“I want to know what happens next!” Halima pouted, folding her arms sternly across her chest.

Our time was up, and our next Arabic language lesson was scheduled over a week away.

Halima, a young Muslim woman in the Arab Gulf country I now called home, was my language tutor. During our weekly lessons, Halima was helping me work through the first couple of chapters of Genesis in Arabic. We had just reached the part where God spoke to the serpent, “He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:15).

We sorted through the literal meaning of the words. Then I told her that many people believe this is a promise from God that, one day, one of the ‘offspring’ of the woman will come and destroy Satan and his evil works.

“Who is it?” Halima asked me. “Who will come?”

“If you want to know, we’ll have to keep reading next time,” I replied.

“But is it Cain? Is it Moses?”

“No,” I said.

“Tell me!” she insisted.

I refused and told her that we could finish the rest of chapter three at our next lesson. Halima objected, fumbling for the words in English to explain why. She whipped out her smart phone and started searching in Google Translate for just the right word in English.

“Suspenseful!” she said, reading the translation on her screen. Defiantly, she pushed the phone into my face and emphasized, “This story is suspenseful!”

I smiled at her, not about to be persuaded by her persistence. She pouted again and stated, “You’re mean.”

“I know,” I replied. “But I love a good story, and, Halima, I just don’t want to spoil this one for you. We’ll get to the end, I promise. Just not yet.”

We will get to the end. For now, we’re just building up to the discovery of the One who has destroyed the works of Satan (1 John 3:8).

That finale is worth the suspense.

Join us as we pray for the unengaged Muslim peoples of the Arab Gulf, one of our strategic key regions. Here are some ways you can pray:

• Pray for workers as they strive for fluency in the heart language and the ability to communicate God’s Word effectively.
• Pray that seekers and new believers would grow as disciples and be equipped to share their faith in Jesus Christ.
• Praise God for reports of new believers recently baptized.
• Pray that resistance to the Gospel would be replaced by a hunger and thirst to know God through His Word.

**This account comes from a long-term worker. Names have been changed for security.**

Original article: FrontiersUSA.org/blog/article/prayer-for-the-arab-gulf-waiting-in-suspense-for-jesus