“Those cookies are beautiful!” Basima remarked. She took out her phone and snapped a photo of the tree-shaped Christmas cookies I’d set down on the coffee table.

“You’re making too much fuss about those cookies, Basima,” scolded Fatima, the hostess.

“Well, they are beautiful,” Basima retorted to her friend. “I love Christmas and I love the Bible. You know that it tells us to treat each other with kindness and forgiveness.”

I couldn’t believe my ears. I had just met Basima. Never before had I heard a Muslim woman talk so openly about regard for God’s Word.

“This would be a better country if they taught the Bible in our public schools,” Basima continued.

Fatima hurled a stream of insults at Basima—until I took Basima’s hand and told her that I found her words delightful.

Fatima scowled at us. “Basima, she only loves you because you’re a Christian!”

“No, I’m a Muslim,” Basima answered Fatima. “But I love the Bible. What’s wrong with reading all of the Holy Books?”

Fatima stormed off into the kitchen.

“How do you know the Bible?” I asked Basima. “Do you own a copy?”

“No,” she replied. “I read it on the Internet. And I don’t think it’s corrupted like people tell me!” At that moment, Fatima returned with glasses of tea and insisted we change the subject.

Later, as I left Fatima’s apartment, I determined to find a way to encourage Basima, away from hostile ears.

That opportunity soon presented itself. Basima had given me some dates, and the local custom required me to return the container filled with a gift in kind.

When I brought it to her home, Basima laid an iron grip on my wrist and pulled me inside. “Can I see your copy of the Bible?” she asked. We agreed that she would come to visit me so I could share it with her.

When she came two days later, we talked about Jesus for several hours. All she knew about Jesus was what she had been taught to believe as a Muslim—that God took Him to heaven without dying. She knew nothing about His death and resurrection.

“Jesus came to die for our sins,” I explained. I shared John 10:18 with her:

“No one takes [my life] from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again.”

“Did Jesus really say that?” Basima asked. “The Quran says that He didn’t die, but that God put Judas on the cross in His place.”

“That is a major difference between our two books,” I said. “But Jesus had to die to pay for our sins, because ‘without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins’“ (Hebrews 9:22b).

“The Bible really says that?” Basima asked again.

“Yes, and it says much more.” I asked for her phone, and with a few keystrokes, I had the first page of Luke in Arabic on Basima’s screen. “This is the story of the life of Jesus,” I said to her. “Here you can read all about Him.”

“I have been wanting to read this for so long,” Basima breathed. “I love Jesus!”

She paused, then added, “When I read this, I may start following Jesus!” She held her phone close to her heart as if it were her most prized treasure.

• Pray that Basima will continue being drawn to Jesus Christ, and pray she follows Him.
• Pray for Muslim men and women to discover the Savior.
• Ask the Lord of the harvest to send more laborers into places that still have no Gospel witness.

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

Main photo by Ralph Daily

Original article: https://www.frontiersusa.org/blog/article/the-muslim-who-loved-christmas