An 11-year-old boy at a refugee camp in Turkey who had little else to do spent most evenings reading a New Testament that local Christian workers gave him – to the grief of his Muslim parents.
One night his mother recently became angry at him for reading the New Testament and ordered him to do his schoolwork, according to a native ministry leader. The boy, Abdel*, told her it reminded him of the passage he had just read in Matthew 19:13-15 about children being kept from “the Prophet Jesus,” as He is known among Muslims.
“Mother, you are like the Prophet Jesus’ disciples,” he said. “You are keeping me from drawing close to the Prophet Jesus!”
Stunned, his mother asked him where he had read this. Abdel told her he had just read the passage in the Gospel of Matthew.
As local workers distribute Scripture to refugees, they sometimes find children learning the gospel and explaining it to their parents, or vice versa.
“That evening, his mother explained this event to his father, and together they sat down and read the New Testament,” the ministry leader said. “I am not saying that they accepted Christ immediately, but truly God is doing amazing miracles here.”
As local workers distribute Scripture to refugees, they sometimes find children learning the gospel and explaining it to their parents, or vice versa.
“We explained to them that God sees and loves these people, and we are sure that, through your prayers, God will do an amazing work,” the leader said.
True Love
The family’s deeper interest in Scripture heartened local missionaries who sometimes wonder if refugees read Bibles only because they receive aid from the workers.
“It is a tradition in their culture to take a holy book like the Bible, kiss it and put it to their head – but it causes us to wonder if it is just a passing, temporary respect that they are showing,” the leader said. “But we are finding that it isn’t just a passing whim of love for God’s Word or gratitude for feeding their children. We understand that they are showing this respect because they see the love that is contained in God’s Word.”
When workers return to the refugees, they find their Bibles are worn, and “not because they throw them on the ground, but because they read them again and again,” he said. “Most of them are asking us questions and researching deeply in order to learn more about the Lord Jesus.”
Local missionaries teaching the Bible to Muslims must overcome several prejudices and train those who come to Christ how to refute the biases.
“Muslims grow up thinking that Christians believe in three gods, that the New Testament has changed and that Christians want to kill Muslim people,” the leader said. “So we describe to new believers about this New Testament and what Christianity is, and we are training them so they can explain to their relatives and friends how these things are wrong.”
New Christians trained in these issues become more powerful spiritually and can share the gospel without further help from the workers, he added.
Changed Attitudes
Continued discipleship and aid has changed attitudes toward Scripture and toward the workers, who find even refugees who have work are increasingly hard-pressed to provide for their families.
In many cases, fathers go to other parts of Turkey to work in farm fields and send income back to the mothers, elderly and children in the camps.
“Generally, they earn much less money than normal Turkish citizens do, and this money can only provide for their families’ needs for one week,” the leader said. “And especially if even one of them is ill and they pay for medicine, there isn’t enough money that remains for even one week’s worth of food.”
Workers are able to show them the love of God through assistance from Christian Aid Mission donors, and this has changed attitudes toward Christians, he said.
“Before, when we brought help to the old, ill and crippled in their tents, we were met with closed faces – they wouldn’t want to meet with us, but now they invite us in, saying, ‘Wait, wait! Please pray for this one who is ill,’” he said. “Some have believed the gospel; and some have begun ministering in the camps. Now there are many in the camps who will say, ‘We know that Christians don’t believe in three gods, and we know that the Bible has not been changed.’ We are thankful to you for these blessings.”
Please consider a donation today to help local workers bring the love of Christ to needy refugees.*Name changed for security reasons