The Pool

I was enjoying the last rays of the Middle Eastern sun late one afternoon when my friend Khaled called me.

“Hey, Trevor,” he greeted me. “You have a pool, right?”

“A pool?” I glanced across the yard at the inflatable kiddie pool my children used on hot days. “Yeah, a little one for the kids. Why do you ask?”

“An adult could fit, right? I need it next Wednesday.” His words came out in a rush. “Can you bring it to the garden? And then can you fill it up?”

For years, my team and I had prayed fervently for the people of this area.

I raised an eyebrow, even though Khaled couldn’t see me. “Sure, but what is this all about?”

“A woman named Salwa wants to be baptized!” Khaled’s enthusiasm came through the phone as he shared more.

Salwa lived in a neighboring region that foreigners couldn’t access. For years, my team and I had prayed fervently for the people of this area, but all our attempts to reach them with the Gospel had failed.

Meanwhile, with a special permit to receive care for her son’s medical condition, Salwa had been making regular treks to our city for the past several months. Here she’d met Khaled and some other local Muslim-background believers my team and I have been discipling. When they shared the Gospel with Salwa, she eagerly decided to follow Jesus.

Now, Khaled’s invitation to her baptism was a stunning answer to prayer.

I grinned. “I’ll be there. And so will my pool.”

Tears pricked my eyes as I repeated in English how Jesus had saved her and changed her life.  

An hour before the baptism, I arrived at the garden Khaled had specified, pool in hand. I fulfilled my new calling as the pool attendant, and, soon after, Salwa and a small group of local believers arrived.

Khaled shook my hand. “Can you translate? There are a few English speakers here, too.”

“Of course.” Pool attendant slash translator—my new job description.

The pastor of the small church asked Salwa to share her story, and tears pricked my eyes as I repeated in English how Jesus had saved her and changed her life.

It was incredible to watch my prayers being answered right in front of me. My team and I had thought reaching this people group with the Gospel was impossible, but God had other plans. We’re eager to keep in touch with Salwa as she carries the message of salvation through Jesus Christ back to her homeland.

Pray:

• Ask God to protect this new believer as she lives out her faith in a place where it is difficult and dangerous to follow Jesus.
• Pray that Salwa’s faith will grow deep roots and that she will courageously share the Good News.
• Lift up Salwa’s homeland and the many people who have yet to hear the Good News of Jesus.
• Ask the Lord to heal Salwa’s son.