Submitted by Andrew Branham

It started with a prayer, then a simple hello, and then the gospel. My encounter with a 24 year old man from Morocco changed my life forever…

The first two days our trek was at our site, I was the only one who didn’t have a conversation. All I had done for two days was prayer walk around this park, and now I was praying that I wouldn’t get discouraged. On the third day, Nathaniel (one of the JSI’s) and I prayer walked around the park about three times. He pointed out a man that was laying on the grass reading something, and said he felt Father was leading us to talk to him.

After praying for the Father to guide us, I walked up to the man and said hello. Thankfully he spoke a little English. I learned that the man, H, was a North African who had been living in Paris for about two years. As we were talking I told him why I was in Paris, and later into the conversation I began to share the gospel with him. At first he was a little confused, but he asked some good questions. The conversation continued with some small talk, and then out of nowhere he said, “Tell me more about this Jesus.”

I was stunned! This 24-year-old man had never heard the name Jesus until I told him, and he just asked me to tell him more! So I told him more about Jesus—from his birth to his death. H told me how he believes in Allah but isn’t a true Muslim because he doesn’t observe the 5 pillars of Islam. The only reason he is a Muslim is because he was raised that way. H asked if I could come back and talk to him more about Jesus, and of course I said yes.

The next day, as we left for the park all I could think about was getting to speak with H again. The night before, one of our adult chaperones gave me an Arabic Bible to give to H. I gladly accepted it, but didn’t think that he would actually take a Bible. As we began to prayer walk around the park, we saw H again in the same place. I went over to talk to him and gave him the Bible. He immediately started reading it!

H and I started reading together passages out of John. He was starting to understand that God had a Son that he sent to die for us, but he struggled to embrace the truth. We continued to read the Word together, but H said he would never change from being Muslim. Then it was like the Holy Spirit suddenly moved inside him because he turned to me and said, “Maybe one day I could change just a little.” My heart felt like it was going to explode! H was actually giving it thought, asking questions, reading the Word, and willing to talk about it. I talked to H the whole day, and he took home the Bible I gave him. Praise Father!

Our last day there, I found out that the overseas worker was going to come with me to meet H. The night before, all the guys and myself got together to pray for H. We asked that Father would send him a sign other than myself to show H that the gospel is true. We arrived at the park and there was no sign of H anywhere. I was a little discouraged, but I kept praying that Father would send him one last time so he could meet the M. After a couple of hours, H showed up and we found him in his usual spot—this time reading his Bible! We went to talk to him, and the M (who knew a little Arabic) was able to speak to him in his native language.

H was still asking questions and giving it serious thought. He told us that the day I gave him the Bible he met a man while he was walking home. The man noticed the Bible in his hand, and asked him if he believed it. H explained to him that he had just received the Bible from a friend and didn’t really understand it. The man replied, “What you’re holding is the TRUTH.” He was a fellow believer. What a specific answer to prayer! We were astonished. Father is clearly working in this man’s heart. As the day came to an end, it was time for me to say my final goodbye to H. As I hugged him and said goodbye, he thanked me for talking to him and said I was the first person he had talked to in over a year. I began to cry as my heart broke for this man all over again. I knew I would never be the same.

That’s the story that completely wrecked my life. H was just an ordinary person fleeing from his home country and seeking a new beginning. It started with a simple “hello,” and now this man has the Holy Bible in his possession. The first day I met H, he didn’t even know the name Jesus Christ. Now, praise God, he is reading the scriptures. God is stirring this man’s heart. So I sit here thinking of my good friend across the ocean, constantly lifting him up in prayer. It may take weeks, months, maybe even years before H believes. However, the seed planted in H has been watered and is beginning to sprout. Praise Father for His work in H, and praise Him for the blessing of being part of it.