In February of 2017, I attended a conference very near and dear to my heart. It’s called “Without Borders,” and it is a course designed specifically to equip Christian women to reach out to the Muslims in their lives. I had been working with Muslims since 2005, but I’m always looking for better ways to communicate the gospel and to love my Muslim neighbor.

Throughout the weekend, we talked about differences in culture, Bible stories about Jesus, and other pertinent topics. Some topics were already familiar, but other workshops were helpful, putting into words things that I had felt and sort of intrinsically understood but had never processed out loud. One woman in particular gave a talk that I’ll never forget. Towards the end of the conference, Jenny came on stage and talked about “Jesus, the Holiest Elephant in the Room.” She discussed the need to be bold in talking about Jesus with our Muslim friends. Jenny began to describe a friendship that she has had with a Muslim woman for some time. As I listened, I could feel my heart and my spirit, honing in on her story. It was like she was explaining MY relationship with a friend from Saudi Arabia (we’ll call her “Wendy”). So many descriptions of conversations and developments lined up exactly with what I was experiencing with Wendy.

I could feel the Lord nudging me to talk with Jenny after the conference, so afterwards I walked up to her and told her about my friendship with Wendy. She asked to pray for me, and my hope was that God would give me another opportunity to share Christ. Well, God decided to work much more quickly than I thought, because the very next day, Wendy called and asked me to help her with her religion class (she attended a Roman Catholic university). She’d been studying the book of Matthew, and WOW! What an opportunity! During a rather intense tutoring session with her one night (reading the passage where Jesus cast out the demons from the two men and into the pigs), we somehow started talking about the verse in the Qur’an that talks about how Jesus was not crucified. I said, “Habibti (dear one), this section is talking about the Jews. Look at the verses before. And it is true, the Jews did not kill Jesus, it was the Romans. But I have even better news! The injeel (gospels) says that this is not the end of the story! We believe Jesus was crucified, yes, but that He rose from the dead! Death had no power over Him! And God was honored even more because he conquered death!” I continued and shared a little more of the gospel with her. I think she was a bit uncomfortable with it, but that was okay. Most Muslims, I’ve found, have never heard the gospel explained this way, so I know these things can take time.

My friend Wendy has since returned to Saudi Arabia with her husband and their four daughters. I take great joy in knowing that I had that chance to explain the gospel to her, as well as live out the gospel before her in our friendship. Would you join me in praying for Wendy, that the seed of the gospel would take root in her heart? May God continue to draw Wendy and so many other Muslim women like her into a loving and redeeming relationship with Himself.