I was living in darkness. I didn’t know which way to turn. I was lost. Every night I went to bed confused and cried myself to sleep.
I live in the North-African Maghreb region in a strict Muslim country where Christianity is practically unknown. When my parents divorced, my mother became friends with Christian missionaries, and they began studying the Bible with her and myself. When my Muslim father found out, he took me away from my mother to live with him. I hated my new life there, and a dark depression set in.
One night, my mother had a dream about living near a church. Believing this to be a message from God, she searched for a church that looked like the one in her dream, and when she found it, she moved into the neighborhood. There, through a sequence of events only God could have orchestrated, she met Ibrahim, an evangelist, and began studying the Bible with him. My mother’s heart was touched by the Holy Spirit, and she came to believe in Isa Al-Masih.
Then my mother had another dream, this time about giving bread to her neighbors. She understood the dream to be a call to share her new faith with others, and she decided to be baptized. She became the first believer in Isa Al-Masih in her entire people group.
Meanwhile, still living with my father, my depression deepened. When I would visit my mother, she thought I was sick because I was pale and losing weight. I always told her not to worry. She prayed with me, but Satan did all he could to keep me distracted from the Bible.
One day, I couldn’t take it anymore. I began to weep uncontrollably and told my mother that I couldn’t stay any longer with my father. I felt alone and abandoned. She comforted me, and we prayed together. After she left my room, I prayed by myself. I asked the Lord to come to my aid and take away all this sadness and confusion.
I was filled with joy. God had worked a miracle!
The next morning I woke up with a light heart and a smile on my face. I was overcome with an unexplainable joy, and I understood that God is a living God who answers our prayers. This experience encouraged me to start Bible studies with Ibrahim. Miraculously, my father allowed me to stay with my mother for four months.
Eventually I had to return to live with my father, but I had new confidence and peace, knowing Isa was with me. A few months later, I was baptized in a neighboring country. I am coming to realize that I am part of a very big family (Ummah) in Isa Al-Masih. My mother and I know that the Lord is not finished working in our lives.
