A Daughter of the House

In recent months, my language helper, a young woman named Mekka, has wholeheartedly invited me into her family’s everyday life.

It started when my housemate got a new job, and Mekka’s mom began inviting me to lunch because she felt sorry for me having to eat alone every day.

After lunch and afternoon tea, Mekka and I would shift to another room for our language lesson. Our lessons began spilling over into the early evenings, and Mekka would ask me to stay and help her prepare dinner so I could keep practicing new vocabulary. Then her family would insist that I stick around for dinner and evening tea.

Sometimes Mekka and I would go out to the garden after nightfall to continue our lessons. Mekka’s mother and sisters would often join us once they finished their chores.

As if I wasn’t spending enough time with the family already, one of Mekka’s younger sisters started joining me for morning walks in the park. (The local language is much more difficult at 5:00 a.m.)

I felt like that neighborhood kid who’s always in the house.

After our walk, she would invite me in for breakfast. The first few times, only she and I ate together because everyone else was still sleeping. But eventually her mom and sisters started waking up early to join us as well.

At first, I wasn’t sure how often to accept their offers. I felt like that neighborhood kid who’s always in the house—the one you can’t bring yourself to send home.

But now, whenever I miss a meal with them, Mekka’s mom sends me a plate of food and asks me why I didn’t come over. Most times, I jokingly place the blame on Mekka for not inviting me, to which her mom reminds me that I am a “daughter of the house” and don’t need an invitation.

They consider me so much a part of the family that they invited me to their nephew’s engagement party and introduced me as one of the sisters. They even had me join them in some of their family photos!

The depth of relationship and language I’ve cultivated in my time with the family has been such a wonderful gift.

But the greatest blessing is the opportunity I have to share about Jesus.

“Why are you so different from others in your culture?”

One evening while snacking on sunflower seeds and fruit, one of Mekka’s sisters mentioned how different our cultures are.

“Yet you are so different from your own culture,” she said to me. “You have high morals, you are respectful, and you listen to God. Our whole family really respects you and the way you live.”

Then the youngest sister asked, “Why are you so different from others in your culture?”

“He is with me, and His presence gives me joy and peace.”

“Because when I believed in Jesus’ sacrifice for the forgiveness of my sins and turned to His ways, my heart was changed,” I explained. “God gave me a desire to listen to Him and obey Him. He is with me, and His presence gives me joy and peace.”

That conversation reminded me how important it is for believers to serve in places where the Gospel has not yet been shared.

Most Muslims in the least-reached places haven’t had a chance to meet a follower of Jesus and witness the life of a believer. They have no model for what it means to live by the Word of God through the power of His Spirit. They have yet to discover Christ moving in and through His people.

God has called me and others to the field to begin to change that.

Prayer points:

• Please pray for hospitable families like Mekka’s to open their hearts to the Gospel as much as they welcome new friends into their homes.
• Pray for more men and women to hear God’s call to go and live among those who have the least access to the Gospel.
• Ask the Lord to give Frontiers field workers open doors into Muslim homes to share the message of Jesus Christ.