A Frontiers USA story —
Abdi handed us tiny cups of sweetened chai tea. It was a hot afternoon, but sitting under the shade of a tree and drinking the hot tea refreshed our bodies.
“What’s this tree called in your language, Abdi?” I asked, gazing into its branches.
He was about to answer, when he suddenly stated. “I just remembered a dream I had last night. I was under this tree, and you both were here!”
Keith and I had just arrived in Abdi’s village that morning. We were on a tour of the region, sharing about Jesus while scouting out future locations for our team and searching for persons of peace (individuals who open the doors of a community for the Gospel). God seemed to have prepared Abdi for our arrival through his dream.
Abdi was one of the first villagers to greet us. He had immediately welcomed us into his home. Now we were at his farm on the edge of town where he proudly showed off his fruit trees. We had just finished praying with him for God to bless his land with fruitfulness.
“In my dream,” he recounted, “I was sitting under this very tree. It was full of fruit and I was gathering it; I gathered more than I could eat and then ate until I was full from eating so much good fruit. Then the school master came to me and told me we had guests, who must have been you guys,” he said to us. “He called me to a banquet to celebrate your arrival. I went and sat down and saw the banquet all laid out, but I didn’t get to eat any of it because then I woke up.”
The rest of the day Abdi introduced us to his family and to many others in the village. Later, when we met with his friends, Abdi recounted his dream to them. They all agreed that Keith and I must be the men from his dream.
Abdi asked about our faith in Jesus. Over a simple meal of rice and meat, we shared the good news with him as he peppered us with questions about how we follow Jesus.
He invited us to stay the night in his home. We laid out the mats and let the day’s exhaustion wash over us.
In the middle of the night, the police came. After a lengthy discussion with our host, they escorted us to the police station to keep us overnight “for our own safety”. They let us go the next day, and we left the village to carry on with the rest of our tour of the region.
We were not able to say goodbye to Abdi and our new friends. But we are not discouraged. God led us to a man who is eager to learn more about Jesus and who can open the door for the Gospel in his town.
Pray for more opportunities to connect with Abdi, as well as other men and women like him. And praise God who turns peoples’ hearts to Him.
For the original article on the Frontiers USA website, go here
