Ibrahim1 has spent the last twenty years or so living as an ex-pat in Monterrey. Originally from Iran, Ibrahim came to Mexico looking to do business and make a better life for himself.
As a Persian, there were two things that he was extraordinarily proud of—that he came from one of the oldest civilizations in the world and being a Muslim.
For that reason, Ibrahim never learned Spanish, preferring to only speak his native Persian language and English.
And after all of those years, he also never gave up his fervent belief in Islam.
By this time living in Mexico, Ibrahim never thought he would have any kind of encounter with God.
But thankfully, God had other plans.
In one of our youth events, God set up a divine appointment with Ibrahim and a missionary to Iran. Keep reading to hear the story!
The Divine Set up
On May 2 – 5, we held our annual youth evangelism event called INERCIA here in Monterrey, Mexico.
During this event, we gather youth from all over the country of Mexico to listen to conferences about missions and evangelism.
One hundred seventy-one teenagers and young adults gathered in our church, Amistad de Monterrey, to attend the event, coming from all over the city of Monterrey as well as the surrounding region.
Argentinian missionary Samuel Nielsen was our guest speaker.
Samuel and his wife have been a part of church planting and missions in the Middle East for decades now. Having him speak to our young people was an incredible experience as we listened to the stories of God’s providence, healing, and miracles on the mission field.
On Saturday, the last day of the conference, Samuel was leaving the auditorium after one of our sessions.
At that moment, someone came up to him, and thrust a Bible into Samuel’s hand.
“Hello, Samuel! You don’t know me, but while on vacation in Greece two weeks ago, someone gave me this Bible. It’s in a language I don’t understand—I think it’s Arabic! Since you work in missions to Muslims, perhaps you can do something with it.”
Samuel looked down. He recognized the Bible right away.
It was in Persian, the language of Iran! In fact, the ministry organization that he is a part of, Elam, is the Bible’s publisher.
Samuel and I walked out of the auditorium in awe both laughing and smiling.
What are the odds that a Bible published by Elam Ministries in the Persian language would be handed to a Mexican tourist—in Greece! They must have thought the brown-skinned Mexican looked Middle Eastern.
With the Persian Bible in hand, we walked out of the auditorium.
Walking out of the auditorium—I kid you not!—another man came up to Samuel.
“Hello, Samuel! You don’t know me, but I’ve worked with a guy named Ibrahim for the past 12 years. He’s from Iran, doesn’t speak Spanish, and I don’t know where to go to get a Bible in his native language. Could you help me?”
Samuel stood there with the Bible in his hands that he had just received not 30 seconds earlier.
We both stood there, shocked. Samuel exclaimed, “I know now why this Bible came to me!”
Samuel explained that he had the perfect Bible to give to Ibrahim.
After asking for the man’s cell phone, Samuel sent an audio message to Ibrahim, in Persian, inviting him to church the following day.
Ibrahim replied yes.
The Divine Appointment
The very next day we had a Muslim visit our congregation.
Ibrahim came and stayed through the entire service as Samuel shared the Gospel from the stage.
We all were praying for Ibrahim in that moment!
After the sermon, Samuel went to talk with Ibrahim. The proud Persian had some rather direct questions for Samuel.
“Why do you not believe in Muhamed? Why do you not believe the sacred writings of the Quran?”
Samuel quickly answered his questions, all in Persian. But then, he asked Ibrahim a question of his own.
“Your people, the Persians, is older than Islam. Before Muhamed ever came to be, the Persians were already a mighty empire. That means Islam is not your real inheritance.
Do you want to know what your real inheritance is?”
Then, Samuel took Ibrahim to the book of Daniel with the Persian Bible that God provided for this precise moment.
Then King Darius wrote to all the peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth:
DAniel 6:25-27
“Peace be multiplied to you.
26 I make a decree, that in all my royal dominion
people are to tremble and fear before the God of Daniel,
for he is the living God, enduring forever;
his kingdom shall never be destroyed,
and his dominion shall be to the end.
27 He delivers and rescues; he works signs and wonders
in heaven and on earth, he who has saved Daniel
from the power of the lions.”
Ibrahim was stunned. Before Islam had ever crossed the boarders of Iran, another God had reached his people and had been proclaimed the living God—Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews.
That means that his ancestors had been introduced to the worship of the one, true God, well before Muhamed came with his Quran.
With this newfound knowledge, Ibrahim couldn’t simply dismiss Christianity as some Western, modern idea.
Our faith in Christ comes to us from the Jews, who gave us our Messiah, and taught us to worship the one, true God.
The Divine Aftermath
Tears came to Ibrahim’s eyes.
He finally came to an encounter with the Lord of heaven and earth, and it shook him to his core.
“My friend,” Ibrahim said, “You have no idea how much I needed this moment.”
Samuel and our new friend Ibrahim embraced. Then, Samuel prayed for him.
We continue to pray for Ibrahim.
I don’t know where he is today, but after this encounter with the might hand of God, I’m sure that he knows that there is a God who loves him.
I believe it’s safe to say that this is much more than we can say for Allah.
Thank you for your prayers and financial support!
Through your partnership, God is using you to raise up a new generation of leaders in the Church worldwide.
Friend, we need your prayers.
Please pray that God would continue to draw people from all nations to an encounter with Christ through the ministry of Coles on a Mission.
We couldn’t have planned anything like this story of Ibrahim!
These kinds of miraculous “coincidences” are coordinated by God Himself, as He moves through your prayers.
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- Name changed. ↩︎
