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A Miracle of Life
Assefa and Terefa prayed and prayed for months that God would open doors for
them among the Muslim people in a little village of Ethiopia. For a long time,
the doors seemed to be shut. But then one day they heard the sound of crying.
They looked out their window and saw a crowd heading to the graveyard,
weeping as they went. A man in front held a little girl in his arms, covered
with a sheet.
Assefa and Terefa knew the little girl. Her name was Khadija. Assefa said to
Terefa, “This is God’s moment of opportunity! Let’s rush into the funeral and
pray that Jesus will raise Khadija from the dead!”
Terefa said, “You’re crazy! What if Jesus doesn’t raise her? They’ll kill us!” But
before he could stop him, Assefa ran to the funeral. Terefa ran into the bushes.
He covered himself with leaves, dirt, and branches to hide himself. He called
out to Jesus to do something to help them.
Assefa made his way through the crowd until he was walking side by side with
the father, who was carrying the dead girl. Assefa held out his arms, and the
father allowed him to carry the girl.
After a short time, Assefa stopped and began to pray that Jesus would raise
Khadija from the dead. The people became very angry. They lunged at Assefa.
But at that moment, a little arm came out from underneath the sheet, then
fell back again. The people were stunned. But after a moment, they grew angry
again and again lunged at Assefa.
Then Khadija sat straight up! The sheet fell off her face. She looked at her
father and cried, “Father!” At that moment, all 214 Muslims at the funeral
dropped to their knees and confessed Jesus Christ as Lord!
A few months later, all 214 Muslims, plus Khadija herself, came to a Pentecostal
church to be baptized in water. But that day there were 216 people in the
crowd. Another man, Alemeyehu, who was a Muslim witch, had come to curse
the new believers and to cause them to stumble in their faith. As he heard the
gospel preached, and as he heard all 215 testimonies of salvation, his hard
heart began to soften.
At the end of the preaching, at the altar call, Alemeyehu ran to the front to receive
Jesus! Before the day ended, 216 Muslims had been baptized and openly
confessed Jesus as Lord and Savior!
Information for this story was provided by workers in Ethiopia and is used
with permission from Assemblies of God World Missions.
©2007 The General Council of the Assemblies of God. All rights reserved. Permission granted to reproduce and adapt lesson components for exclusive use in the local church. Any other use requires written permission. |
