February 26, 2010
Sarajevo Story 10
I want to tell you about my friend Nermin (name has been changed for the website).
Nermin has been a friend of the team for awhile. One of the other guys on the team met him before Jess and I got to Sarajevo, and has been able to get to know him well. One day, I was introduced to Nermin and we instantly found it very easy to talk to one another.
Nermin speaks very good English and actually lived in the U.S. for a couple of years. I have been able to go to coffee a few times with him to talk about Bosnia, America, language, politics, and religion. Nermin and I do not share the same faith in Christ, but it has been amazing to watch a good friendship form here.
This brings me to our most recent coffee chat. It started like any other chat, but it eventually took a turn for the spiritual side. Let me attempt to share our conversation with you in a nutshell.
We talked about the reasons wars are fought and why people hate each other. We talked about how it seems that almost every war is so focused on temporal things like land and power, and that the only things that last forever, like God and our souls, are the things that are ultimately attacked. This moved us into talking about how these temporal things cannot truly bring us joy. This easily opened the door to talking about Christ again. Now, I have been able to present the Gospel to Nermin before, but this time was different.
Honestly, I wasn’t saying many new things that I hadn’t said to Nermin before, but I feel like God is really moving in his heart. Nermin wanted to show me that he truly understood what I was talking about. He asked me for a pen and drew me a picture that most of us have learned in church in America. He drew a chasm separating man from God with a cross bridging the gap. I couldn’t believe it. Then, he drew another picture with the same chasm separating man and God. But, this time he wrote the words “Muhammad, Quran, and Deeds” in the middle.
I explained again to him that only Christ can bridge the gap (again, remember that I am summarizing our conversation quite a bit). Nermin eventually tells me, “Billy, I am lost and I don’t know what to believe.” I told him that I will never force him to accept Christ as the only way to Heaven. I told him that no matter what he decides I will ALWAYS be his friend. Nermin said, “Thank you. I really want to talk some more about all of this.” He has told my teammate and myself that we need to have some late night talks about religion and faith. How exciting is that?!
So, please pray for Nermin’s heart. I truly believe that he is very close. My teammate that has known Nermin for awhile has already reached out to him quite a bit. It has been great for us to work together and encourage each other here. Please pray that God gives us wisdom and courage as we continue to love Nermin.
Sorry for the long story, but I couldn’t help telling you. God is at work here and we continue to be so thankful to partner with you in ministry.
In Christ,
Billy and Jess.
What an amazing coversation! It’s so encouraging to hear stories like this and imagine all that is at work, thank you for sharing.