As my flight from Lisbon to Vancouver arrived very late in the evening, I needed to take my first ever Uber ride to my homestay for the night.
The driver’s name and picture appeared on the app which indicated that odds were good that he was a Muslim. It is rare to get a heads up that you are about to meet someone with whom you can share your faith.
Well, this time, I had 10 minutes to focus and pray for divine leading for a 20-minute ride.
In a nutshell:
- I have 10 minutes to prepare and pray
- I will have 20 minutes with the driver according to the Uber app.
- He is most likely a Muslim according to his name and picture.
- I will need the Holy Spirit to give me the words.
When I entered the car, I greeted the driver with the Arabic words: Salaam Alekum! He was startled and wanted to know how I knew to greet him this way. I smiled and told him of my interest in different cultures and then asked him to tell me his story.
He told me that he was a refugee from Syria and that many of his family members had been killed and a brother was in the USA whom he had not seen in 12 years.
I then asked him if he was a good Muslim?
He was once again startled and told me that he rarely goes to the Mosque anymore, but he is still a Muslim.
I told him about Christians who do not go to church but still consider themselves Christians and that not attending church does not mean they are not following Jesus.
I then shared my story of being born into a refugee family and how that had affected my life. I asked him another question: Do you know the biggest difference between Islam and Christianity? He did not know.
I asked him if children born to Muslims are also Muslims? He said yes, they are.
I then told him that children born to Christians are not Christians until they themselves decide to follow Jesus.
He was amazed and a bit confused and asked me to explain. Time was running out.
I then asked him if I could give him my book of short stories from many cultures. Excitedly he said yes, I would like it very much. As I gave it to him, he said I will also let my teenage children read this book and I will tell them I have met the man who wrote it. He then kissed the cover and said thank you.
One more thing (we were at the destination). I will pray that you will reunite with your brother soon.
It felt like we could have continued to talk much longer, but he was at work, and I was exhausted as it was past midnight.
In a nutshell:
- Meaningful greeting with a genuine smile
- Ask for his story – ask questions
- Tell him your story
- Ask about his faith, tell him about yours – gently and with respect
- Offer something meaningful as a gift
- Pray about something that he shared in his story
- Let God do the rest
If you want to read the book of short stories from different cultures, it’s here:
By Ari Rocklin