I recently shared a story of Mustafa, my friend from the Maghreb, and his first experience attending church with me on a Saturday. He usually goes to church with his wife and friends on Sundays.
Attending church on Sunday has become hard for him spiritually. Since that is when his wife and friends go, he typically goes. Recently, he sent me a message saying that the pastor on Sunday morning was talking about how God could not bless His people because they were not doing what the Bible says. The pastor asked, “How could God’s people expect to be blessed when they do not keep the Sabbath holy?” He then proceeded to tell everyone that Sunday is the Sabbath.
Mustafa reached out to me and asked how the pastor could be so confused about which day is the Sabbath. Through Bible study and studying Christian history, he has seen that the Sabbath was changed from Saturday to Sunday, not by God, but by man. I praise the Lord that he is not just listening to a pastor but studying and learning for himself.
Mustafa recently called me and told me of a situation when he could not give a Bible passage explicitly stating, “thou shalt not” or “thus saith the Lord . . .” He knows what was being done was wrong but could not locate a definitive passage stating so. For the next hour, we discussed the difference between the idea of “principles” versus the “do’s and don’ts” when living according to God’s Word.
When we share Christ, do we share that the Bible is about a list of do’s and don’ts so that Jesus will accept us, or are we sharing the reason behind what we do or do not do? My friendship with Mustafa has been an incredible journey. Seeing him studying for himself and finding Bible truths as the Holy Spirit guides him is amazing.
Erin and I just had a short visit with Mustafa and his wife. Mustafa mentioned the Sabbath, speaking of Saturday, and his wife did not correct him as she had previously done but was nodding her head. Please continue to pray for Mustafa. He enjoys learning biblical truth but struggles because his wife and friends generally oppose what he is learning. Please also pray that his wife will one day soon decide that she would like to go with Mustafa and see why he likes attending the Adventist church.
Thank you for your continued prayers and financial support. It is a blessing to continue ministering to our friends from the Maghreb and around the world.
