Just as the cold and snow was beginning to fall over much of the country, we set out to fit in one last outreach. Hasan, (a pseudonym) is from Gaza. A year ago, he moved to where his sister is living in the city where I serve. While working here he visited an English club at a church. Hasan wanted to make more friends and had an interest in Christianity, having abandoned his faith in Islam. A Canadian at the English club invited Hasan to his house for Christmas and this is where I met him. We spoke for a couple of hours about Jesus and the gospel. He was very interested and said, “The most interesting thing you told me about Jesus is that he rose from the dead.” He had never heard this before. Hasan explained how he had been struggling with anxiety and depression since his mother died six years before. He had thoughts of suicide and wanted freedom from the darkness. I explained how the same power that raised Jesus from the dead can also save him, both spiritually and psychologically. I showed him John chapter 3 and explained what it means to be born again and how Jesus’ spiritual salvation is available through his death and resurrection. When I asked Hasan if he would like to pray and receive this salvation he said, “yes.” We prayed together, along with my Canadian friend. Hasan worked full time as a nurse at a school on the other side of the city so we could only meet twice a week. I did what I could to be a friend and spiritual support to him and to answer his questions about the Bible which he was trying to read regularly. After meeting with him for a couple of weeks I explained that I needed to visit my family in Canada for a few months. He said he had plans to cross into Europe and would not be there when I returned, but first he wanted to be baptized. I had become an important friend to Hasan. So, two days before I went to Canada we baptized him, a very special moment. Two weeks later when I was in Canada, he messaged to say that since his baptism he felt so much lighter and freer than he had in many years. Free from anxiety and what he called the darkness. I was very happy to hear him and explained how the darkness can return but he always has Jesus with him and needs to keep trusting in Him This was in the spring. In September, Hasan attempted to cross illegally to a Greek island. He made it to the island but was taken by Greek men in black clothing who nearly beat him to death. They sent him back to where he came from without identification. Hasan recovered in a hospital for a week and then went to live with his sister until his broken ribs were healed. When I finally returned there, Hasan had just decided to make a second attempt to enter Greece illegally. This time he was not beaten but was kept in a refugee ‘protection center’ on the Greek island of Samos. I decided to visit Samos and try to be a support to him. Hasan has a court case pending. What the Greeks did to him when they beat him almost to death is illegal. So, Hasan is receiving legal help and has a good chance of being accepted into Europe like he hopes. Admittedly this strong desire to receive sanction in a Western country is an idol for Hasan, but others and I can also see how his faith in Jesus is genuine and I believe that he has a future, and that God will use this man
By a worker from the Middle East