Power of the gospel

     Our friend pictured above, Omer*, has quite the story. To be honest, we are still learning more details as we get to know him. He grew up living in a dorm as an orphan after his father died from alcohol abuse and his mom left he and his siblings when he was 8 years old. Because he grew up in a dorm, he was forced to attend a local religious school. He memorized the Koran in Arabic. After high school, he eventually became a teacher of Islam (an imam). One day, he learned of a native follower of Christ who lived in his neighborhood and he began to try to convert him to Islam.

     However, after a few deeply profound interactions, Omer began to second guess his own beliefs and eventually left his religion. He began attending a church, but never quite fully understood the gospel and the identity of Jesus. In his own words "I accepted that Jesus was Savior, but I didn't accept him as Lord." Not long after that, he left his imam position and moved to another city. Once he moved to our city, he initially had interactions with cults like the Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons, but never actually converted to their belief system.

     Ten years after leaving Islam, he entered a chat room with the website we partner with, and Omer asked if he could meet with someone to ask questions. Our coworker called him and brought along another coworker on our team, and they were all able to meet. It was obvious from the first interaction that God had really been working in his life. Our coworkers took some time to answer some of his questions, in particular about the identity of Jesus Christ. They also summarized the gospel for Omer, and not long after that he accepted Jesus as both Lord and Savior!

     After professing faith in Christ, he began attending the church plant. Every day he sends a verse and a devotional message to the other believers in our church plant via text. He has also been active in telling others about his faith. He works at a small market, and every week he enters spiritual conversations with people, weaving in threads of the gospel. He has opened up a Christian website as well. The other believers appreciate having a brother who knows Islam really well for apologetic purposes. Praise God for the work he is doing in this brother's life!

*pseudonym used