An Insult and a Display of Faith

SPAIN — The sun shone brightly above the refugee center where Crossworld worker Jennifer sat behind the registration table. As she gathered paperwork and helped families collect their food allotment, she heard a conversation happening between two refugee women.

Jennifer didn’t understand their native language and kept focused on her work, until she noticed the conversation increasing in volume.

Just then, Baya — a regular at the refugee center — joined the conversation. The three women spoke in raised voices for a few minutes, then abruptly stopped. The two women signed their papers and left with their food, and Baya turned toward Jennifer.

“What was that about?” Jennifer asked.

“They were calling you an infidel, an enemy of Islam!” Baya said.

Jennifer’s eyes widened and Baya continued.

“I know you love Muslims and you are not an enemy of Islam, so I asked them why they thought that,” Baya said. “They said, ‘These people follow Jesus. They believe He is the Messiah and that He is God. They get the money to run this center from the Christian church. How can we take food from them?’”

“What did you say to them?” Jennifer asked.

“I said, ‘How can they be infidels? They follow Jesus, a man of peace. Yes, they get money from the church, but they use it to feed us. Don’t you know that our religious leader gets money every month, and he doesn’t give anything to anyone. It seems like the infidels are the ones who are closer to God.’”

Jennifer stood speechless at the conversation that had happened right in front of her without her knowledge.

Not long ago, Baya would have been one of the skeptical women. But she had been listening to stories about Jesus and seeing His love from Jennifer and others at the refugee center. Now she was defending Him and His followers to her own people — even though she didn’t yet believe in Him.

Jennifer thanked Baya and marveled at the work God was doing in her heart.

Just a few weeks later, Baya took the step to trust in Jesus. Now she counts herself among His followers.

Here’s how you can pray for this ministry.

• Pray for Baya in her new and growing faith.
   
• Several refugees at the center have made decisions to follow Jesus in the last three months. Praise God! Pray that they grow deep in Christ and feel the Holy Spirit working in and through them.
   
• Pray for the team at the center navigating the tension between Spain’s COVID-19 restrictions and the desire to be a welcoming place for refugees.

The people in this story are real, but their names have been changed to protect their privacy.