I have made two Muslim friends in the last month, and it’s been so refreshing to see them as friends, not as projects. Yes, we may have differences, but they are just people like you and me who love music and food and having fun. I pray God will move in his own way in those friendships and that I simply will be an image of life to them.
DeEdra BranchI have begun to challenge the girls I am discipling by incorporating Scripture memory into our discipleship meetings. It’s a new practice for them and for me, but I hope we will see the value in it and hold each other accountable to it.
I have pretty smooth conversations with most of my girls, because the relationship is there. But there is one in particular who is less open, and it’s really hard to move fluidly through the time. I want to challenge her and ask her tough questions, but fear of not being the “cool” person or the “chill girl” distracts me. I guess it’s a pride issue. Pray that I look past my ego and serve her in the best way she needs.
On the positive side, I can see growth. Coming from a culturally Christian background, I was good at doing church. I knew all the right answers to say and how to put on a pretty face, even among all the brokenness that was underneath. But whether it’s maturity, my circumstance, the people around me, or some combination of it all, I can see that I’m breaking free. I’m learning about the true character of God and praying accordingly.
I understand more of God’s word and am applying it. I am allowing the Spirit to take the lead and becoming OK with following. Things I used to think were only reserved for the “special Christians”—the preachers and home-schooled kids and long-term missionary families—I see now are reserved for all who call on the name of Jesus.
I was reading in 2 Corinthians 3:18—“Our faces, then, are not covered. We all show the Lord’s glory, and we are being changed to be like him. This change in us brings ever greater glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” I can see this. I can see myself being changed to look more like Christ. And as the Scripture affirmed me, I affirmed my friend whom I also see has grown so much in Christ. It’s a beautiful thing.
DeEdra Branch is serving with Go Now Missions as a campus missionary intern at the University of Houston.
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