Bashir Mohammad came to Istanbul, Turkey as a Syrian refugee. He’d defected from Jabhat al-Nusra an offshoot of Al Qaeda. He was broken and traumatised after witnessing his fellow muslims torturing and killing other muslims. Whilst in Turkey his wife fell sick and he turned to a relative who had once sent him videos of radical Islamic preachers for help. The relative was now living in Canada and shocked Bashir by confessing that he’d become a Christian! He asked Bashir to put the phone next to his wife’s ear so he could pray for her. At first Bashir refused but finally he became so desperate to help her that he gave in. His wife’s health improved. Suddenly Bashir was willing to entertain a sacrilegious thought. He asked his cousin to recommend a Christian preacher who could tell him more about the religion. Fortunately Eimad Brim, a missionary with an evangelical group based in Jordan called the Good Shepherd agreed to meet with him. Eimad Brim risked his life to bring the Gospel to Bashir Mohammad a former terrorist who now meets with other Christians to pray and worship a God who changed his life forever.

Everyday disciples like Eimad and Ananias risk everything to share the Gospel. People like this need our support and prayers but they aren’t superheroes. While we don’t risk our lives in sharing the Gospel with others, sometimes it takes a lot of guts. We need to draw on stories like Ananias’ and Bashir’s, and be willing to give our time and risk our reputation to share the Gospel with others. (Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/24/world/middleeast/the-jihadi-who- turned-to-jesus.html). DB

Questions

1. Why was Ananias willing to visit Saul?

2. How can we be supporting our brothers and sisters who risk everything to share the Gospel with others?

Prayer

God of Grace, thank you so much for the courage of Ananias and people like him who take risks to share the Gospel. Help us to see people in our ‘frontlines’ who need to hear about you. Please help to follow your lead when you send us. Amen!