“When I first came to faith as a teenager more than 15 years ago, I felt that I was the only one,” says Amir, a leader in a Christ-centered faith community on the Arabian Peninsula (AP). “I felt that there weren’t many other believers and especially not any women believers.”
As Amir got older, his family started to put a lot of pressure on him to let them arrange his marriage. He objected to this, as he didn’t want to marry a woman who wasn’t also committed to following Christ. However, he also felt helpless and he didn’t know there were women believers in his country.
“In time the pressure from my family increased and since I was getting older, I felt I had no other choice,” says Amir. “I married the wife they chose for me. Thankfully God redeemed this situation. My wife is very loving and supportive and she accepts my faith, and the other brothers are always praying with me that she will come to know Christ as well.”
In recent years, several men in the local community of believers that Amir fellowships with, have seen their wives come to faith. Ayyub and Amal had been married for seven years when Ayyub first came to faith in Christ. Although Amal knew about her husband’s faith from the very beginning, it took 10 months before she made the decision to trust Christ, too.
“Even when I got baptized she knew,” says Ayyub. “I got baptized and I began to tell my brothers about my faith.”
Although Amal had told her husband he was free to get baptized, she wasn’t happy about his eagerness to share his new faith. “You’re a bit zealous with this stuff, telling your family!” she told him.
“If I don’t start with my family, then where would I start?” Ayyub responded. “I’m going to share with you, too! How do you want God to prove Himself?”
“If He breaks the curse on our lives, I will worship Him!” Amal answered. “I want to get pregnant! If I’m pregnant, I’ll believe.”
Ayyub and Amal had had their first son soon after they got married. Then many years went by, and Amal kept having miscarriages. She had several procedures done, until the doctors finally told her it was impossible for her to get pregnant again.
Although Amal did not really believe that Ayyub’s new faith would make a difference now, she went to the doctor for a pregnancy test that month anyway. She wept when the doctor called her from the waiting room and said, “Come here Amal, Congratulations! You’re pregnant!”
Amal began her new life in Christ, with a new life growing inside her. However, although she was full of joy, she was also worried.
“I was very afraid in the beginning about how I was going to be able to live in this society when everyone around me is a Muslim,” says Amal. “I knew I had to lay a solid foundation in my family. We tried our best to live according to the Bible, which we were reading, and I tried to raise my oldest son by its teachings, and to teach him to be responsible and recognize that many influences in our society could be more detrimental than beneficial to him—but at the same time to love our society, because it’s his country. It’s his society, but the people are lost and we pray for their salvation. That’s the foundation that I tried to lay in our family. I know I must raise my kids in the way that I would like to walk in myself. With my oldest, he is doing good and he is taking responsibility in these areas. We have to live in this society and he must mix with the society, including at his school where he has to study the government curriculum, and everything else.”
Journey with us on the way:
Pray that our children and our young people would come to know Christ.
Pray for believers whose spouses have not yet come to know Christ. Pray that they would have courage and wisdom like Ayyub, as they share with their family members who don’t know Christ.
If you re-publish this post or any part of it in any format, please be sure to credit CAP Voices with the story link: https://capvoices.com/2017/09/marriage-miracles/
إذا كان لديكم مشاركة (شعرية، أدبية، تشجيعية، صلاة، الخ) وتودون مشاركتها معنا فبإمكانكم ارسالها إلى البريد التالي