Shortly after John and I got married, we noticed a local service station near our apartment. The signs on the building showed they were the cheapest place in town so, of course, in June when both of our inspections were up, we took our cars to the station.
John went on a Tuesday, stopping on his way home from work. While his car was getting fixed, he began talking to the Middle Eastern man who was helping him. Enter N. N is a 39 year old Jordanian man. After learning of N's roots, John shares with him that he recently spent time in Israel, and that he thinks the Middle East is very beautiful. N proudly spoke of his homeland, naming all the places we have to visit if we ever go. John also met a few other of the men working there, found out a couple of them were from Morocco, and shared with them that we would be going there in July. After naming off all of the places we had to see in Morocco, John's car was finished, and he left.
On Thursday, I stopped at the station for my inspection. I told the man that was helping me that my husband had been in just a few days before, and he quickly said "OH! You go to Morocco?!" I smiled and said yes, told N I had heard that he was from Jordan, and once again N began to tell me of all the places I must visit if ever I go there. In some way that could only be explained by God's hand and Holy Spirit, our conversation moved to spiritual things. For over an hour N and I talked about Islam and Christianity. He is a devout Muslim, has performed the Hajj three times, and is very sure of his faith. He was very gracious with me (a woman) letting me ask him questions about the details and practices of his faith, and patiently listening while I shared with him the differences in Christianity. He told me of his wife and children who are living in Jordan, still. How he misses them, and calls them every day. He ended by giving me the name and number of a lady friend of his who had been Catholic, but now was a Muslim. He wanted me to get together with her- basically so that she could convert me to Islam. Unfortunately, on the way home that slip of paper flew out the window. God's sovereignty? :) I thanked N for talking with me, telling him he had taught me so much. After I left I called John immediately, sharing with him about our conversation. It was clear that the Lord had put this man in this station 1.5 miles from our apartment for a reason. We had to be obedient.
So ever since then, John has been intentional about going to the station and talking with the men who work there, mostly N. When his A/C was broken this summer, he went to N. Over time they exchanged numbers, would occasionally text message, and at one point exchanged a copy of the Bible and the Qur'an. The had spiritual conversations, talked about the Word, and their relationship deepened.
Last night, N came over to our apartment for dinner. He was, of course, 45 minutes late (in true Middle Eastern fashion), but came bearing gifts! At some point he had told John he would teach us how to make Turkish coffee, so he came with a pot, coffee, and his favorite cookies. Unfortunately he forgot the little cups (which is why he was late- he went to stores searching for them!) but promised that he would get us some and have them at the station, telling John to stop by and get them. Towards the end of the evening, N would take over our kitchen, teach us how to make Turkish coffee, and leave us equipped with all the goodies to do so!
As I was praying yesterday morning, the thought crossed my mind "I wonder if he will be at our apartment during the call to prayer?" Though we live nowhere near a mosque, a devout Muslim will still bow towards Mecca five times a day and pray. I shared this thought/fear with John, and asked him "What would we do? Can you imagine him bowing down in our apartment and praying?" John said that he thought he would be over after the evening call to prayer, so there was no need to worry. Well, maybe it was the Lord preparing us.
As soon as N walked in, greeted us, and gave us the gifts, he said to John "Okay, I need to pray because I missed the evening call." John asked him where he needed to go, and N said "Just any clean place." I shared with him that we are pretty clean people, so he walked into the living room, found the Northeast, and began to chant and pray.
So here we are. In our apartment. He is facing our bookshelf with all of our bibles and commentaries, but he looks straight through it. Focusing on Mecca and Allah, he begins to pray. He begins to bow down. He recites the Sunni Adhan. "Allahu Akbar. Ash-had an la ilaha illa lah. Ash-hadu anna Muhammadan rasulullah." In English- God is greater than any description. I testify that there is no deity except for God. I testify that Muhammad is a Messenger of God.
So. What do you do in this situation? Well, if he is praying, we should pray too! John and I begin to silently pray for N. We pray that he will know that Jesus Christ is the only way to God. That as he prays he will feel unease and restlessness, that he will feel his prayers are bouncing off the ceiling. That this apartment would be flooded with light and truth. That as he prays he would see Jesus. That the enemy and lies and deception would have no place in our home.
After a few minutes N says "Okay, I am done." Sits down on the couch, and we just begin to talk. About his day, whether he was busy, if he likes baseball and he quickly shares with us how upset he was about the loss the night before. How Cliff Lee did a not so good job. We begin to eat spaghetti and Italian (turkey) sausage. John tells him "Okay, N, we are having spaghetti and sausage, but it's Turkey sausage, not pork." N says to us "I trust you completely." We eat. We talk. He helps himself to seconds. He tells us about his parents and how he grew up. He tells us about what he did in Jordan before moving to America. We ask him how he learned to be a mechanic, if he misses his family (he literally runs to his car to get a picture of his children), and he tells us he video skype's with them daily. He tells us of his first love, how it went wrong, then how he met his wife and married her. He tells us that for a long time he was a Muslim only by name, but after his first love got married to someone else, he began to pray and work and became a real Muslim. We begin to talk about faith. He says that when he reads the Qur'an, he feels peace. That soon after he repented, he had a dream. He was sitting at a table reading the Qur'an, and he took his heart and placed it in his hands, and began to work to scrub away and cleanse and purify it. He says he works to clean his heart, that the Qur'an helps as well. I share with him that Jesus said "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God." But that in my own power I cannot make my heart pure. I am a sinful person, I cannot clean my heart; only Jesus can clean my heart. N listens respectfully, as always, and goes on to talk about his faith. He brought us a book about Understanding Islam, told us that to believe in Allah we need only to repent and he will forgive us. That he loves us. That he is just. That all creation and all people were made to worship him (hey now...I think he's onto something). But that after we repent we must work and be good. We talk about "hellfire" and paradise. We talk about good and bad deeds. We ask him what happens if a Muslim were to die doing a bad deed? He says "Ohh that will not be good. That is not good." We ask him "What if your good and bad deeds are 50/50?" He says you go to the inbetween. You pray to Allah, and after a time he will bring you into Paradise.
He shares with us that he loves Jesus. He is ready for Him to return. We are too, but we believe that what happens at His return is very different from what N believes. We talk and talk. He shares with us. We share with him. He shares his life with us. We share our lives with him. We tell him excitedly that we will be going to Jordan next summer and he smiles so big and says "OH! I will try to go the same time as you! I would love that very much. I will show you around. I will try to go at the same time to be there with you." Lord, what?? It is only the grace of God that has brought this man to our apartment. It is God's hand that even causes this man to like us, to want to talk to us, to respect us although we believe differently, to want to spend time with us, to tell us it is an honor to be in our home and that he is "So very happy" to be with us. Nothing we did made this man like us and want to be friends with us- it is the Father. And not only that, during this evening we grew to love this man. We love him. God created Him in His image, He is sinful just like us, and God desires that He be brought from death to life just as we were- not in our own power, but in the power of Jesus Christ. We love this Jordanian man, and he seems to love us, too. My heart began to break for him, to be completely burdened for him, as he talked about his faith I almost began to cry in anguish for him.
He is devout. He is sure of his faith. He is devoted to Allah. He is faithful to pray, give, to do Hajj, he is a faithful, devout, loving Muslim man. He is a good person.
And apart from Jesus Christ, he will spend eternity separated from the one true God.
I think the most difficult thing is that he is hopeful! He is peaceful! Most Muslim's we have met are miserable, they feel hopelessness when they pray or do Hajj, while N says the most peace he has ever felt was in the Sacred Mosque in Mecca. Surrounded by 4 million Muslims chanting to Allah, he feels at peace. This makes it so painful for us. He does not feel hopeless, or uneasy. He is loving, and feels loved. He is sure of his faith. More sure than most Believers I have ever met. The Father uses N to challenge us in our devotion to our faith, in our sureness. He also fills us with hope in knowing that only He can work in N's heart to draw him to the faith- and OH what a faithful servant he would be! We pray that his love and devotion would change to love and devotion and gratefulness to Jesus Christ for what He did on the cross. That N would rest in the knowledge that the work is done. Jesus is SEATED at the right hand of God. His work is finished.
N tells John to call him, John tells N to call him. N says "I will call you all the time!" He wants to take us to his favorite Mediterranean restaurant. He really wants to go to Jordan the same time is us, so he will plan that around our schedule. He is honored to have had dinner with us. He leaves to go home, and John and I begin to weep and pray for him. Praying that Jesus would show up in his dreams tonight, that on the way home his heart and curiosity would be stirred to read the Bible. We pray that Jesus would save him.
God is in the business of saving people- of drawing people from every tribe, tongue, and nation into His Kingdom to worship Him for all of eternity in Paradise. With God the Father, Jesus seated, His work completed. We cannot work to earn that salvation, it has been secured in Christ. Only God can bring someone from death to life. We pray that He would do that in the life of N. We are merely called to walk in obedience to what we have been commanded to do. To "declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous deeds to all people" (Psalm 96:3). We have received new life, and we are indebted to the rest of the world to share that with them. Oh God, give us your Spirit, teach us to walk in obedience in your power. Remind us of what N said, "Every creature is made to worship God."
