Blessings Returned

The speaker for Middle East University’s Week of Spiritual Emphasis had just closed the week with an appeal to the students to study the Bible and let God speak to them personally. Allana (not her real name), a community student at MEU, took the invitation seriously; at the end of the service she planted herself in front of the speaker and declared, “I’m ready to study the Bible.”

Two staff members made a plan together with her to study twice a week, one in English and one in Arabic. Although Allana had grown up a Christian, she had never prayed except for what she had read for mass. Her heart was open to spiritual things, though. As they studied the gospels, Allana learned quickly that Jesus is her Friend and prayer is a conversation with Him. The studies progressed with the predictable breaks for holidays and a frenetic spring schedule. But fast forward to the week of final exams for this school year when Allana stopped by to visit one of her “Bible teachers.”

“It had been a hard day for me,” the staff member remembers, her eyes filling with tears of personal grief. “I was so grateful for Allana’s visit even when I knew she needed to be studying.  But my comfort was so very great when this young girl–who didn’t know how to pray last fall–looked me in the eye so thoughtfully and said, ‘Could I pray with you?’”   –An MEU Staff Member