Walking with Abdalla

Each evening, people swarm to our city’s largest public park to enjoy picnics under the palms or long walks in the cool air.

On one of my regular walks around the loop, I saw a man I’d never met walking toward me. I said hello and asked if I could walk with him. He smiled and introduced himself as Abdalla. Like most people in my community, he seemed fascinated that I was an American living in an Arab city.

“You must be here for foreign investment work,” he guessed.

I grinned. “Actually I work for an IT firm here in the city. I’ve lived in this neighborhood for five years.”

He paused and gazed over the oasis of the park and the cityscape beyond. “I am not happy.”

His eyes opened wide in surprise. “Are you a Muslim, then? You speak good Arabic.”

I shook my head. “No, but I do follow God.”

“Ah.” He nodded. “Well then, what do you think is the meaning of life?”

Abdalla didn’t give me a chance to answer before he continued. “I have prayed but received no answer. I have read the Quran but received no answer. I have gone to mosque but received no answer.” He paused and gazed over the oasis of the park and the cityscape beyond. “I am not happy.”

Abdalla’s eyes snapped to my face, surprised that a non-Muslim would read his holy book.

I nodded and let his words sink in for a moment. “I have found that the purpose of life is to confess our sin to God, ask Jesus to forgive us, follow Him, and be right with God.”

“Interesting.” His eyebrows drew together.

I continued, “I’ve been reading the Quran.”

Abdalla’s eyes snapped to my face, surprised that a non-Muslim would read his holy book.

“I have found some amazing verses,” I said. “Can I show them to you? Will you tell me what you think about them?”

I tried to connect him to God’s Word using the Quran as a bridge to trusting the Bible.

Most Muslims where I live believe the Bible is corrupted, so I knew that bringing up the Bible might stop our conversation cold and lead to Abdalla’s mistrust.

Instead, I tried to connect him to God’s Word using the Quran as a bridge to trusting the Bible.

Abdalla was eager to discover what insights I had gleaned from the Quran. We paused under a tree, and I showed him ten verses I had saved on my phone.

“Don’t these verses describe the Bible as a respected book sent from God, without corruption?” I asked when he had read them.

“Our leaders tell us what the Quran says, and we are not allowed to question it.”

Abdalla nodded. “Yes, they do. I have never heard of this. We need more people to share these things.”

“Why is that?” I asked. “It’s right there in your book and has been for 1,400 years.”

Abdalla shook his head. “The imams I know teach the exact opposite of what you just showed me from the Quran.”

“I wonder why so many people believe them over what is written in the Quran,” I said.

“They don’t explain it the way you do.” He started walking again. “You are simply reading the words. Every imam I have heard twists it.” He fell silent until we passed two men walking in the opposite direction. “Our leaders tell us what the Quran says, and we are not allowed to question it.”

Since Abdalla agreed that the Quran commands him to read the Bible, I showed him the Bible app on my phone.

Snatching it from me, he stopped in the middle of the path and scanned through Genesis for several minutes. “This is just like the Quran, but with more details!”

I waited while he read a few chapters.

Our discussion began to take off as I shared God’s plan of salvation starting with Adam, Abraham, and Moses.

He handed the phone back to me. “Can you show me how to download this?”

My heart skipped a beat, and I quickly helped him get it on his own phone. He said he wanted to read more and asked if we could meet up again. I quickly agreed.

At our next meeting in the park, I asked, “Can I show you in the Quran where it says there are signs that you are commanded to follow?”

He agreed, and I proceeded to show him several verses that said to follow the “clear signs” God provided by previous prophets.

Our discussion began to take off as I shared God’s plan of salvation starting with Adam, Abraham, and Moses. I told Abdalla the stories of these three men, outlining the substitutionary sacrificial system beginning with Adam’s sin, highlighting the Passover lamb, and pointing to the need for Jesus to die and be resurrected.

Abdalla was amazed by what I shared. He’s eager to continue reading the Bible on his own and discussing it with me. I pray that he will understand that Jesus is the sacrificial Lamb of God who died and rose again to take away the sins of the world.

Pray:

• Lift up these crucial conversations and pray that Abdalla would continue to meet with this field worker.
• Ask God to give field workers wisdom as they navigate different cultural thought processes and seek to engage people.
• Pray that Abdalla would accept the truth about Jesus and overcome any fears of repercussions for following Him.