On Friday, April 24, I spent a long time on the phone with two young men of Mslm- background named Kasem and Bashir, and their story is such good news in this time of corona-virus uncertainties. They called to tell me they had responded to our invitation to meet Christ in the Eucharist (communion) at the conclusion of our live-stream Upper Room Church service the night before.
Kasem and Bashir are each twenty-six years old. They started coming to Upper Room last December. They share a flat assigned to them by the immigration office, along with three other Middle Eastern men. They had been eagerly attending everything until the lockdown took effect. As we reach out to Mslm-background individuals, we practice what John Wesley referred to as sacramental evangelism: making the Eucharistic celebration itself a time of invitation to “taste and see that the Lord is good.” Just as Jesus is meeting Mslm men and women in their dreams, we also see Jesus meeting our friends in communion.
That evening online, I led everyone to the table of bread and wine, and invited new seekers to personally receive what Jesus had done for them at the cross. I reminded them that the risen Christ could be part of their lives even now, if they would simply open their hearts, repent, and invite Him to come in by His Spirit. I asked them to text or call me if they made that decision.
Bashir and Kasem called me the next day to say that something had happened for them in the brief moments of Eucharist. Their capacity in English is passable, but I could fully understand them! They said, “Jesus was really there. We cried as we shared the bread and the wine of Jesus’ body and blood. We did what you said.”
Then they said the most beautiful thing to me: “Since last night, we have not been able to stop talking about Jesus and praying and reading about Jesus.” I asked them what they were reading. They said, “Luke 24–the two followers going to Emmaus–when they ate bread and understood it was Jesus with them.” (We had been studying that account for about three weeks in our Upper Room Live-Stream Monday Night Fellowship.)
Kasem and Bashir are now in a discipling group, along with one of our Iranian leaders named Hamed and another potential leader of Kurdish background whose name is Bahram. We are reading Scripture together, praying, and holding one another accountable for growing in faith and service.
Great Joy! Rejoicing in the midst of corona-virus stress and trauma… and rejoicing in heaven!
Told by Communitas leader Wesley, in Glasgow Scotland
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With you, we have the privilege of seeing women, men, and whole families turn to Jesus. Your prayer and partnership make the work of Communitas possible, to see Transformed Lives… Transformed Neighborhoods… and a Transformed World.
