Jaffar is a Hafez, which means he has memorized the entire Qur’an in Arabic. He completed his test when he was just ten years old.
Since coming to Bangladesh, he’s used that incredible mind of his to pretend to be a Bengali and go to university, where he managed to graduate with a pharmacy degree.
The problem is, without proper papers, no pharmacy will hire him. It’s been almost two years since he graduated and without any job he’s become discouraged.
He reapplied that brilliant mind of his into somehow getting a passport and tickets to Dubai where his uncle said he can get Jaffar a job.
I was disappointed to hear this, because he and I had just begun having Holy Book studies together and were having very fruitful conversations. We were having a great time learning from each other and discovering our common ground.
He was nervous about going and started considering cancelling his plans since he had just gotten hired at a teaching job in camp.
When he asked me what to do, I said “Let’s pray and ask God to show His love for you by giving you a clear sign so you know where he wants you. I’m going to pray in the name of Jesus that either your flight will be cancelled or that you’ll be able to get through immigration without having to pay any bribes.”
He replied “Even actual Bengalis going to Dubai on a tourist visa have to pay bribes at immigration! Everyone knows why they’re really going. It usually costs almost as much as the ticket itself!”
I showed him a verse from the Qur’an where Allah says neither to take nor give bribes, and told him that I have faith God will answer our very specific prayer.
Internally I was nervous. I had said I would pray for this in Jesus name, but what if he just had to pay the bribe as expected? I stopped those thoughts and told God I trusted Him to be faithful and show Jaffar that prayer in Jesus’ name works.
I’m sad to say that Jaffar made it to Dubai because I’ll miss him…but I’m happy to report that Jesus was indeed faithful and he didn’t have to pay any bribes!
Pray
- for Jesus to continue to answer Jaffar’s prayers and reveal Himself.
- that Jaffar’s time in Dubai would grow him into the person God wants him to be.
- for Jaffar to come to truly know Jesus.