Gospel Hospitality
The following post was written by colleagues and friends who live in North Africa and consistently sow seeds of the gospel as they open up their home and lives over cups of tea and coffee.
God is gracious to use even the weak and fearful ones. Martha came to know Jesus through the testimony of a Lebanese brother online. She experienced persecution and was silenced and fearful, pretending for years to still be a Muslim at home. While trying to escape the country, she met another local believer online and they made plans to leave together.
They actually met each other face to face for the first time at our home and we found out that Martha was our neighbor, just about a 5 minute walk from us. Martha began coming several times a week to pray, to ask for deliverance from fear, from several anxiety attacks, nightmares, and to read the Word of God together. When I spoke to her about sharing with family, she said that it was impossible for them to believe, but she began to take me home and ask questions to set me up to share the gospel on her behalf.
One day she took me to pray with her married sister, Mary, and made sure that we shared the gospel. We also prayed for physical healing for a woman who had been bleeding for years and Jesus healed her. Mary prayed like she was beginning to understand the gospel and searched even more about Jesus online.
Some days later Mary was in tears and God gave Martha the courage to pull out her New Testament and say, “This is the truth.” She then brought her to our house and Mary asked how she could follow Jesus. As she began to pour out her heart to the Lord and declare that he is the only God, the Savior, she immediately began to pray that God would save her family.
Over the next several months, Mary and Martha would arrange for their sisters and mom to hear the gospel, and say, “Don’t you think what Christians believe is good? Tell us about…” and we would talk about the beauty of Jesus. Then their words changed and they began to identify with Jesus. “I believe.”
Before the end of the year, five sisters and their mom and their dad believed. We are still waiting for the brothers. Three of the family have been baptized. Please pray for boldness to speak the gospel also to their brothers without fear.