A Stone Chapel in Brussels. 3 Muslim Women. And God
Editor’s Note: This is Part Two in Journey’s summer series, “Stories From the World of Missions.” Every two weeks this summer, we will publish an article recounting a story from the experiences of our founder-director who was privileged to serve two decades as a missionary in Europe. We hope you will join us here for a summer of rejoicing at the works of our great God. This story focuses on a miraculous encounter between God and three Muslim women in a stone chapel in Brussels, Belgium.
My family and I were privileged to serve on the pastoral team at an international church in Brussels, Belgium, for three years. It was a great season in our lives, one when we were blessed to walk with so many wonderful people and see God work wonder after wonder.
The African Fellowship in our church conducted a monthly all-night prayer meeting. When I say “all-night,” I don’t mean an American “all-night,” i.e., a prayer meeting that lasts until midnight. I mean a prayer meeting that lasts until the sun is up the next morning, a continuous 12 hours of prayer. And when I say “prayer,” I don’t mean an American “prayer” meeting, i.e., one filled with talking, singing, and refreshments, but little prayer. No, I mean a meeting in prayer. Yes, there was always a brief teaching or exhortation, a testimony or two, and, of course, worship, but the overwhelming substance of the meeting was prayer. These were intense, moving, and joyful times in the presence of God. Our African brothers and sisters in Christ taught us how to pray by inviting us into their times of prayer.
Our church was home to people from 80 nations, one body of believers seriously invested in taking the Gospel to the world, including the many refugees in Brussels seeking asylum. Our church and a great group of missionaries from another denomination worked together closely in this effort. Teams were active in visiting and ministering in refugee centers, providing transportation to church, providing meals, conducting social events, and addressing practical issues like translation and training in trades.
Every church service, including our all-night prayer meetings, saw many refugees in attendance. This even included Muslims from time to time. This led to challenges that had to be addressed, but we were blessed to have a strong leadership team of former Muslims who were able to handle them. I do remember the Easter evening service when a young Muslim threatened my life. I remember the all-night prayer meeting in the midst of the heightened threats of terrorist attacks during the Iraq War when seven young Iraqi men wearing large bulky coats walked in our doors. Thankfully, situations like these were few.
DIVINE APPOINTMENT
Our November all-night prayer meeting one year began in our church facilities but then moved to downtown Brussels, where we had reserved time in a chapel in the area of the European Parliament. We gathered there specifically to pray for Europe, its leaders, and its people.
The chapel was made of stone and was unheated, making for a chilly physical setting. But this had no effect on the spiritual atmosphere: people had come with their own internal fires, ready individually and collectively to fervently seek the face of God.
We had an extended time of open prayer where people were free to pray on their own, kneeling, sitting, or walking about. Some prayed silently, others in whispers, while there were those who lifted their voices to God in praise or intercession.
During this time, I knelt alone at the back of the platform area. The bare, finished stone made for a cold “altar,” but the spiritual intensity in the room made that of no effect.
As I was praying, I felt a tap on my shoulder and heard a voice whisper, “Pastor.” I turned to see who was speaking to me. He was a faithful and committed member of the church, a man always ready to serve. He apologized for interrupting my prayers and then continued, “Pastor, do you see these people here at the front? They are from my home country of Iran and have just arrived here in the city. They are Muslim, but they say they can no longer believe as they have been taught. They say God led them to come to Brussels, and told them that when they arrived, they were to look immediately for a church, go into it, and talk to the leader. That leader would reveal to them the Truth, the true way to eternal life. Pastor, you are that man. Will you talk with them? They don’t speak English, so I will translate for you.”
Just in front of the platform stood three women. I rose to my feet and walked toward them. It was evident that they felt out of place, but it was even more clear that they were resolved: they had come with a purpose.
I greeted each of them and then repeated what my brother in Christ had told me. “Is this true?” I asked through my translator-partner in this work of God. “God told you to come into this church? God told you that He would show you the true way to Him tonight?”
“Yes,” they replied. Even without translation, I could see their intent and feel their intensity: they were on a mission, and that mission was about to be achieved. Anticipation filled the air.
THE MOMENT
I shared the Gospel with them.
I told them of God’s holiness and perfection.
They told me they knew this was true.
I told them about our separation from God because of sin: our father Adam’s sin and our individual sins.
They said they knew this was true as well.
I told them the hopelessness of our situation: because of our sin, we could never enter the presence of God, never know God, and so, would be forever separated from Him.
They told me they knew this was true; they could feel it.
I told them about Jesus, the second person in the Trinity, who had come to earth as a human being, lived a sinless life, died on the cross as our substitute, and was then raised from the dead to make it possible for us to receive and walk in newness of life. What all our good works can never achieve, Jesus delivered in His death and resurrection. If we believe in Jesus – who He is and what He accomplished in his death on the cross and resurrection – we can know that we have eternal life.
“Do you believe this?” I asked.
Through their tears, they nodded and responded affirmatively.
It was clear that their eyes were open to the truth. It was clear that their hearts had embraced it.
My brother and I led these three in prayer, taking our time to allow the Holy Spirit to work deeply in their hearts. They weren’t just “asking Jesus into their hearts.” They were laying their lives on His altar of confession, repentance, forgiveness, and acceptance. His presence was almost tangible; none of us had a desire to hurry as He performed the greatest of all miracles: the transformation of the human heart.
After our final amen, I gave them pastoral instruction in what they needed to do in the days following and what we would be doing to help them in their new life. New Bibles for each was step one with many more blessings to come from the Lord.
They thanked me profusely for talking and praying with them before telling me they didn’t wish to take up any more of my time. I assured them they were not “taking up my time.” It was my great joy and privilege to share this time with them and to be present for their entrance into the Kingdom of God. I told them that when we first met, we had greeted each other as strangers, but now, we will always be able to greet each other as brothers and sisters in Christ.
FAITH
These three precious women had taken a significant risk in coming to Brussels.
They had taken a great leap of faith to leave the only faith they had ever known and act on the instructions of a God they did not yet know: to enter a church, find a pastor, and ask him to show them the way to eternal life. God had been faithful to walk every step of the way with them.
And, miracle of miracles, in a city the size of Brussels, He had led them to this chapel where, late on a Friday night, a group of believers “just happened” to be praying.
And, even more, in a land whose language they could not speak, God led them to a man from their home country who could not just translate my telling of the Gospel but do it in a way that they could hear, understand, and even feel it – he was just the right person to pastor them through this life-giving experience.
A LAST LOOK
The following June, my family and I left to return to the US for itineration, traveling from church to church to bring our report and raise additional funding for our ministry. The last service I was a part of in the church was the Sunday afternoon service, one designed to welcome and minister to refugees. It was an emotional moment for me to leave the sanctuary for the last time. Because of other obligations, I had to leave before the service concluded. After I exited the glass doors of the sanctuary into the lobby, I turned to look one final time. Looking through the glass, I saw the congregation standing in worship, everyone facing the platform.
With one exception. One person near the back, a woman, had turned toward the back and was looking at me as I left. She lifted one hand, waving to me, as her face simultaneously registered happiness and pain. It was one of the three women in the chapel. It was the one who had, by faith, led her friends out of Iran and Islam to a stone chapel in Brussels, trusting God would meet them there.
As I walked out the church doors for the final time, she stood among the faithful, lifting her heart in worship, listening to God’s Word, and growing with other disciples of Jesus Christ.
I’ve often wondered where her journey in Christ led her. I’ll never know; not in this life. But this I do know: it began in a small stone chapel Brussels; it will culminate in a great throne room in eternity where, side by side, we will worship our Great God and Savior.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Let’s continue taking the Gospel of Jesus to all the world as He commanded (Matthew 28.18-20).
Let’s come back to believing God for Book of Acts, supernatural leading, and divine appointments as we take the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the world, beginning with our own front door.
Let’s come back to prayer as the core ministry of the church. Extended and intense times of praying together was the heartbeat the New Testament church, the church that saw God work the wonders we see in Acts. Does your church give more than moments to prayer in its Sunday services? Does your church have meetings devoted exclusively to prayer? Let’s come back to Acts 1 prayer that we might then experience Acts 2 through 28 power!
Let’s equip believers for the work of the ministry (Ephesians 4.9-16). Thank God my brother in Christ in Brussels was there that evening. Let’s be clear: he could have easily done what I did in leading them to Christ; he had done it before. But, as their vision had told them to ask for the church leader, he brought them to me. And after our time together that evening, it was my brother who then introduced them to the fellowship of Iranians who were able to care for them and disciple them in community.
Let’s establish making New Testament disciples of Jesus as Job One in the church. Not growing the church. Jesus said He would add to the church as we make disciples, followers of Christ who are willing to trust and obey Him no matter the cost.
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