Tag Archives: Christian

Conversation With A Stranger – Part 2

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imageMeet Naomi, a delightful and caring nurse from Kenya. When she was my nurse a number of weeks ago, she was the one who encouraged me to use the call light “If I missed her.” (See december archives 12/21/12 post “Life In The Hospital” for this funny little story.)

To understand the significance of today’s update, you need to click on ‘December Archives’ to read the 12/21/12 post “Conversation With A Stranger” that introduces the extraordinary meeting with a Muslim gentleman.

Last night Naomi was again my nurse and stopped by to visit with us. She said she was recently at her friends’ house and the husband asked if she knew a certain patient and his wife on the 8 South unit. As he described them, she stopped him saying, “I know who you are talking about.” She then asked us, “Do you know a man named “Mu…”? “Mustafa?!” we both interrupted her. She smiled and then we proceeded to tell her the God-ordained meeting with Mustafa at the elevators.

Naomi proceeded to tell us that Mustafa and his wife received our follow-up letter and had planned to visit us but were kept away by flu. We are looking forward to seeing how God directs this next meeting.

You never know where God will take a simple conversation.

Did you hear the one about the Muslim, the Christian, and the Jew?

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It sounds like the opening of a bad joke, but in this case, it is part of the continuing story that God is weaving around this “bump in our road.” Yesterday, we shared the story of an interesting conversation with a stranger who is Muslim. Today brought another unexpected conversation, this time with a Jewish man.

It had been a good day, though tiring. Marcia had just left to return to Newton and I was resting when a young man stopped by to visit me. I thought to myself, “I don’t know this guy from Adam,” and then he introduces himself saying, “Hi, my name is Adam.” He proceeded to tell me that he volunteers here to get more hospital experience as part of his college studies.

He asked me how I was doing and I told him the absolute truth: that I am doing great because God has been so merciful to me in this medical situation. I must have said something about Jesus strengthening me, because he replied, “I’m Jewish.” With no sense of God’s hand over my mouth today and with a feeling of Judeo-Christian connectedness to this man, I shared how I too believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

I told him that it was the very testimonies of faith of the Old Testament (his Jewish Bible) that spoke so clearly to me in my hospital stay, briefly citing three examples:

  • Abraham was ‘fully persuaded’ that God had power to do what He promised.
  • Joshua pursued wisdom, courage, and strength in his time of need. (See our earlier blog about this.)
  • Daniel’s contemporaries maintained strong faith in the midst of a (literally) fiery trial.

But the puzzled look on his face stopped me. He told me he didn’t know these stories and that it had been a long time since he had been to “services.” He quickly added that as a Jewish man he did observe certain customs and traditions.

Seeking one more attempt to link with this young man, I told him how my Jewish “aunt” would say, “We all hold pieces of each other’s puzzle,” that each of us were given ‘extra’ pieces to share with others. He said that he had never thought of life that way, that it must be true, and that he would have to think about that.

He changed the subject to the pictures on the table of my family and left shortly after. And I thought to myself about the difference between the tradition of going to church (thinking that God lives in a building) and experiencing a real personal relationship with the one true living and loving God.

Faith is belief that we act on. It is like a muscle; the more we exercise it, the stronger it becomes.

Conversation With A Stranger

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Part of my treatment plan is walking the halls. Usually I am able to slowly walk the equivalent of about 1 1/2 blocks and back again, four times a day. Marcia and I like to greet people and if possible brighten their day. Earlier this week we saw a young man waiting at the elevators and I asked a simple question:

“How is your day going?”

He started to tell me that his wife had undergone eight months of treatment for cancer and she was having another test that day. We talked about the difficulties we sometimes face in life and I asked him if he had a church in the area. He replied, “I am Muslim.” I asked him how his faith helps him in this struggle he and his wife are facing and he proceeded to tell me about how “The One God” rewards him for the good things he does. Surprisingly, this stranger then commented, “I know you are a good man and The God will heal you.” He went on to say that he had once read the old and new testaments of the Bible and compared it with the Koran’s message of love.

At this point, I wanted to say so much more, but felt God was putting His hand over my mouth saying, “Bryan, slow down. See if you can be friends, Christian and Muslim, and let me take it from there.”

The man was pleased to let us pray for him and his wife, so I asked our One True God to reveal more of Himself to both of them so as to bless them. And then the most unusual thing happened. This stranger wrote his name, address, and phone number on a piece of paper, handing it to me and said, “When you get out of the hospital I want you and your wife to be guests in our home.”

Sometimes the simplest of gestures will take you on an unexpected journey.