The day had been frantic thanks to the busyness of Ramadan. Our city is fraught with traffic issues on the best days, but the month of fasting brought particularly bad traffic jams thanks to the heat and hungry drivers. Both my wife Katie and I were glad to step inside the cool home of our Frontiers team leader and spend some time praying with our team.
After we prayed, both Katie and our team leader shared that an image of Jesus teaching a group of attentive Muslims had come to mind as we were praying. We wondered what this might mean, so we committed it all to the Lord and were eager to see what might happen.
A few days later, a friend who was visiting France on vacation sent me a snapshot of a painting he found in a restaurant. In the picture, a golden-clad Jesus was speaking to a group of Arab men and women sitting at his feet. It reminded me of what Katie and our team leader had described, and I asked God if He wanted me to use it in some way.
I sensed that I should send the photo to a Muslim friend, so I forwarded it to Naji, hoping it might start a conversation.
Naji liked the painting so much that he searched online for similar pictures. He responded with his favorite—a portrait inspired by the Jesus film. I asked if he’d like to read about Jesus in the Injil with me, and he responded with an enthusiastic yes!
Encouraged by this, I decided to see if I could use artwork to start more spiritual conversations. Since I’m still learning the language, it’s sometimes hard for me to find the right phrases I need to start these conversations. But, as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words.
The next time I visited a neighborhood store, I showed the depictions of Jesus to the employees. They were intrigued and gave me the opportunity to tell them a little about Christ.
I’m not an artist, but I wondered what would happen if I started making my own drawings. So, I broke out the crayons and drew John the Baptist baptizing Jesus. To my delight, I found that most people I showed it to were interested in hearing the story behind the illustration.
A few days after trying my hand at crayon art, Katie and I went to buy an oven. I brought my picture along and showed it to the salesman. He wanted to know the story behind the drawing, so I showed him a video of the biblical account in his language. He enjoyed it so much that he offered to take us to find the other things we needed for our apartment—as long as we could watch more Bible videos on the way!
At the end of the day, he came to our house to install the oven and enjoyed tea with us. We asked if he’d like to hear more, and he invited us over to teach his whole family about Jesus.
We’ve only been on the field a short time, but already we’ve had many chances to introduce those around us to Jesus. We praise God every day for the ways He has taught us to share His Word. I continue to keep my Jesus pictures close, ready to talk about Him at every opportunity.
Pray:
- Praise God for the creative ways field workers are sharing the Gospel.
- Ask the Lord to provide more opportunities for workers to share about Jesus through pictures, drawings, and other artwork.
- Ask God to open the spiritual eyes of Muslim men and women who are hearing the truth about Jesus for the first time.
**This account comes from a long-term worker. Names have been changed for security.**
Main photo on iStock
Original article: https://frontiersusa.org/blog/pictures-of-jesus/