Since 2004, I’ve been praying for and serving among Muslims. But I have never experienced such openness among them as I am seeing now.
Life overseas is full of new and unlikely opportunities. For example, I recently hung out in a hair salon for five hours, and now I’m learning to knit. These words would never have come out of my mouth before I moved to the field!
Hair salons are where all the neighborhood ladies gather for regular chat fests. A Muslim friend invited me with her, and I got to meet several other ladies during our five-hour stay.
One of the women, Nadia, offered to teach me how to knit. (Yes, I know what you’re thinking. I would be happy to knit you a pair of shorts!)
The next day I went to Nadia’s house. While she taught me to handle knitting needles, I discovered that she is actually severely depressed. We spent the next few hours sharing our hearts and talking about God and the love of Jesus Christ.
“Every night I ask God to show me His face,” Nadia said to me. “I don’t want to be one of the people who is turned away and who never gets to see His face.” How beautiful is the cry of her heart to see God’s face!
When I arrived at Nadia’s for our second knitting lesson, she said, “I hope you don’t mind, but I have some people coming over soon.”
“Great!” I said. But I had no idea that “some people” were her very important male relatives.
Her uncle, a tribal leader called a sheikh, was passing through our city. I helped Nadia lay out a feast on the table for them, then she seated me right next to the sheikh. Suddenly I was surrounded by a bunch of important men eating kebobs when I was actually supposed to be learning to knit. One never knows what God has planned for the day!
Nadia told her relatives about how I had encouraged her with the message of Christ. The sheikh responded graciously, saying he respected people who are strong in their faith. At the end of his visited, he invited me to come to his nearby village to meet his wife and kids.
A couple Fridays later, Nadia and I traveled to the village and spent the entire day with his wife, children, and their families. I helped cook in the kitchen and chatted with all the women. I met several others from the village, too. They all received me with openness and kindness and insisted I come back and visit every week. I’m looking forward to lots of tea and conversation.
Only God can take a girls’ chat fest in a salon, to a knitting lesson, to an important sheik’s house in a village. His planning skills are amazing. I’m thankful for these new relationships, and I’m excited for Jesus to reveal Himself to love precious friends.
- Pray for many conversations about Jesus Christ with these Muslim friends.
- Ask God to answer Nadia’s cry to see His face. Pray she would turn to Jesus Christ and be healed of depression.
- Pray for God to raise up more workers to go and share the Gospel during this season of unprecedented openness among Muslims.
**This account comes from a long-term worker. Names have been changed for security.**
Original article: https://www.frontiersusa.org/blog/article/knitting-with-the-sheikh
