Last week, a young Turkmen Muslim visited my home. We went into the dining room and talked. On the table, my daughter's children's Bible was open and in it he saw a picture of Moses parting the Red Sea. He said "Hey, I know that story!". That very morning I had been reading the Pentateuch, which is translated into Turkmen and published in one book, so it was next to the children's Bible on the table. I said: "Let me show you the story". I opened the Book of Exodus in Turkmen and asked him if he could read it.
Turkmenistan
It speaks to my heart and soul
He was shocked that it was in Turkmen and replied "Yes, wow, yes, I can read it". At first he didn't read well and he said, "I haven't read for 10 years." He continued to read and I could see that a light was dawning on him and that he understood the passage. He read it in bits and pieces and would say things like: "Wow, God protected Israel and I can understand it - it's in my language!" He continued reading and about an hour into the reading, he paused and said: "My girlfriend used to read the Bible in Russian, but she heard that you could go to jail for that and stopped, but now that I can read it, I can see why she was so interested. It is the most interesting book I have ever read. This book is in my language and it speaks to my heart and soul. I can't get enough of it"
When the young man came to the end of the story of Moses walking through the Red Sea, I told him that he was perhaps one of the few people who had ever read this book in his native language. He was shocked and replied: "We need everyone to have access to this book."
He fell to his knees
I told him that he really needed to read a bit at the beginning of the story for it to make sense, and I flipped back to the story of the Passover meal. He read the part about the Passover lamb and the angel of death walking past the houses with blood smeared on the doorposts. As he read it, he said: "This tells of Jesus, it speaks of His sacrifice for me, that I should not die! He was broken and gave His blood so that I could live!" It was thrilling to see how God's Holy Word was working in his heart. I looked at him and said: "Yes, it's a picture of Jesus and His sacrifice for you." The words hit him hard and tears began to appear in his eyes and he had goosebumps all over his body. Then he got up, said goodbye and ran out of the house. For the next four nights he came over, and every night he said: "I couldn't wait to come back and read more from this holy book in my language." At the end of the week, this young man fell to his knees and accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Thank you for your hard work translating the Pentateuch into Turkmen. Your work is not in vain.
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