GOD STORIES

They noticed when they would get a good report from the doctor, people would say, “Praise God.” But when they got a bad report, often people would respond, “We’ll keep praying.” Gary and Susan understood God to be in both situations.

El Gasim was surely staring death in the eye. The pastor told him Paul and Silas’ story, reminding him that he wasn’t the first to be beaten and chained for the sake of Christ. They prayed together, earnestly seeking God’s will.

Watch this incredible story of a former IRA member from Belfast whose life takes an unexpected turn in a French prison.

Pastor Asheesh and his JESUS-film team were forced to leave the village in India. But days later, the chief called them back with a special request.

In his heart, Wesley from Uganda felt that jihad was wrong. “We said we are holier than Christians and we are fighting a jihad”. But his heart would remain with sorrow.

Aisha wanted to know more about Christian beliefs. Determined, she searched on social media to see what she could find. She thought that she could keep all this a secret, but a coworker found her Bible.

Bonnie Barnett walked through the church doors every Sunday, sat next to her father, listened to the sermon, and walked out unchanged. “I walked out unchanged because the Bible was never presented, and the Gospel was never proclaimed”.

An Iranian couple who fled economic hardship and violence were taken hostage by their ‘guides’ (human smugglers), but God had a plan to bring them to Himself.

“It would be so easy just to end it all right here and now,” he said to himself. He sat on the bed, pulled out the handgun, and dropped a bullet into the chamber.

Driven by starvation, Odo made the extremely dangerous, illegal crossing into a neighbouring country in East Asia to look for food. What he found there satisfied more than just his physical hunger!

He grew up in Neak Loeung, Cambodia. He hated Christians, but he had always dreamed of playing guitar someday. So, he decided to go to the music class, despite the believers!

In 1968, the Apollo 8 spacecraft with its three-man crew became the first manned spacecraft to leave the earth’s orbit. But what message could they share that might help unite a world that had become divided in so many ways?

Obadiah fled with his family from Ethiopia to Israel because of the way they were treated as Jews in Ethiopia. But he never expected anyone in Israel to talk about Jesus!

When Taleb read the Bible, he felt a profound difference. He had read the entire Qur’an several times, but never experienced the same sensation as when he read the Bible.

A Japanese man looked to Buddha during many difficult times in his life, but couldn’t find the salvation he was longing for. Then one day he bought a Bible and turned on his radio…

Habib asked his Christian friend, “What makes you treat me so kindly? You allow me to stay here for free. And I’m a Muslim, and you accept me as I am.” It did not make sense to him.

Things do not happen by chance. Even though a missionary couple could not see the big picture in the same way God was seeing it, by trusting Him with their future they were able to follow His lead.

Nigel Keur grew up in Cape Town, where he became immersed in a gang and got into trouble with the law. Despite having money and being able to afford many pleasantries, feelings of inadequacy kept flooding him. There was a void that he desperately wanted to fill.

Nabil and his family were refugees. He had a dream in which he was told, “A great sign—a beautiful message—is coming to you tomorrow. The sign is so great that it must be shared all over the world and with every person.”

Eric Liddell’s athletic achievement at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, was not his greatest life’s work. His race of faith – particularly in China – was his greatest work, and it was the most important to him.

Sports coach Dickens grew up in a slum on the outskirts of Nairobi, Kenya. As his home life turned sour, he decided the streets were a better option for him. There he became a common thug and eventually a deadly criminal.

Marcelino is a member of the Sertanejo community in Brazil where most people are oral learners. As they listened to the audio Scriptures, something remarkable happened.

A sheikh from the local mosque issued a fatwa, a legal opinion from an Islamic religious leader, demanding that Haytham and Mary be expelled from the community they went to serve with the gospel.

Out of six months in prison, Nehad spent 55 days in solitary confinement. He regards them as the best days of his life because in that place he was comforted and knew the Lord.

For many years a Romanian believer was beaten twice a week by the secret police. It is easy to become bitter, but a true Christian always seeks another person’s highest good—even when mistreated.

Ellen told us she would pray for our ministry on the mission field. Ellen came and visited us in our new country four times. On each visit, she brought more people to come and pray in our Muslim neighbourhood.

Two very different women attended a bilingual women’s Bible study group in Europe and over time God changed both of them in ways that did not seem possible at the start.

Rashid had nothing for his children, not even bread. He remembered in the JESUS-film Jesus fed a crowd with fish and bread. So Rashid prayed under the stars. “God, I believe you fed the crowd. Would you please feed my family? I ask in Jesus’ name.”

A missionary to South Asia and his wife looked back on their 13 years there and didn’t think they had made any difference at all. That was until years later their daughter Jennifer shared what happened at the dentist’s office.

They had set up this film showing about the life of Isa (Jesus). Tariq wasn’t sure he could trust them, but he was curious. About 15 minutes into the movie, someone appeared on the screen he never expected to see.

He knows a lot of tricks the Muslims used to use to twist the truth of the Bible, but now he can defend the Gospel even better and help Muslims understand the eternal truth of God’s Word.

“Islam says that faith is the greatest,” Danyal comments, “but in the pages of the Quran I mostly encountered torment and fear.” Hearing that the New Testament puts love at the summit, Danyal wanted to read more about the Bible.

The world with its violence and aggression, its oppression of women, its sadness and loss were not how it had always been. There is a God who made the world beautiful and good. This news was water to the dry soil of Reshma’s heart.

Joshua’s life has been a constant stream of miracles where God accomplished the seemingly impossible.

After all the years of preparation and language learning by a missionary couple, they feared that they would fail to make it through more than a single day in the African desert.

If Jesus asks us to forgive our enemies, then it can be done.

We can all rejoice in understanding that God can bring forth fruit for eternity through our simple and unremarkable acts.

An unfamiliar man slipped into the room and sat on a bench at the back. Respect in this culture means handing the microphone to anyone with social standing. But who is this man?

“God gave His Son for me, and the Action Bible brought my son back to me!”

In a Bible study with Muslim women discussing the deity of Christ, Maryam asked, “But how can Jesus also be God?” The study leader suggested, “Maybe you should ask God to show you the truth of who Jesus is.”

Two men in north India found a family interested in hearing about the God who made the world. The meetings became regular. The neighbours began to notice and liked the stories too.

When we step out in faith and share God’s Word with others, change can happen.

Moon fought anyone and was afraid of no one. He even drank the blood of goats when they were butchered in the market. What kind of person was this? And what would become of him?

We know that God answers prayer and sometimes He answers quickly! What a privilege to witness how He purposefully connects us with the right person at the right time.

A house key in a fish’s belly became a key to the kingdom of God for a Muslim man in Liberia.

Everywhere she turned, Munmun felt like the evils of the world were trying to claw their way into her heart and her mind. She lived in this state for 10 years before the plight of her anxiety came to a head.

God values every person and can use unusual situations to reach people with His Gospel.

In a North African country God uses a multiplication strategy to build His kingdom.

A missionary “home” staff member had prayed many times for God to provide, but her funds were not growing fast enough. She believed, but her inner battle was doubting whether God would miraculously provide for her.

Aulton was placed in a cold, dark jail cell – completely alone, with no bright future. He didn’t know anything about Jesus and didn’t want to know anything. But in that moment in that cell, he said, “God, if You are real, come into my life.”

The love of a brother is a love many take for granted. Akshad would learn this heartbreaking reality in a bitter way.

Discover Navin’s dramatic story of healing from disability that changed him into a living testimony of Jesus’ message of hope and transformation.

Bira discovered that we can’t know everything. “There is no point asking ‘why’ because the whys become a mire in which we might drown. We should trust the Lord.”

Being a church-planter in India is risky, but Nadimah is so grateful for how God has impacted her life and how He is using her to share the Gospel, she is willing to accept the risks that come with it.

For Christians in West African countries like Benin, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast and Ghana, forgiveness is hard and many have strained relationships. Yet God has forgiven us and calls followers of Jesus to do the same.

An Iranian woman confessed: “I read a copy of the Quran from cover to cover. When I finished, I closed it and decided there was nothing in this book for me. There is no hope and no love in this book.”

An Iranian man wanted the whole world to become Muslim, so he left Iran with a mission to convert Europeans.

Many years of prayers by a missions team for the gospel to reach a people group in die Middle East seemed unanswered, as they were not able to go to the group.

The Holy Spirit is the One who directs us to ask the right questions and He reveals the secrets of a person’s heart, so that the doors are opened for the gospel to be shared.

Mustafa began watching YouTube videos about inconsistencies and mistakes found in the Qur’an. He felt as if the scales had fallen from his eyes and that he was finally seeing things clearly.

Lauren had rolled out of bed without making coffee, eating breakfast or even opening her Bible. That morning she felt incredibly underprepared to share the gospel at the ministry event she was going to attend.

Disaster and difficulties left Baher heartbroken and full of bitterness, and made him turn away from God and the Church. He needed rescue in a hopeless situation.

A missionary prayed and a young man in Central Asia had a dream of being at the bottom of a pit unable to get out. God was at work.

Satabdi did not want to accept the New Testament handed out at her Hindi school. She did not feel she needed it, because as Hindus they had enough gods and goddesses. But when the New Testament was handed out again at a new school, she dared to take one.

“Now I know why God has allowed me to live to be this old. It’s so I might know the truth, and also share it with my family.”

Gülay and her husband, Sedat, faced adversity, but they were completely lacking love from others. When this Turkish couple visited one congregation in their home city, the church continued to show them God’s love. Any remaining doubts the couple had about Christianity were eroded.

It’s quite common for a Muslim to have a dream about Christ. It seems to be one of the Holy Spirit’s favourite ways of getting the attention of those who follow Islam.

Michael had been gambling with work’s money for nearly two years, and the public university where he was employed caught on. In jail he closed his eyes, picked up the Bible, and pointed to a verse.

God spoke to a missionary and confirmed without a doubt about a specific people group in India He wanted to send him to. The missionary answered boldly: ‘I will go and do it!’

If a sickness came to town and was killing everyone, and you had the cure, would you give it to them or keep it to yourself?

In 1980, a woman gave birth in the middle of a road in a small village in South Asia and left the baby in the street with the umbilical cord still attached. What would become of such an abandoned one?

Giving your life to Christ does not mean that life will be easy. He told us that the journey will be difficult. However, because He gave His life to rescue us, we press on.

During the preaching of a Greek priest, an Iranian man heard the words in Farsi, his mother tongue. However, after the service, he could not ask the priest his questions concerning faith because he didn’t understand him anymore.

For fifteen years, Leroy had faithfully shown up at the prison in Longuenesse, France, to minister to the inmates. Bible studies there never seemed to work out and there were no baptisms, until recently!

I told the children, “The Lord can turn nothing into something!” and I reminded them of the story of Elijah and the widow. They had a simple child-like faith and believed that God could provide for their need.