God’s Sovereign Rescue

Five years ago, a series of God-orchestrated events connected Jadeed*, a Muslim refugee living in a Middle Eastern country, with Matt*, a Global Gates missionary serving in Pennsylvania. Matt encouraged Jadeed to read the New Testament for himself. When they spoke again, Jadeed told him, “I believe. Jesus is God. I want to follow Him.”

Since then, at least 100 people have left Islam and believed in Jesus through Jadeed’s witness or the witness of people he has led to faith. One of those stories is about a man named Abu Kathir*.

Jadeed led Abu to Christ about 4 years ago. For a long time, Abu kept his faith hidden. His wife, Anna*, was an extremely devout Muslim, and he feared she would divorce him if she knew he followed Jesus.

In 2024, police stormed Abu’s home and arrested him for sharing the Gospel with another refugee. He was transferred to a holding prison where he was held in one room with about 40 men awaiting deportation. Even there, he shared the Gospel, and five men left Islam and put their faith in Jesus.

Abu was facing deportation to his home country, where his extended family would likely have him killed for following Jesus. His lawyer’s appeal was denied, and Abu was told there was no hope.

Yet an hour later, he was released.

He was the only prisoner among hundreds to be released during those 11 days. God had answered the prayers of His people, and in His sovereignty, He was using what the enemy intended for evil to embolden Abu’s faith and open doors for others to come to know Him.

Before his arrest, Abu had never told his wife or most of his children about his faith. But God used those circumstances to bring his family into the light. His wife, Anna, and their children put their faith in Jesus. Their oldest son, Khalil*, later said, “I never thought my mom would believe. My sister, maybe eventually, but my mom, never.” But we worship a God for whom nothing is impossible.

Months later, Abu was required to report to the police for routine fingerprinting. An officer recognized him from his previous arrest.

“Weren’t you arrested before and scheduled for deportation?” he asked.

“Yes,” Abu answered.

“Why did we arrest you?”

Abu could have given any answer. Instead, he simply said, “Because I’m a Christian.”

The officer became angry. Abu was arrested again and told that this time he would be deported to his home country and handed over to militias.

It would have been easy to see Abu’s imprisonment as a setback. But even there, God was at work. Over the phone, Abu asked Jadeed to pray for another persecuted Christian he had met in prison. He also asked to continue studying the Bible with Jadeed over the phone while he was there.

In prison, Abu met a man who had been suffering from severe, chronic back pain. Abu began telling him about Jesus, the great Healer, praying for his healing in Jesus’ name and sharing the Gospel with him.

Then came incredible news: the man’s back pain was gone, and he had put his faith in Jesus as his Savior and Lord.

The new believer waited in line for the phone with Abu, and together they shared the news with Jadeed. Abu used the time they had together to share as much as he could with his new brother about his faith.

Even in a place where Abu’s own freedom had been taken away, God was using him to bring the freedom of the Gospel to someone else.

And once again, God was faithful.

Abu was eventually released and required to return to his home country. But instead of handing him over to the government or militias, the authorities allowed him to leave as a free man. And although he had the opportunity to remain silent because of the circumstances surrounding his deportation, Abu chose to tell his extended family about his faith in Jesus anyway, despite the risks.

Today, God continues to use Abu to expand His Kingdom. Please pray for Abu as he continues to follow Jesus and share the Gospel with others. Pray for courage, protection, and opportunities to make Jesus known, even when doing so comes at a cost.

And pray that the seeds Abu has planted would continue to bear fruit for generations to come.

*Names changed for security purposes.