In this past Sunday’s sermon I made the comment that
we need to be willing to ask God to give us opportunities to tell other people
about Jesus Christ and he will do that very thing. The Apostle Paul certainly
agreed with this when, in Colossians 4:3, he put out the following prayer
request: “…pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to
declare the mystery of Christ….”
Recently, I ran across the following true story in the
June issue of the Voice
Of The Martyrs magazine,
that helps us see just how God can give such opportunities and how he can use
these divine appointments to change lives through his powerful gospel. I pray
that this will motivate us to repeat this prayer regularly. The article is
titled, “How Could You Get Upset By Hearing Such Good News?”
“Hey, brother, would you like a ride?” a skinny, grinning
man in a rickshaw shouted at “Walid.” The evangelist climbed into the vehicle.
The driver, “Taab,” chatted cheerfully as he wove in and out
of the chaotic Pakistani traffic. Although Walid could tell the man was from a
people group that many Christians in Pakistan fear, he boldly offered the man a
memory card filled with Bible stories.
Walid told Taab to watch the videos in preparation for
Eid-al-Adha, or the Festival of the Sacrifice, in which Muslims sacrifice an
animal in commemoration of Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son in
obedience to God. The feast was only a few days away, and Walid knew that a
video about Jesus’ self-sacrifice was timely, though potentially inflammatory.
In recent years, even the smallest perceived offenses
against Islam have resulted in huge riots, with neighborhoods destroyed and
Christians imprisoned or killed. Those who openly share the gospel do so at
great personal risk. VOM helps reduce that risk by providing digital Bibles to
a network of church planters and evangelists who distribute them to Muslims and
others who don’t know Jesus.
Walid saw Taab again a few days later. “Brother, I have
watched your video,” Taab said. “Get in the rickshaw and I will tell you all about
it.”
Slightly nervous about what he might do, Walid stepped into
the rickshaw. Taab told him that he’d watched the videos and even called his
wife and children to see it.
“But did anything in the videos offend you?” Walid asked
carefully. The stories on the memory cards clearly shared the gospel, stating
that Jesus is the only way to salvation.
“How could you get upset by hearing such good news?” Taab
replied.
Walid lost contact with Taab, but he ran into him again
about a year later on a visit to the city. After returning to the spot where
they’d first met, Walid was surprised to see Taab’s rickshaw pull alongside him
before he could step off the sidewalk.
“Hello, my friend, do you remember me?” Taab grinned at him.
“You gave me the card last year. I have so much to tell you.
“Oh, that wonderful card, brother. My family and I are still
watching that card you gave us. Oh, it is so good. I have shown it to other
people. I was wondering, do you have any more of these cards?”
Walid’s heart leaped. “Yes, I do,” he replied, pulling
memory cards from his pocket. Taab and Walid then arranged to meet at the bus
stop a few days later.
“If God can orchestrate a meeting after a year in a city of
20 million with a man seeking to hear Good News from the Lord, I’m sure he can
allow us to meet again in a few days,” the evangelist told VOM workers.
“Don’t doubt God’s faithfulness to deliver when we pray and
ask for his direction.”
Praying for open doors with you,
Tom
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