“What happened to the signal?”
Hamza had been in the middle of watching one of his favorite television shows, when suddenly the screen went blank. Annoyed, he left his chair and headed outside. For some months now he had been having trouble with his satellite dish, and so he began to climb up onto his roof to reattach, yet again, the loose cable. When he went back inside, the TV was working again, but for some reason it was on a different channel. What program is this? He wondered.
Then, astounded, he realized that he was listening to his own dialect! Hamza had never heard his own language being spoken on TV. Even more surprising, the discussion on the program was about what it meant to be a follower of Jesus Christ. Though he was a Muslim, this was a topic about which Hamza had always had many questions. He had seen some programs about this subject before, but always in Arabic, never in the language of his people, his own heart language.
Peering closely at the screen, Hamza suddenly recognized one of the individuals on the program; it was someone that he went to school with, years ago. Thoroughly intrigued by now, he quickly wrote down the number displayed on the screen that invited people to phone in for more information. When someone answered his call, he immediately asked to speak with his old friend. They were both amazed at having reconnected in such a random, bizarre way. After a lengthy conversation, both Hamza and his old schoolmate agreed that they should stay in touch.
“This is not a coincidence,” his friend insisted. “Only God could make your satellite fail and then connect again on our channel, at the exact moment when we were broadcasting in your dialect!”
Thoughtful, Hamza agreed to continue this conversation, and over the weeks and months that have followed he has moved closer and closer to making a decision to follow Jesus as his Lord and Savior.
Pray for Hamza as he continues to explore faith in Jesus Christ. Pray for our follow-up teams, committed to sharing the Gospel through these one-on-one interactions, despite the risk.
R&M are Multiply global workers based in France who are reaching minority language tribal groups in North Africa through StoryChannel, an evangelistic media ministry.
