"Rico (name changed), a young African futbol player, was looking for opportunities that the Lord would lead him and allow him to encourage a lost person during his mission effort in the Middle East. His home church had taken part in an Operation Andrew partnership, sponsored by International Commission, and he was on the lookout for divine opportunities.

As Rico explored the neighborhood streets, he noticed a young man sitting at a table and appeared to be looking through the Quran (the holy book of Islam). This young man was flipping through it like he didn’t know what he was doing, nor could he understand the Arabic language. Rico approached him and asked him to share his story.

The young man shared that he was from the Czech Republic and he had come to this Middle Eastern county to find out what the Islamic faith offered. He said he was an atheist from Czechoslovakia and was searching for religion. He had been in the country for three of his four-day journey and would be leaving the next day because his mom was home sick with cancer. Rico then asked the young man if he would join him at an Operation Andrew gathering that evening.

Gary shares, 'That’s where I met Christian. He came into the outreach event and sat beside Rico. I thought that was strange because he didn’t look like he was from Africa, the Philippines, or any of the other people groups we had been ministering to. He was a 17-year-old caucasian guy. I introduced myself and then later in the service I presented a Gospel message from John chapter 21. I explained that the disciples, or followers of Jesus, are active with; obedient to; and servants of Christ and that Jesus wanted people to repent of their sin and turn to him alone for salvation. At the end of the message, 'Christian' put his faith, trust, and surrendered his life to Jesus! Hallelujah!!'"

Imagine... a young man from Europe flew to the Middle East in search of answers to fill his heart. By the work of the Holy Spirit, our International Commission team was in the right place at the right time to encounter this soul to share the Truth of Jesus with him!

Christian is truly now our Brother in Christ.

Results of this International Partnership in November:

12 American participants / 1 Turkish

18 churches

1,559 heard the gospel

218 accepted Christ