Timothy Harris

And Brandon, what happened after that was when I would send text messages or try to call the leader of those three Afghan pilots, he would never respond again to me.

And Brandon, what happened after that was when I would send text messages or try to call the leader of those three Afghan pilots, he would never respond again to me.

Wouldn't answer a text or WhatsApp message or a phone call. And it was just heartbreaking because it just immediately just cut off the relationship, not just with him, but also the other two. And so that's one example. Another example is that we have a dear friend from the Middle East. He is an Arab Christian. And we have some refugees in our area that are from North Africa.

Wouldn't answer a text or WhatsApp message or a phone call. And it was just heartbreaking because it just immediately just cut off the relationship, not just with him, but also the other two. And so that's one example. Another example is that we have a dear friend from the Middle East. He is an Arab Christian. And we have some refugees in our area that are from North Africa.

And so we, Miriam and I, have been befriending them. It's been amazing, Brandon, though. the friendship that we've had with them, and we've gotten so close. Nice. Some of them call us their parents. It's just so beautiful. And we have shared good news of Jesus with them. We've tried to hit that balance of grace and truth. Well, we had a visitor come from the Middle East. He is a dear friend.

And so we, Miriam and I, have been befriending them. It's been amazing, Brandon, though. the friendship that we've had with them, and we've gotten so close. Nice. Some of them call us their parents. It's just so beautiful. And we have shared good news of Jesus with them. We've tried to hit that balance of grace and truth. Well, we had a visitor come from the Middle East. He is a dear friend.

We've known him for years, since 2012. And we just thought it'd be great if he shared the gospel with two of these refugee men, their brothers, and he could do it in Arabic. So we thought that would be so much better for them in their heart language. And so he shared one night after a large meal they hosted us, he shared about 45 minutes.

We've known him for years, since 2012. And we just thought it'd be great if he shared the gospel with two of these refugee men, their brothers, and he could do it in Arabic. So we thought that would be so much better for them in their heart language. And so he shared one night after a large meal they hosted us, he shared about 45 minutes.

And I was watching the body language of my North African Muslim friends, and it wasn't good, Brandon. They were Yeah, they just looked very uneasy, very uncomfortable. Well, about two weeks later, I was at their home once again, and they said to me, Tim, listen, there's something we really want to talk to you about. I said, sure, you guys know I want to talk to you about anything.

And I was watching the body language of my North African Muslim friends, and it wasn't good, Brandon. They were Yeah, they just looked very uneasy, very uncomfortable. Well, about two weeks later, I was at their home once again, and they said to me, Tim, listen, there's something we really want to talk to you about. I said, sure, you guys know I want to talk to you about anything.

Let's have an honest conversation. I want to be friends. You know where I'm coming from. And they said, listen, your friend who came, we really liked him. but he pressured us to make a decision that day to become Christians. And we want you to know right now, we will never leave Islam. We will never leave our religion. We will never become Christians.

Let's have an honest conversation. I want to be friends. You know where I'm coming from. And they said, listen, your friend who came, we really liked him. but he pressured us to make a decision that day to become Christians. And we want you to know right now, we will never leave Islam. We will never leave our religion. We will never become Christians.

And if you think that being kind to us or helping us through all these months will make us a Christian, we just want you to know right now, it won't work. It's not happening. It's off the table. And so, yeah. So now thank God, thank God, unlike the other situation, the Lord really redeemed this in a precious and beautiful way.

And if you think that being kind to us or helping us through all these months will make us a Christian, we just want you to know right now, it won't work. It's not happening. It's off the table. And so, yeah. So now thank God, thank God, unlike the other situation, the Lord really redeemed this in a precious and beautiful way.

I was able to respond to them and said, listen, you guys know that Miriam and I love you. And we want you to be assured that we will love you whether you ever believe what we believe or not. But I'm going to tell you, and I said a lot of other things, but Brandon, here's how I closed. I said, listen, I will never pressure you to believe what I believe, but I will pray for it every day.

I was able to respond to them and said, listen, you guys know that Miriam and I love you. And we want you to be assured that we will love you whether you ever believe what we believe or not. But I'm going to tell you, and I said a lot of other things, but Brandon, here's how I closed. I said, listen, I will never pressure you to believe what I believe, but I will pray for it every day.

And it was really neat. It just by then we expressed so much honesty back and forth. that one of the brothers when he heard me say that he just burst out laughing like you know he was just saying that's what i would expect of you so so sometimes you know in our eagerness and our in our you know we share too much too fast or too hard And so that's one side, again, of that pendulum swing.

And it was really neat. It just by then we expressed so much honesty back and forth. that one of the brothers when he heard me say that he just burst out laughing like you know he was just saying that's what i would expect of you so so sometimes you know in our eagerness and our in our you know we share too much too fast or too hard And so that's one side, again, of that pendulum swing.

But honestly, just as I just share this final comment about that, Brandon, we've seen more people befriend Muslims, and we've met them through Zoom calls and other things, conferences, and we'll ask them, hey, how's it going as you're sharing the good news of Jesus with your Muslim friends? And they'll say, well, we just haven't gotten around to it yet.

But honestly, just as I just share this final comment about that, Brandon, we've seen more people befriend Muslims, and we've met them through Zoom calls and other things, conferences, and we'll ask them, hey, how's it going as you're sharing the good news of Jesus with your Muslim friends? And they'll say, well, we just haven't gotten around to it yet.