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“We really assumed that once we felt a call to the Muslim world we would be ‘in the Muslim world’!” explained Paul. “We looked at opportunities to serve in South Asia or the Middle East, but God directed us here, specifically to our home town—the one place I told the Lord I would never go.” In time, Paul and his family came to see God opening doors for them in the US that might never have been open to them in the countries their new friends came from.
“It’s been a pretty incredible journey. Our small group decided to invite some international students to come to game night at our house. A Saudi student was among those who showed up. He called the next day and asked if he could move in with us to practice his English. Next thing we knew he was living with us and became like part of our family. Two weeks later, he said ‘My cousin is coming from Medina. Can he sleep on the couch for a few nights until he finds an apartment?” Since then, Paul and his family have been able to build meaningful relationships with hundreds of Muslim students, living out the gospel in their midst and sharing it with those who wanted more.
I asked Paul what advice he might give American Christians who want to build relationships with Muslim students or other internationals. “My biggest encouragement is to show up. God has done the heavy lifting in bringing them here from places like Saudi and Libya and Iran, some of the least-reached places in the world, and these are future leaders in their country. Just show up in their lives.”
Practically, what can we do? “One of the biggest needs or opportunities is to actually open their homes. I find that this is doable for a lot of Americans, to actually host an international student. Most universities around the country have programs they can plug into. If they have a student live with them or even just come to their house for Thanksgiving, that student can open a whole world to them. Those first two Saudi guys who stayed with us invited us into their whole community. We’ve been able to meet hundreds of Saudis because of that.”
“For them to see the gospel lived out in the context of daily life, it’s been really powerful,” Paul added. “He’s already been at work in their lives. They come with all kinds of questions. Some, in light of what ISIS is doing, have really been wrestling and asking some tough questions about Islam. Faith is part of our everyday conversations with them.”
In the last two weeks I’ve done four interviews for a series of articles about people like Paul. All are reaching out to the world next door—refugees, immigrants, and international students. These will be published on the Pioneers website and other newsletters as part of a larger campaign. It’s hard to think of anything I’d rather do than telling stories like these. And I’ve done it all from home, typing madly away while listening through a headset to the stories they told me over the phone.
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