SHARING JESUS IN THE PARK
Yesterday, Sharolyn and I joined Maria and Rosemary in Hasenheide Park located in Neukölln, home to many Muslims. While sitting on the grass worshipping the Lord with guitar, Ali came over to listen. He is one of the many Palestinians drug dealers that do business in this large and beautiful part of Berlin. He heard the Gospel and received a New Testament in Arabic. While Sharolyn and Maria were talking to him, a few Muslim girls sitting not too far away keep smiling at me and said something, so with guitar, I went to them. One asked in English if I would sing to them, so I asked her name and ended up singing a personalized song to each one about how much God loved them. Maria joined me and was able to help translate although they seemed to speak good English. The girls, 13, 14, & 16 were with their mother and baby sister. Feeling a bit limited, as they obviously believed in Allah and not my Jesus, I wasn't sure what to say next. But the Holy Spirit guided me to share how I came to find Jesus as my Savior and told them about forgiveness of sin through His cross and resurrection. They listened and asked some questions, so we gave them each a different tract in Arabic, including the Gospel of Luke. SAVE THEM, LORD JESUS! (Note: Three months ago, following weeks of controversy over Islamic headscarves, municipal lawmakers barred Berlin city employees from wearing "visible religious symbols" of any kind, which bans the wearing of Moslem headscarves, Christian crosses, Jewish skullcaps and Sikh turbans by school teachers, police officers, firefighters, court officers and municipal office workers. This created great public debate as Berlin has a large Moslem community consisting primarily of immigrants from conservative rural regions of Turkey, where women routinely wear headscarves - some 136,400 Turks live in Berlin, representing 5 per cent of the total Turkish immigrant population in Europe, not to mention Muslims from other countries. Berlin became the sixth state in Germany to bar headscarves, following similar legislation in Baden-Wuerttemberg, Bavaria, Hessen, the Saarland and Lower Saxony.) On our way home, we prayer-walked by the very large controversial new mosque which was built it too tall, so Berlin officials won't let it be used at this time. LORD GOD, PLEASE BRING FREEDOM AND TRUTH TO THOSE DECEIVED BY ISLAM, WE ASK IN JESUS NAME. (Read the stories of former Muslims who are now Christians HERE!)