In 2014, I was living in Bangalore India and teaching spoken English. I had several classes and one of them had a young man from Yemen, some Japanese housewives and some young men from Congo and Sudan. None of them really knew Jesus and we did not talk about Jesus in the class but we did invite them over to our home for dinners and social events. This day, Abdulaziz had just returned from Yemen and wanted us all to taste the tea he had brought from his hometown.

We keep in touch with our students on Facebook and sometimes they write to me on messenger to see how I am doing and tell me their news. Abdulaziz moved to China to join his brother in helping with a business which I just found out is running an Arabic food restaurant.

Yesterday, he wrote me a message and said he wanted to talk to me. I got to call him on what’s app and it was great to hear from him. He is a very nice young man who I enjoyed very much in my class.

When we spoke on the phone, he told me about his nephew who is five years old and his brain has not fully developed. He cannot do normal things and when he holds things they break because he is holding on too tightly. He also forwarded to me his MRI and asked if I knew any doctors who could help.

He also asked me to pray for him which touched me so much. He knows it’s a miracle that he needs. He agreed with me that we need God’s grace and mercy and asked me to pray again. This family does not know Jesus and is from Yemen, brought up in the Islam faith but in their desperation, they reached out to me for prayer. God is working and He directed them to call me to ask for prayer.

Let’s exercise faith to believe that God is working all around us and cares about the people that we have touched in our lives even several years ago.

 I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— ² for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.  ³ This is good, and pleases God our Savior, ⁴ who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth

I Timothy 2:1-4 NIV

I want to encourage you to write personal messages to friends from the past to let them know you care about them and are praying for them. God is working and He cares about all people. Let’s join him in caring for all the people we know too! Maybe God is speaking to some of them right now about asking for prayer from people like you who have shown concern for them in the past! God’s heart is so big!

Please also join me in praying for a miracle for this little boy in China!