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“The Lord is good to all;
He has compassion on all he has made.”
When we think of the overwhelming population of Muslims in the world, many images come to mind. But we want to take a moment to focus on this—Muslims are broken, hurting people. With this in mind, we can remember that showing compassion to the broken is a character trait of our Lord Jesus, which we should desire to exemplify.
In the Middle East, GCM disciple makers meet people everyday who are depressed and hurting for many reasons such as divorce, abuse, neglect, abandonment, and poverty. However, we see this as an opportunity to show the love of Christ and demonstrate the peace and joy that can only be found in Him.
One of our disciple makers, Navid, struggled with depression for years as a result of his family breaking up and sexual abuse. When we first met him, he was in a dark place. His whole existence was sitting alone in a dark room, chain smoking cigarettes. He had no understanding of why he was alive. He was emotionally numb and had no hope for his future.
Sadly, Navid’s story is not unique. Day after day, we continue to meet people like him who are asking “god,” “Why am I here?” What a significant opportunity for us to reach them with the love of God. They see something different in us than in everyone else around them. Even those who are affluent still feel there is something missing in their lives. As a result, they too have deep depression inside. When they meet us, the response is always the same—”Why are you so happy? What do you have to be happy about?”
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“Their response is always the same—“Why are you so happy? What do you have to be so happy about?””
In Navid’s case, the disciple maker he met replied, “What do you have to be so depressed about?” After Navid shared his troubles, the disciple maker said, “That’s all? I have much worse troubles in my life!” With laughter, the disciple maker explained to Navid he did not have to live in this depressed state.
That conversation led these two to become friends and, eventually, Navid became a disciple of Christ. Today, he is one of GCMs core leaders. What we learn from his story is that God will stop at nothing to reach people. He is absolutely committed to using every opportunity to reach the lost. The question is—are we?
We encourage you today to take a moment and ask God to increase your heart of compassion toward Muslims. Ask God to open opportunities for you like this—to be able to see the hurting, the brokeness, and the humanity in the lost. Commit today to be a tool in the hand of God to show God’s love to the hurting and depressed around you.
#UNTILJESUS
Read Navid’s full story by clicking below. Please share his and other inspiring stories from our website on your social media channels. Help us spread the word about how God is transforming lives in the Muslim world.
With your generous gift to GCM, you are helping bring hope to the hopeless and wholeness to the broken. Thank you for getting involved with us in transforming Muslims worldwide through Jesus Christ.