"God did not send his Son into the world to condemn it,
but to save it." John 3:17
God’s love reaches to all people, including Palestinians.
I asked Sadia if I could share her story here and she agreed. You will be
encouraged! Even though she was willing to have her real name used I have
chosen to give her the name Sadia. Here is her story:
“I grew up in Baghdad, Iraq but am a Palestinian. My
dad was an alcoholic which caused my mom to separate from him. My family were
not practicing Muslims. I learned about Islam at school but was not religious
except when I needed help from God and then I prayed. At 20 years old I married
Abdul who is also Palestinian. Along with a large group of Palestinians we left
Iraq and settled in a UN refugee camp in Syria for five years. I experienced so
much fear, insecurity, and trauma and hated others. I cried out to God why He
made me a Palestinian. I was afraid of God and being punished by Him and having
bad luck.
A church sponsored my family to Canada. When they said
“welcome” at the airport it gave me peace and joy. They helped us a lot.
Nevertheless, my fears about the unknown continued to bother me. Then I had 3
dreams where God began revealing Jesus to me. The first dream God said, “Sadia,
I am with you and your children. I love you.” The second dream Jesus said,
“Follow me.” The third dream Jesus gave
me a cross. I kept hearing His voice. It was like something was pushing me
towards the voice. This all left me confused. What did the dreams mean? I was
Muslim but the dreams were about Jesus and being a Christian. Finally I went to
a psychiatrist to see if she could help me understand my confusing dreams but
she said she couldn’t because she was Buddhist. She gave me the name of a
Catholic church to go to so I could talk to a priest. I went and explained my
dreams and asked him what they meant but he couldn’t answer my questions
either. He told me to read the Bible but he didn’t give me one. Finally I
confided in a lady I knew about the dreams and asked her how I could get an
Arabic Bible. She 'googled' how she could
get one and also information about an Arabic church. Lo and behold, there was
an Arabic church in my city! I called the pastor who explained about Jesus
Christ to me. I enjoy going to that
fellowship now and have come to believe that Jesus is my Savior. He has changed
me a lot. Before I hated people and now I can feel merciful towards them. He has saved
me from my sin and given me new life. Before I was always afraid but now I know
God loves me. My husband and I were both baptized and we are raising our
children to follow Jesus.”
It is heart-warming to see how God took the initiative
in revealing Himself to Sadia and kept pursuing her. He heard Sadia’s cries and
saved her.
Dear heavenly Father, help me to know how to answer a
searching Muslim woman’s questions. In
Jesus’ name, Amen.
