*Bean has been visiting a community center in Turkey for about a month. He is interested in becoming a better English speaker because of a test he has to take later this spring. One of the volunteers at the community center has been tutoring him. Recently, the tutor wrote out some common questions that English speakers would ask and worked with him on pronunciation and proper responses. He asked Bean, “what is your religion?” Bean told the tutor a little bit about himself and his religion. This question prompted him to ask many questions about what the tutor believed. After explaining his faith, the tutor asked Bean what he thought. He responded, “I am like a blind man and cannot find the way.” The tutor explained that this is exactly what Scripture teaches and that he was not only blind but also dead in his sins. By pulling up Ephesians 2 and looking at John 14:6, he was able to talk about the Good News for 2 hours.
Bean wanted to know how the tutor came to believe in Jesus. He thought it might have been through a dream in the middle of the night. The tutor affirmed that some have had dreams about Jesus but that he himself had heard a man preaching from the Bible and through this came to faith. They looked at Romans 10:9-13. Bean still seemed puzzled and responded that it must have been something else besides hearing the Bible preached. The tutor told him that it was through the teaching of the Word and by the Holy Spirit that he came to believe. When he mentioned the Holy Spirit, Bean immediately said that this is what it was. He touched the tutor’s heart and said “Holy Spirit breathed.” His comment was stunning!
They looked at John 14 again and how Jesus promises the Holy Spirit to all believers. The tutor explained that if Bean would step out in faith, repent, and trust in Jesus, the Lord would give him the Holy Spirit. When asked what he thought, Bean said that he thought it was possible for him.
The next time they met, Bean had even more questions. He wants to know God and seems to have been searching for some time. He asked for a Bible and was given one with the invitation to talk about it whenever he wanted. Later, he returned to the community center with his father. At the end of the night, his father said that he had had a great time and wanted to come again. Please pray that Bean would read the Bible and that God would open his blind eyes!
