered and were waiting to study the creation story. We had only the first few chapters of Genesis printed in Arabic on a piece of paper, but we gave it to one of the women and asked her to read it. It was incredible to not only watch this group of Muslim women read through the scriptures, but to start applying it to their lives, through the discovery questions in our study.

As we neared the end of our study, we asked if the women had any problems that the group could pray about. Our hostess cut in quickly and starting speaking hurriedly in Arabic. Our translator looked at us with a big smile and said, “She’s telling these women that after we prayed the pain lifted off her back!” The woman stood up and sat down several times as if to confirm to the group of her healing.

The women were eager to meet again and to continue their study, so we set a time for several days later. As we began down the road out of their neighborhood, my teammates and I reflected on what had happened and we were blown away—this is what a movement of people to Jesus looked like!

Just then, we heard yelling behind us, so we stopped and recognized the husband of our hostess running down the street. As three single women in a Muslim country, we hoped this wasn’t a bad sign. As he caught up to us he said through our translator, “Bring men with you the next time you come! I want to study the Holy Books, too. If you bring men, I will get the husbands of the women my wife has gathered!”

By the end of our two-week trip, this group of women had met three times, a leader had been identified and coached by the long-term worker in that city, and they were taught to lead the studies themselves. Currently, after less than a month, they have met eight times and the long-term worker doesn’t even need to attend anymore. She simply meets with the leader we identified to hear how each study went and to answer questions with her.

Now it’s really up to God to speak to these women through his word and bring to himself those he has chosen.

This is how Muslims fall in love with Jesus!

**This story comes to us from a recent attendee of a short-term trip that is considering a long-term commitment. Their name and the location of these events have been removed for security purposes.**

Original article: www.frontiersusa.org/blog/article/disciple-making-movements-and-the-syrian-refugees