Ding.
Bintou reached for her phone to check the Facebook message alert. The profile icon showed an unfamiliar smiling woman in a colorful hijab. She clicked to open her inbox.
Her hand flew to cover her mouth as she read the note from a woman named Hadje.
“I saw your ad about the Ultimate Sacrifice.” A local phone number was typed in the next line. “Please call and tell me more about Jesus.”
The team had prayed for responses like this one.
After re-reading the message several times, Bintou let the phone drop to her lap. As a local partner with Frontiers field workers Dave and Sally, she’d helped put together a social media campaign designed to pique the interest of unreached Muslims. The team had prayed for responses like this one.
Swiping to her video chat app, Bintou called Dave and Sally. Their faces lit up as she told them about the message. “Do you think I should call the number?”
Dave and Sally looked at each other.
“Maybe you should pray about it,” Dave suggested. “It’s safer to stick with communicating through Facebook, but let God guide you.”
“Okay,” Bintou agreed. While social media was a great way to connect with hard-to-reach people groups in her region, sharing identifying information like phone numbers carried risks for field workers and their partners.
She dialed the number and held her breath as the phone rang. Then a woman’s voice answered.
After spending time in prayer, Bintou felt confident that God was leading her to reach out to Hadje. She dialed the number and held her breath as the phone rang. Then a woman’s voice answered.
“Hello, my name is Bintou. You messaged me about the Ultimate Sacrifice ad on social media.”
“Oh, yes!” Excitement was audible in Hadje’s voice. “Thank you for calling. I want to hear more.”
Relief flooded through Bintou at Hadje’s eager response. The two women talked for several minutes and agreed to meet at a nearby park.
One day, Hadje arrived at the park smiling. “I’ve decided I want Jesus to be my Sacrifice.”
Hadje and Bintou began meeting regularly. Hadje asked a myriad of questions over the next several weeks, and Bintou joyfully called Dave and Sally after each conversation to relay new developments and seek advice.
One day, Hadje arrived at the park smiling. “I’ve decided I want Jesus to be my Sacrifice.”
Gratitude welled up in Bintou’s heart at the step Hadje had taken. She couldn’t help but marvel at God’s use of an online ad to catalyze face-to-face conversations about Jesus. Perhaps this would be the start of a movement for Jesus among her people.
Pray:
- Pray that God would use social media campaigns to bring many Muslims to Jesus.
- Ask God to continue to open hearts to the Gospel message across the Muslim world.
- Pray for the Lord to give field workers creativity as they seek to initiate spiritual conversations.
This account comes from a long-term worker. Names and places have been changed for security.