Forgiveness Impacts a Community
An Act of Forgiveness Impacts a Community.
Silas* with Ecclesia Ministries (formerly Community Transformation Ministries) shares with us this testimony from one of his disciples, Pastor Muhammad* from Kabkabia, on how his church is known for its forgiveness.
Praise be to the Lord God our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Brothers and sisters, pray for us in Kabkabia and Surutune. This year we are moving on well in advancing the Kingdom of God in these two areas. Last month in May, we started three churches in Kabkabia and two more in Surutune IDP (Internally Displaced Persons) Camp. Over 500 men and women from a Muslim faith background heard the Good News. More than fifty of these have accepted our Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. Thirteen women and fifteen men were baptized. So praise be to God!
As leaders in these areas, we have come together to address the challenges and the persecution that's going on. People showed their zeal and passion for the Kingdom of God. This happened when three church members were forcefully taken from their homes to Mosques. There, they were forced to pray, but after they refused to pray Islamic prayers they were beaten severely. As a church community, we prayed for these three: Musa*, Yousif*, and Abdul*. As a group, we decided to reach out to the Sheikh leader even if this meant our death.
By the grace of God, we reached the Sheikh of the area and told him about what had happened to our brothers. We thank God the Sheikh reacted positively towards us. He summoned members of those Mosques and said that they should pay money for the medical treatment of our disciples. He also arrested the person who came up with the idea of beating these men.
But we asked the Sheikh to release the man and also said that no one should pay the money for treatment. As a church, we will contribute to our brothers’ needs. We have forgiven them and we ask them to help people instead of forcing people to pray.
So many people willingly contributed money. We have taken these three men to the hospital. Abdul had to be carried on a bed lifted by four people due to the lack of transport in the area. All three have been healed by God’s grace. People in the area have reacted very nicely. I met someone by the name of Marak* who told me, “I wished I was one of your members. Most people in Surutune are talking good of you that you have forgiven people who want to kill you.”
I just told him all praise to Jesus who is good. And invited him to accept our Lord Jesus Christ and be one of his followers. And surprisingly he asked me, “How do I do that?” I told him to accept that you are a sinner and you need a Savior and believe that Jesus Christ is sufficient and died for your sin; he will be your Lord and Savior. Tearfully, Marak said, “Yes! I accept Jesus Christ.” Then he immediately asked me for a Bible but we had run out of all we had been given, so I gave mine to him to go and read for some time and bring it back.
*Names altered to protect the identity of those working in areas of increased persecution.