The Fat on Our Cheeks

Naheed is a widowed mother struggling to provide for her four children.

She’s also one of three Muslim-background believers leading a growing movement of faith that includes more than 120 baptized followers of Jesus.

Until a few years ago, there were no known efforts to reach Naheed’s people with the Gospel. Then Fernando and Katrina Morales felt God calling their family to the Muslim world.

The Morales family joined Frontiers, recruited a team, and moved to an area of South Asia that is home to five different Muslim people groups. Theirs is the only team focused on reaching Naheed’s people group of eight million Muslims.

Naheed was Katrina’s first disciple. As a new believer, Naheed sought to put every lesson she learned from the Word into practice immediately. Soon, she was introducing people to Christ and leading several Bible study groups.

Until a few years ago, there were no known efforts to reach Naheed’s people with the Gospel.

But Katrina saw how Naheed struggled to provide for her children. The family lived in absolute poverty.

Wanting to help without creating dependency, the Morales’ team invited the new followers of Jesus into Bible studies about caring for the poor. The team prayed for Muslim-background disciples to see desperate situations like Naheed’s as opportunities to meet needs and respond according to God’s Word.

“You’re leading several Bible studies, and they’re growing and multiplying,” Katrina said to Naheed after some time. “I can see so much joy in your life. But has there been any difference in your financial situation since you began following Christ?”

Naheed smiled as she pinched her own cheek. “Look here,” she said. “You can see there is something more than just skin between my fingers.”

She continued, “When we meet in our groups, we have people share about their needs, and we ask who can help meet this need—just as you showed us. When I share that my children have no food that day, then someone in the group says, ‘I will share what I have with you.’ When I have more another day, then I share it with them. So now we all have a little bit of fat on our cheeks.”

Praise God! As the Kingdom advances in the region, new believers are finding salvation for their souls and fat on their cheeks.

• Pray for more people in Naheed’s community to read the Bible and turn to Jesus Christ.
• Pray that Muslim-background believers will grow in love and unity as they live according to God’s Word.
• Ask the Lord to send more Gospel messengers to bring spiritual and physical transformation to Muslim people groups.