NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE GOSPEL:

As we ate our dinner at the T4G conference, I asked Daniel, a dark-skinned man in his early 30's who looked almost Eastern Indian, to explain how he came to know Jesus Christ. 

Daniel was born and raised in Sudan in a Muslim home.  He grew up not merely reading the Qu'ran, but memorizing all of it.  He, by all accounts of the word, was a faithful Muslim.  When he turned 18, he enlisted into the ranks of the Mujaheddin (Muslim freedom fighters).  He was literally a young extremist in the making, attending Islamic school to help him better understand his purpose as a young Muslim man fighting to conquer the world through Islam.

For his final exam, he was directed to study and present a thesis on drawing closer to Allah.  So Daniel visited a library with another Mujaheddin prospect.  While perusing the library (still in Sudan), he stumbled upon a bible (but actually, in God's sovereignty, nothing is ever accidental).  He remarked, "It was the first time I had ever seen a bible."  His thought process went like this:  "I thought, 'I will debunk once and for all this Christianity thing the bible speaks of. That will surely impress my teachers.'"

He took the bible, along with a book by Josh McDowell, "More than a Carpenter", home to read and study.  As he read, he was gripped. 

Shaken. 

Moved. 

He wanted to finally know the truth that had been hidden from him.

4 1/2 months later, Daniel surrendered his life to Jesus Christ.  The phrase Jesus used in the bible, "Take up your cross and follow me" had much more significance in Daniel's life than for those of us in America.  As a young man in what now was his 20's, Daniel was disowned by his own family because of his new found trust in Jesus Christ.  In broken English, Daniel lamented, "I haven't seen my family in 15 years.  I haven't even talked to them."  Suddenly, a giant smile with bright white teeth emerged, "But I have a much bigger family in Christ now, and you are my brothers."

I was literally speechless as I listened to Daniel tell the 6 of us his story.  Today, Daniel is a missionary with an organization that takes the gospel of Jesus Christ into Muslim countries where people, much like himself, have never seen or touched a Bible.

NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE GOSPEL to reach sinners wherever they are and change lives!