{"id":9769,"date":"2019-11-15T15:44:51","date_gmt":"2019-11-15T15:44:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/?post_type=conexion&p=9769"},"modified":"2019-11-19T15:16:21","modified_gmt":"2019-11-19T15:16:21","slug":"sarahs-search","status":"publish","type":"conexion","link":"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/en\/blog\/sarahs-search\/","title":{"rendered":"Sarah\u2019s search"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Sarah* was devout. She wanted to help her Christian school friends\nbecome Muslims. They were kind people, and she didn\u2019t want them to go to hell. So\nshe started buying books about religion, watching debates and reading articles.\nShe\u2019d ask her Christian and Hindu friends clever questions to help them see\ntheir mistakes and realise the truth.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

\n

By the time Sarah was at senior high school, she was\nreciting prayers every morning, memorising two pages of the Quran every week,\nand fasting every Monday and Thursday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

\n

Yes, Sarah was devout. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

\n

But she was also curious.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

\n

Compelled by curiosity<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n

It was curiosity that took Sarah along to a talk held by the\nChristian student group, Perkantas (the IFES movement in Indonesia). The flyer\nhad been well designed and caught Sarah\u2019s attention. She wanted to go. She knew\nher boundaries \u2013 she wouldn\u2019t join in any worshipping or praying \u2013 she was just\ncurious. As she listened to the talk on salvation by grace, she thought again\nhow wrong Christians were.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

\n

Curiosity took her along to a second Perkantas event, this\ntime a seminar about the Trinity. Sarah wanted to know what was behind the\nconcept of the Trinity. She wanted to see for herself just how weak that\nChristian concept was.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

\n

But she came away a bit dissatisfied\u2026 It wasn\u2019t as ridiculous as she\u2019d expected. She realised that winning an argument against a Christian over the Trinity might be harder than she\u2019d thought, and probably shouldn\u2019t be attempted.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

\n

Searching for answers<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n

Sarah went back to concentrating on her devotion to Islam.\nShe took it more seriously than ever. But one day, she found herself with a new\nquestion: am I just a Muslim because of my upbringing? Or is Islam objectively and\nuniversally right?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

\n

It was a question she couldn\u2019t answer. But she wanted to\nknow. Her Muslim friends were not much help. Sarah\u2019s Christian friends,\nhowever, were happy to talk it over with her. One discussion got to the crux of\nthe matter: \u201cIn my religion, Jesus was not the one on the cross\u201d, Sarah told them.\nBut their unnerving reply: \u201cWhich one came first? The Bible or the Quran? In\nhistory, the text written closer to the event is more likely to be true.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

\n

Those words were dancing around her mind. She didn\u2019t want to\nbelieve, but she needed to find out the truth.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

\n

Another friend suggested she read Nabeel Qureshi\u2019s book Seeking\nAllah, Finding Jesus<\/em>, the story of a devout Muslim converting to\nChristianity. The writer was from a different Islamic sect to Sarah \u2013 no\nwonder he wavered, <\/em>she thought. Though reluctant at first, Sarah finally\ndownloaded the book and began to read it on her phone. Again, she found her\nperspective on the crucifixion being challenged.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

\n

Could it be true? <\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

\n

She wasn\u2019t yet convinced.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\"\"
Skyler Gerald – Unsplash <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n
\n

Dreams and doubts<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n

But a few days later, Sarah had a dream. She saw Calvary.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

\n

She told herself it was just the result of her recent\nreading, nothing more. But then \u2013 another dream! In this one, she had become a\nChristian and her mother was furious with her.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

\n

Sarah felt scared. She was a Muslim. Why would she become a\nChristian in a dream?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

\n

Sarah\u2019s long search for the truth, her unanswered questions,\ndreams and doubts finally drove her to prayer. She asked God to show himself to\nher. She turned first to the Quran, but didn\u2019t find an answer. Then she turned\nto a Christian website<\/a> and her eyes fell on\nthis:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

\n

\u201cBe still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.\u201d  <\/p>Psalm 46:10<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n

\n

Sarah knew that God was speaking to her directly. At that moment, she decided to open her heart and become a Christian.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

\n

Dramatic changes<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n

Sarah\u2019s life changed dramatically from that moment on. Moved\nby God\u2019s love for her, she felt a new compassion for her family and friends who\ndidn\u2019t know Jesus. Now, instead of wanting her Christian friends to become\nMuslims, she wanted her Muslim<\/em> friends to become Christians<\/em>. It\nwas a complete transformation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

\n

When Sarah moved to Malaysia to go to university, she got involved with FES, the IFES movement there. She went to Bible study and church regularly and made friends who helped her learn more about God. She came to understand more deeply that salvation is not something to keep to yourself. It is for all people around the world. She had been greatly blessed to have heard, understood and experienced God’s love and grace in salvation. Other people needed to know too.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

\n

A new dilemma<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n

Sarah told her family about her faith quite recently. Her\nmother was furious with Sarah. She wouldn\u2019t let her go to church or go to her\nfellowship group. She arranged for someone to come to their house to teach Sarah\nabout Islam. She told Sarah that she\u2019s the reason she\u2019s getting sicker every\nday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

\n

For Sarah, it\u2019s a new dilemma. What does it look like to love\nand honour her mother, while at the same time, following Jesus?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

\n

She writes:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

\n

Whatever happens, I believe God is in control. I\u2019m grateful for the support and prayers of IFES, FES Malaysia and Perkantas. It means a lot to me.                <\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n

\n

* name changed<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

\n
\n
\"IFES<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n
\n

East Asia Week 2019<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n

Jesus is doing incredible things in the lives of students in our biggest global region. Learn from students and find out how God is calling many to know him in some difficult contexts.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

\n
\n \n \n Discover East Asia <\/span>\n <\/a>\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"featured_media":9771,"template":"","area":[455,455,496,496],"theme":[1213],"class_list":{"0":"post-9769","1":"conexion","2":"type-conexion","3":"status-publish","4":"has-post-thumbnail","5":"hentry","6":"area-east-asia","8":"area-indonesia","10":"theme-muslim-ministry"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSarah\u2019s search · IFES Conexi\u00f3n Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sarah* was devout. She wanted to help her Christian school friends become Muslims. They were kind people, and she didn\u2019t want them to go to hell. 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