Recently, one of our workers in North Africa shared a report about how she followed Jesus’ example by connecting with Muslim friends outside her comfort zone.  

Two Arab friends invited me to a café that “opened at midnight and closed during Ramadan since it is a holy month”. Knowing their very liberal views, I set clear boundaries: “I do not talk to men beyond greeting them, smoke or drink alcohol.” Upon arrival, the scene shocked me: Female singers performing with gay male dancers, lots of smoking shisha, teenage prostitutes serving alcohol to men in their forties and in the middle, my friends waving at me from their table. I wanted to run straight out of the building. 

Despite my initial impulse to leave, I felt compelled to stay, reflecting that Jesus sat and spoke with tax collectors and prostitutes. Despite the overwhelmingly loud music, we ended up having a conversation about what drew my friends to this life. One explained she was seeing five men simultaneously because divorce is so common in their country – “Why not just cut the middle ground and see multiple people before you get married?” The other shared how her current lifestyle made her feel “far more alive than religion ever did.” 

This candid discussion allowed me to share my own perspectives, leading to thought-provoking questions. Both friends have brought up that I can sit and talk with people who do ‘very sinful things’ and not do it myself, with one asking, “Is this because you follow Jesus?” 

I have invited both girls to read the Bible with me and discover true freedom and love in it. They have not said yes or no - both joke that if God can make them feel as good as these parties and succession of romantic relationships make them feel, then they’ll believe me.  

Pray for them to see how the temporary pleasures of this world will fail them, but Jesus never will. Pray for wisdom in hanging out with them and their friends and for those who are engaging in more “seedy” behaviour.