Pickup trucks loaded with security personnel appeared suddenly in front of the small house where Muslim-background believers were secretly meeting to worship. Musa* was dragged outside with the other men. The believer’s hands were tied behind their backs and they were driven to a detention site. The torture began soon after.

Between sessions of being beaten, attached to batteries and electrocuted, and left hanging in stress positions, Musa’s captors interrogated him. Why had he abandoned the faith he had been born into and why would he not recant? The answer, he told them, was love. The Jesus he encountered in the Bible spoke of loving your enemies, and this love had transformed him as he had experienced the deep love of God.

Musa was born into a region of Northern Africa torn apart by tribal fighting. He comes from a large people group, but most are still unreached with the gospel. Over the last few years, Musa has been learning that every disciple is a disciple-maker. He is making disciples who make more disciples in hard places. The great commandments—to love God with all his heart and love his neighbor as himself—powers Musa’s passion for the Great Commission.

Musa learned how to meet needs around him. In doing so, he was given access to communities that were previously closed. He found that caring for people’s needs allows disciples of Jesus to show God’s love in practical ways, thus providing access to peoples otherwise resistant to his presence and message. The answer to a resistant world is putting God’s love into action.

Pray for Musa as he meets health needs in his community. Pray for open ears and open hearts as Musa shares about Jesus’ love.

*Name changed for security