Monday, March 8, 2010

A Muslim or a Man?



Today at the shower ministry I met a man from Palestine. He had tears in his eyes as he talked to me about his family and what took place in his hometown. He is from Gaza, which is controlled by Israel. He told me how one day he was part of a group of Palestinians throwing rocks at the Israeli troops to protest their lack of food and medicine when suddenly helicopters and troops opened fire on them with machine guns. He watched as his brother and his father were gunned down. He just managed to escape the shooting spree with his life and then realized that he had to escape from Gaza or he would die too. So he left all he had and traveled to Greece by way of Turkey. When he arrived, he found no work and no hope. He told me of being beaten and robbed by the police here on the street.

He approached me because he said he could see my heart as I was serving the refugees and asked me where I was from and what I was doing here. I told him that I was from America and that I was here to help people like him. He asked about the organization that I was with and I told him that we were followers of Jesus, our Lord and Savior. He told me that he knows God and that there is only one God. I agreed with him but also told him that to get to God he needs to come through Jesus. He looked at me and said, “I am a Muslim” and I said, “I don’t see a Muslim, I see a man.” He thanked me and stayed by my side the rest of the day helping me translate and moving the men through the showers. As he got ready to leave, I turned and gave him all the change in my pocket and I said I hoped to see him again.

As he left and I began to clean the showers, I prayed that he will see the Truth.

Please pray with me for this man and for the many others who see a difference in us as we serve them. Pray that they keep asking about why we are different and that Christ will shine through in all we do.

1 comment:

Peter J. Grant said...

GREAT story Mike! Praying for you and Peggy as you make a difference for the Lord there in Greece. See you at OJIII. BTW I just started reading "Son of Hammas"...will tell you about it in July. Peter J. Grant