The church in Yemen has many opponents. The government, Al-Qaeda, the Houthithe movement and Saudi Arabia are trying in various ways to keep the church down. Leaders of the church even risk imprisonment without any kind of trial or even execution in the street.
Despite limited opportunities for mission, the local church is growing. I spoke with Amir, which we of safety considerations call him here. He is shared his testimony of his path to Jesus with me.
"I had just finished high school and I didn't know what I wanted to do next. A friend told me that I could try visiting a hospital and see what, how it was, because I had considered studying medicine, but I wasn't 100% sure. Han also said that there was a church and that he had to go there because he was a foreigner. That was fine with me, and I asked if I could come along. That was declined. he and said it would not be safe for me to be there. This was only a few years after some foreign missionaries had been killed for their testimony in the hospital. I pestered hambecause I was curious to see what they were doing there. Hto talked to the church leader, but he also rejected it and said that there was no way local Yemenis could come to the church."
God opened a door
"I resigned myself to the fact that it couldn't be done, but on the way from my city to the hospitalthe manager called my friend's phone. Something had happened in the morning."
For the first time, a local Muslim woman had visited the church in the morning. Hun had told the priest that the church would be visited today, and therefore had hunbrought alongsomething Yemeni incense, which you usually fill the house with before entertaining guests so it smells nice. Amir continues the story:
"The foreign missionary said he felt God was showing him that the place was not his place and only for his people. Everyone was welcome. He called my friend and told him that I was welcome, and that the place was prepared for visits."
After the visit and tour of the hospital, we visited Amir the church together with its vein, and he was very eager for more.
"'Can I get a Bible?'I asked. 'No, you can't.'They said. 'You can't take the Bible and walk all the way from the hospital to home. We keep the Bible because people will think you're a Christian.' But I wasn't afraid of it, and I said 'No, I am a Muslim and I would love to go to church and I will take the Bible with me and I am not afraid of anything happening to me'."
Language was not an obstacle for God
Amirwas allowed to come to church and at the first service, Jesus met ham.
"The service was entirely in English, because there were no Yemenis - it was pretty much all foreignersnge. I didn't understand anything because I had only just finished high school and my English was Very basic. My foreign friend asked if he had to translate something for me, but no, it wasn't necessary because I got to experience something different, something that touched my heart."
"I felt sure that this was the place where I wanted to be. For the first time I heard the name of Jesus and felt peace, and I wanted to get to know him better. That was the beginning for me. Afterward, I went home and said I wanted to read the Bible and learn aboutwho Jesus is. I read the Bible and it was the way, I got to know him on."
Amir ended up becoming a doctor and now wants to use his education to save lives in Yemen. Many people do not have access to the medical care they need. Around 1000 children are infected with cholera every day and millions are malnourished. Amir is also helping in the project, where Danish European Mission donors In the future will Ensure that poor and hungry families are fed and satisfied.
