God is working to call out His people, and we don’t always know who they are.
A man in eastern Turkey was interested in finding out more about what Christians believe, so he began reading various Christian websites. Through one of those websites, he sent in a request to meet with someone in person, and a local believer and I were connected with him. In this part of the world, you rarely go anywhere alone, so he brought his younger brother-in-law, “Tested.” Both men asked good questions as we drank tea, and both seemed interested in what the Scriptures taught. At the end of our meeting, they asked if we could meet again.
But at the next meeting the man who originally contacted us didn’t return, while “Tested” did. In fact, he kept coming. Around that same time, we had our first church gathering in that city (the first one ever, praise God!) “Tested” was there, to our surprise. And he kept coming. About two months later at a church picnic (yes, they’re popular here, too!), I noticed that his phone wallpaper was a picture of the cross. I asked him about it, and looking shocked, as though he had done something wrong. He asked if he had done something wrong. “Don’t we believe in this?” he said.
You see, God had made a change in “Tested,” one that I would never have anticipated at the outset of our relationship. I saw him as a tagalong, but God saw him as a wayward child. Through His sovereign working, God brought “Tested” along as a companion, but the whole while it was he who was the goal.
Since we don’t know specifically who God will call to Himself, let us be diligent to share with all who will hear!
