Please Talk to Strangers

Posted on February 1, 2017 by Kate Carpenter

I love listening to women share their stories, especially when the story includes an element of testimony regarding her faith journey. Often, our e-Links contain such stories. In January 2017, we heard two stories – Sarah reflected on training in grace and we Fran shared how God has called her to choose the aroma of love.

Today, we will hear a story from Kate. When she sent me this testimony, I knew it needed to be shared!

Please Talk to Strangers:

I’d waited over a year for this moment.  Toyota had recalled the cracked dashboard on my van and it took nearly 2 years for the part to come in. I arrived at my appointment and the courtesy car was ready to take me home.   I approached the car.  My first thought was, “Do I sit in the back seat or the front seat?” It was a God thing.  I chose the front.

I introduced myself to the driver and he told me his name.  I asked, “Where are you from?”  Iran.  I guess I’m good at asking questions because in half an hour’s time, I’d heard his life story: Grew up Muslim, believing that Islam was THE religion, and all others were infidel. Believe, go to hell or be killed.  It was all about hate, he told me.  He grew up hating.

He fought in the Iran-Iraq war for two years as a sniper.  Every morning it was his job to go out and check the road.  One morning he had the urge for a cigarette, so he went back to have a smoke.  His buddy took his place.  The soldier never returned; his head was blown off.  “Why wasn’t it me?”

Eventually he made his way to the USA and married a Christian woman.  She prayed for him; her family loved him.  Eventually he, too, became a Christian.  The Christian faith, he told me, is all about love.  The contrast with his past faith was stark.  He chose Jesus and His love. Wow!

Finally, it was my turn to say something.  I told my driver that I was a Christian, and that I had been praying for the Muslim people for many years.  Amazingly, he was the first one I’d had a meaningful conversation with!  I told him I’d heard that thousands of young Muslims were turning to Christ, disturbed by all the terrorist violence of ISIS. He said he believed that could be true.

What he said next could have come from the lips of A.B. Simpson:  The problem is that most of the Muslims don’t know, he told me. They haven’t heard. If only someone would tell them, surely they would turn to Jesus, too, just as he had.

And then he pulled up to my home. I squeezed his arm and called him my brother.  Suddenly my prayers for the Muslim people had a face.  These people have names. They have families.  They have needs.  And we have the privilege of praying for them.

So, I want to encourage you, Great Commission Women!  This is what we are all about.  Keep praying for the lost.  And please, talk to strangers.  You might find a treasure like I did.

 Kate Carpenter.

“Mrs. Kate” Carpenter, pastor’s wife, attends Friendship Alliance Church, Callahan, FL. (She’s also a folksinger, songwriter & storyteller!) Website:  www.MrsKate.com