Twenty minutes had passed already. The sun was going down, and they were looking everywhere, but they only saw men in the park.
Sophia, an International Mission Board missionary, joined another IMB missionary and Maryam, a South Asian Christian. They went to the park to share the gospel, but approaching a man in their Muslim-majority city was out of the question. They kept walking and watching.
Even if they went home without a single conversation, Sophia knew Maryam would want to try again. This woman who had grown up with a distrust of Muslims, now searched a park for a Muslim woman to tell about Jesus. When Sophia first invited her along, Maryam never imagined a Muslim could come to know Jesus. But the more they went out sharing the gospel together, the more God softened her heart.
Transformed heart
“One day, I found she was sharing in the park by herself, without me,” Sophia said with a laugh. These days, she shares regularly — with classmates, with rickshaw drivers, with women in the park, when she can find them.
God transformed Maryam’s heart. He could transform this walk through the park, too.
“So we stopped,” Sophia said, “and prayed, ‘God, give us just one woman to talk to.’”
Then they spotted her — a girl sitting alone on a bench.
Meeting the girl on the bench
She looked like other conservative Muslim women in the area, covered in black except for her face. They approached casually, not wanting to frighten her. It was Eid al-Adha – “one of the biggest Muslim holidays here,” Sophia said. They greeted her and asked about her holiday plans.
Her name was Tara, and she wasn’t intimidated at all.
“You may think I’m a Muslim from the way I dress,” she said, “but actually in my heart, I have left Islam.”
“I was a little shocked,” Sophia said, hearing such a bold statement from a stranger. Tara told them she was a university student at a conservative Islamic school, but she had grown disillusioned and discontent with the religion. “I don’t believe in Islam anymore,” Tara said.
Searching
Without knowledge of God, she had no one to pray to, and it left her lonely. She’d been searching — Buddhism and Hinduism from friends, even a meeting with atheists, who struck her as unhappy, following only themselves.
“Do you know any Christians?” Sophia asked. “Would you like to hear what we believe?”
“Sure, please share.”
They read about Jesus’ birth, and Tara was hungry for more. When she asked about church, Sophia described their congregation of about 40 believers, many from a Muslim background.
Though she wasn’t ready to visit the church, Tara continued her interest in learning. Sophia and Maryam met with her every week in coffee shops, tea shops, Sophia’s home, wherever they could talkthat wasn’t too loud or have “too many ears and eyes” observing them.
Finding her closest friend
They read through the Gospel of John. One November day in a coffee shop, they reached the passage on the Samaritan woman at the well, and Sophia noticed Tara was crying.
“Tara, I see you have tears,” Sophia said. “Let’s stop. Let’s talk about it.”
That day, Tara prayed to receive Christ.
Soon after, she wanted to visit the church, though nervous how believers would receive her in a hijab. “They will love you,” Sophia told her. “Don’t worry.” Tara went and was welcomed.
That Christmas, 80 people packed Sophia’s apartment, singing and dancing in circles. Across the room, Sophia saw Tara, wearing red Christmas garland like a scarf and a smile stretched across her face.
“Tara grew up very conservative — music was not even allowed in her home. But now she’s dancing, worshipping the Lord with us with music and songs.”
That spring, Tara was baptized. She thought back to that day in the park and told Sophia: “I really feel this God is so personal. He knew I was lonely, and He brought you to me.”
She had found Jesus — her Savior and closest friend.
But her family back home had no idea.
Counting the cost at home
After her baptism, Tara went home for the Eid al-Adha holiday. She was afraid to tell her family she had not only rejected Islam but followed Jesus.
When she confided in a friend that she’d been learning about Christianity, word spread in her community. For two weeks, relatives came daily — uncles, aunts, grandparents, parents — all telling her the same thing.
“Islam is the truth. Do not ever think about other paths. You should stay on this path. This is the righteous path.”
They didn’t even know she was following Jesus; they only thought she was curious about Christianity. What would they do when they learned the truth?
“It will not be easy for her to completely be honest with her parents about getting baptized and coming to church,” Sophia said. “But we’re still praying with her and hoping that she will stand strong and grow and be able to share with her family.”
Holding onto faith
God is using Tara’s witness. She has already brought several friends to church, most of them other university students. One young man keeps coming back and said he wants to become a Christian and be baptized.
“He talks like a Christian. He says, ‘We need to share the gospel with all the world,’” Sophia said. “He has a lot of knowledge of the Bible right now. I pray he’ll take that step of obedience.”
The river where Tara was baptized runs behind a Hindu village. The church has baptized believers there for years, and the villagers have come to know them. They watch the baptisms, cater the meals afterward, and have heard the gospel themselves.
But Sophia knows how fragile faith can be in this region.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen next year if severe persecution happens,” she said. “So I pray hard with Maryam and with our church, that Tara will remain in her faith. Because it can be so hard to remain in faith.”
Pray with us:
- Pray for Tara to stand firm and keep growing in her faith, whatever the coming year brings. Pray for courage and wisdom for Tara as she considers being fully honest with her family about her baptism and her decision to follow Jesus, and that God would soften their hearts toward her.
- Pray for the university student who keeps coming to church to truly understand the gospel, profess faith in Christ and be baptized.
- Pray for the gospel seeds already sown among the Hindu villagers near the baptism river to take root.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Emily Hall and originally published by the International Mission Board.
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