Stories & Blog
“When I asked, he showed me his face.”
SPAIN — Mouna and Jennifer sat down on the floor with a Bible as Mouna’s three daughters crawled on the floor around them.
They had started reading the miracles of Jesus together shortly after Mouna’s family arrived in Spain as refugees. They had crossed the Mediterranean from North Africa in the middle of the night and landed in Europe in search of a better life. That’s where Mouna met Jennifer.
Jennifer opened her Bible and turned to the miracle story in Mark 10 where Jesus heals blind Bartimaeus.
“What do you want me to do for you?” they read Jesus’ words together, followed by Bartimaeus’ response: “Rabbi, let me recover my sight.”
At the end of the story, Mouna asked Jennifer, “Do you think when Jesus healed him, Bartimaeus opened his eyes and was looking at the face of God?”
“Yes,” Jennifer said, “I do believe Jesus is God.”
“I’m not blind, but I want to see God,” Mouna said. “If this God you’re telling me about is true and Bartimaeus got to see him, I want to see him, too.”
“Let’s ask him and maybe he will do that for you,” Jennifer said.
So they prayed together, asking God to answer Mouna’s request the same way Jesus answered Bartimaeus’ request.
Over the next few months, Mouna and Jennifer continued to read the miracles of Jesus and pray together. Then one day Mouna texted Jennifer:
Will you pray for this family to see, know, and love Jesus together?
They had started reading the miracles of Jesus together shortly after Mouna’s family arrived in Spain as refugees. They had crossed the Mediterranean from North Africa in the middle of the night and landed in Europe in search of a better life. That’s where Mouna met Jennifer.
Jennifer opened her Bible and turned to the miracle story in Mark 10 where Jesus heals blind Bartimaeus.
“What do you want me to do for you?” they read Jesus’ words together, followed by Bartimaeus’ response: “Rabbi, let me recover my sight.”
At the end of the story, Mouna asked Jennifer, “Do you think when Jesus healed him, Bartimaeus opened his eyes and was looking at the face of God?”
“Yes,” Jennifer said, “I do believe Jesus is God.”
“I’m not blind, but I want to see God,” Mouna said. “If this God you’re telling me about is true and Bartimaeus got to see him, I want to see him, too.”
“Let’s ask him and maybe he will do that for you,” Jennifer said.
So they prayed together, asking God to answer Mouna’s request the same way Jesus answered Bartimaeus’ request.
Over the next few months, Mouna and Jennifer continued to read the miracles of Jesus and pray together. Then one day Mouna texted Jennifer:
Mouna is starting to follow Jesus and is teaching her daughters about him, too. Her husband doesn’t know Jesus yet, but he sees the difference Jesus is making in her life.I had a dream last night of a man in white. I know he was not my god, who would never take the form of a man, and he wasn’t my prophet. I think he was your Jesus. I asked him if he would come to me, and he reached out his hand.
No god I have tried to know has done that, but I asked your God and he has done it. I have seen God in the face of his Son. That’s the most complicated thing I’ve ever said, and I’m not even allowed to say it — that God could possibly have a Son. But I believe because when I asked, he showed me his face.
Will you pray for this family to see, know, and love Jesus together?
The people in this story are real, but their names have been changed to protect their privacy.