“Don’t listen to these men—they are trying to mislead you from our Muslim beliefs!”
This abrupt shouting from a Middle Eastern man interrupted the spiritual conversations flowing over tea between a group of Muslim men and an East-West missionary at a Pakistani café in Greece.
Sensing rising hostility, the missionary asked if anyone wanted to continue conversing at a nearby park. The man’s kind disposition appealed to Sameer and he was not ready to end their discussion about God. So—despite glares from his Muslim friends—he stood up to join the missionary at the park.
As their conversation continued, Sameer listened as the missionary spoke of his gracious, compassionate, and loving God. He couldn’t remember Allah ever being described this way and wondered how the missionary knew his God really was loving.
About that time, the missionary shared that God didn’t just say He loved His people… He proved it by sending His Son—Jesus—to die while they were still sinning.
The missionary continued, explaining that Sameer was created by this God and could know Him intimately and have eternal life by placing his faith in Jesus. Allah had never made such an intimate offer to Sameer and had always seemed distant to him.
Sameer thought through this new revelation and the hardships that would ensue if he laid aside his Muslim faith… concluding that the promises made to followers of Jesus far outweighed the cost of leaving Islam.
In that park—with Muslim peers close by—Sameer chose to open his heart to Jesus and found a new life.