Acts 3:6

            This is one of the more heartbreaking stories that I have encountered so far while here in Germany. A few days ago, one of my teammates and I went to the mall to see if we could find any refugees to connect with. We asked God to help us find whoever it was that He wanted us to talk to, and we went looking. We saw this guy sitting at the bottom level by himself. We thought that he might be a good person to talk to, so we went down and sat by him and started talking to him. This entire conversation was mostly through Google Translate since he really only spoke Arabic.

            This man, probably in his mid-20s, has been in Germany for about six months. He fled Syria because the government there was seeking to kill him. We couldn’t quite figure out why, as that was lost in translation, but what we do know is that the government was serious about eliminating him. About 3 years ago, while sitting at lunch, the police came and started shooting at him and set off a bomb near him. Miraculously, he survived. However, he has shrapnel in 3 different places in his legs. After he survived this attack, the government came and took his wife and son prisoner. His son is now 3 years old, so that means that he was a mere infant when he was taken. Since then, this man has not seen or heard from his wife and son. He can only hope that they are alive. He has some family living in America, and so he would be able to get to the States if he wanted, but he feels that if he were to leave, it would be giving up on his wife and son. Germany is as far from Syria as he wants to be. But, he’s here pretty much without his family. His mother and brother were killed in Syria some years ago, and the only family he has is a cousin here.

            As he told us his story, we could see the pain in his eyes, and he was trying so hard not to cry. And so were we. It took all I had not to start bawling on the spot with this guy. Really, what do you say to that? How do you respond? There wasn’t much that we could offer him besides our ability to listen, and obviously, we wanted to pray for this guy. We eventually asked if he prays for his wife and son, and he said “yes, all the time.” We asked him if the 3 of us could pray together for them, and he was truly touched. He was so grateful and appreciative, and gladly agreed. However, as a Muslim, he had to wash his face, hands, and feet before he could pray. I offered him my water bottle so he could do so, and he went over to find a place to wash. There wasn’t really any space in the mall to do so, so he asked us to follow him. We walked a couple blocks through the city and he took us into his cousin’s apartment. He introduced us to his cousin and then went to the bathroom to wash up. He came out, pulled out his prayer mat and pillow, and began to pray in his Muslim way as we sat there. After this, he had us pray in our Christian way. We prayed for him, for his wife and son, and that Jesus would come in and redeem this situation some how in some way.

            Though he is not a Christian, the faith of this man really left an impression on me. We told him that there is grace for salvation and for redemption for his family, and he replied with “I know.” Despite the atrocities around him and the pain that he experiences daily without his family, he believes that God is good and he does not harbor any anger towards God.

            We hung out with these two men in the apartment for a few hours, and were able to show them a video in Arabic that put a lot of their Muslim beliefs into the context of Christianity and Jesus, and they were very intrigued. We could sense their openness, and they have agreed to do a Bible study with us through the Old Testament prophets and leading up to Jesus!

            In the midst of this man’s pain and suffering, I firmly believe that he will come to experience the redemption and peace that comes only from Jesus. Situations like this remind of Acts chapter 3. Peter and John were going to the temple, and there was a paralyzed man begging for money. Instead of giving him money, Peter instead says, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” Sure, this guy isn’t getting physically healed (yet? J), but the situation is not dissimilar. There is so much that we wish that we could do for this man that we’re unable to, but we do have the name of Jesus and everything that’s associated with Him. And that’s important. My prayer is that he and his cousin come to know Jesus sometime in the near future.  

            Please join me in prayer for these men!

            -Bae