By Eric Barry, VP Training and Outreach
We meet frequently with our field workers. Recently, we had the chance to sit down with a couple who works in North Africa. They told us how they were working with 3 believers – all of them young men. Two of them were pressured by their families to renounce Christianity. They offered them jobs, wives, even hinted at violence should they continue to follow Christ. Sadly, two of them caved and went back to Islam.
But one young man did not – even though it meant persevering alone.
The Only Café in Town
One evening, he was in the café in the town where he lives. In this very small town, it was the only café, in fact, it was really the only place to go and thus it was the hangout for the community.
They were showing the news on the TV. They started showing footage of the aftermath of the Brussels UN bombing. The people started to clap and cheer (yes, this is horrible). Then one man quieted the crowd and said, “you know, we all know we have a Christian here, and we ought to kill him.” The crowd quieted and began to look his way.
An Incredible Act of Bravery
This young man stands up and addresses the crowded diner! He boldly proclaimed Christ and told them all that what they were doing – the way they were cheering innocent deaths and what they were thinking – is wrong. It was an incredible act of bravery, in an isolated place, where he was the only believer.
He literally put his life on the line with a mob of people that were being incited to kill him. He laid all that out, and then turned and walked out of the café. That was it.
Later, the owner of the café came to him and said, “You’re right. Tell me more.” Since then, the café owner has converted and been baptized!
