June 1, 2013
Traveling 6 weeks throughout the West was the highlight of the past quarter for us! We visited cousins at an uncle’s 75th anniversary in Oregon, enjoyed great fellowship with teachers we had only met via email, and gave WEI presentations in Idaho, Washington, and Arizona. In Portland, Oregon, we spent a wonderful week with Jo Towell and enjoyed attending the WEI benefit dinner.
Two new works are in Spokane Valley, WA, where John Gwinup leads a group using ads locally and in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, where Dan Nordstrum and Don Humphrey are organizing initiatives in S. Sudan and Brazil.
The following account from a student in the Middle East is only one among many we could share, but illustrates what is possible with the Internet and why we press on.
Three years ago, he decided to leave Islam. “I lived in deep sadness because of terrorism and sectarianism. I started to read the Bible and discovered truth. This has been the cause of many problems with family and friends.”
When he found WEI, he said, “I believe Jesus sent you to help me. He is the God who created everything. God created humans in his image, but Satan wants to distort his image.”
He gave many reasons for leaving Islam and said, “If there is any beautiful thing in Islam, it was taken from Christianity. When I heard the sermon on the mountain, I cried and then I decided this must be the Lord.”
While listening to the Bible all one night on his computer, he felt the inner conflict between good and sin and struggled with what would happen to his family when he became a Christian. “Society will hurl insults at my children. They will suffer because of me. I do not know what I will do.” Regardless, the next morning, he was baptized in secret “and started a new life”.
When asked for his favorite Bible verse, he quoted Matthew 5:14-16, “You are the light of the world…..Let your light shine before others that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”
—Bob and Jan
