Retreat for Leaders, Disciples in North Africa

This month we organized a four-day retreat with several national leaders with whom we have been working. We also invited several believers who live in the south of the country to this retreat, whom we have been training as leaders of the regions where they live. These believers live in places where it is very difficult to meet with other believers and some of them have been suffering persecution from their own families and from the society that surrounds them. For this reason, we held this retreat in a quiet place a little closer to the capital where we could develop a Christian fellowship as part of the great family of Jesus, something that for many of them was a great blessing and a great encouragement.

During this retreat, we studied several sessions of the Bible such as the new birth, what the church is, the importance of obeying the word, and developing the fruits of the Holy Spirit and the Great Commission. It was a time when many of them participated by asking questions and sharing their testimonies and their sufferings as followers of Christ. In addition to the time of praise, prayer, and celebration of the Lord’s supper, two people decided to be baptized!

M*

When M* was still a Muslim, he lost his father and grew up with his mother and two brothers. The absence of his father caused a great emptiness in him, which is why he began to search for God through Islam; however, he only found the contempt of the people and depression for not finding God in his life. One day, M began to develop a friendship with his friend and neighbor who is one of the leaders with whom we have been working in one of the cities in the south of the country. Through this friendship, the emptiness he felt because of the loss of his father began to be filled through the Bible studies they began to do together. God spoke to his heart, and he felt the peace he was looking for. This month, his friend invited M to the retreat and there he felt like part of a great family of faith, full of love and the presence of God. During the retreat and for the glory of God, M made the decision to believe in Jesus and be baptized.

As a young man, J*  read the Koran and other books that are part of the Muslim religion. During this reading process, he found many contradictions and began to doubt the existence of God. For this reason, he began to read about other religions and watch Christian programs on the Internet that he liked a lot.

Sometime later, he had the opportunity to meet with one of our leaders in the city where he lives to study the Bible with him. Many of J’s questions began to be answered through the discovery studies of the Bible and with the help of this leader who was facilitating these studies.

The leader who was studying about Jesus with him invited J a to come to the retreat. There, God touched his heart in a very special way through the testimony of other brothers who were there. For the glory of God, J made the decision to believe in Jesus and be baptized during the retreat.