[Mission Field News] Faith that Overcomes the World in Tunisia

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Hello? I am Paraha, a 9th grader living in Tunisia.

Three years ago, my friend Shaima, who lives in the same neighborhood, came to believe in Jesus through Korean university student sisters and shared the gospel with me. At that time, I had no interest at all in the gospel my friend shared.

Then one night, I saw heaven in a dream. Heaven was a very beautiful place, but the door was closed so that I could not enter.

Outside of heaven, there were all kinds of filth, and especially the Muslims who were on pilgrimage to Mecca were all falling into the pit of hell.

In front of the gate of heaven stood Jesus with nail marks on His hands, together with my friend Shaima, and He said to me, "If you want to enter through this gate of heaven, you must accept me as your Savior."

When I woke up in the morning, I ran to school and met my friend Shaima and confessed, "I want to believe in Jesus too." That day, I prayed to receive Him and became a Christian.

However, not long after, a great fear arose in my heart, and I was so scared that my family would find out I had become a Christian that I eventually could not keep my faith.

During the year that passed, unlike me, my friend Shaima suffered all kinds of persecution at school while sharing the gospel, and I saw her enduring persecution with faith beside me.

When Shaima invited me again to the place of worship, only then did I gather courage and worship together. It was a very small worship with just two friends and no adults, but the Holy Spirit came upon us, and I was moved to tears by the love of Jesus who shed His blood on the cross for me. Since then, I have given my heart back to Jesus and worshiped with my friend Shaima whenever we had time.

But this joyful moment did not last long, and persecution came. When my parents found out I had become a Christian, they beat me, cut my hair with scissors, tore my school uniform, and did not let me eat. Anxiety that I could no longer attend school overwhelmed me, but I could not deny the love of Jesus who died for me.

My friend Shaima came to me every dawn with food, shared the Word, and prayed with me. So I decided to keep my faith to the end, following the path the Lord walked.

With Shaima’s dedication and help, I was able to return to school, and recently my relationship with my family has been gradually improving. Together with Shaima and another friend Omaema, we gather every morning at 7 at school to pray for the school and the nations. When I hear about the souls of the nations dying without knowing Jesus, tears come to my eyes without me realizing it.

Like me, who was saved by the love of Jesus, I hope that other souls in the nations will realize and know the love of Jesus and be saved!

"Everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith." (1 John 5:4)

We praise the Lord who loves Sister Paraha and led her and her friend Sister Shaima on the path of the gospel.

Please joyfully accept the faith of Sister Paraha, who overcame persecution through worship after seeing Sister Shaima, who kept her faith despite any persecution, even though she was afraid her family would find out and could not keep her faith despite meeting Jesus in a dream.

Just as Sister Shaima first dedicated herself to the Lord and served Sister Paraha, becoming a church together, may Sister Paraha also share the gospel with other friends and come to know the joy of serving the Lord and souls.

May they keep the Word and pray for the school and the nations together with Sister Shaima at school, and may they testify to the Lord’s guidance who calls and leads the youth generation like Daniel and his three friends.

May revival come to the youth generation in Tunisia, and may the local churches in Tunisia regain their spirituality and proclaim the kingdom of God beyond Tunisia and the Maghreb region to the nations.

Thus, may the Tunisian people be used as the key to revival that opens the door to revival in the Maghreb and Africa!