Who’s Your Neighbor?
Living out the commandment to Love your neighbor as yourself is not always as hard as we make it out to be. We want to be open to our neighbors. We never know who is living near us, right beside us, or down the street. The Thomas* family keeps an “open door” policy so that their neighbors feel free to come by. While this may not be what God calls you to do, or it may not be suitable for you, often, living in the UAE provides a sense of family in the communities and the Thomas Family has found it to be very beneficial in several ways.
Recently, a little boy made himself known at their door. He wanted to come and play with their children and wanted to know if he could come in. After he played for a while dinner was ready, and Talia* (mom) invited him to stay for dinner, which he did. She explained that we pray before dinner. And to her surprise, he said his family did too and announced to them, “We’re Christian.” When she asked where he was from, he explained he was from Egypt (we will leave this because there are only a few places with Coptic Christians) and that his family’s ancestors came to know Christ, and it was passed down through the generations. He further explained that his family’s ancestors were Coptic. When this family moved to Dubai, they joined an evangelical church. Talia’s husband walked him back to meet his parents and learned they are indeed Egyptian believers. They are professionals, and the Thomas' are encouraged to find believers living nearby. The new family has since joined their small group.
An additional blessing from this open-door policy, we discovered that the little boy is also good friends with some of our Lebanese neighbors who we have been investing in for several years. Our family has shared the Good News with these Lebanese neighbors. But we are encouraged again to know this little boy and his family can also help us share the Good News as we do life together in the remarkably diverse community, we live in.
Prayer Requests
Pray for these two families can unite around the Good News and share it with many neighbors with the support they now have in one another.
Pray for the neighbors in this story and other neighbors will come to know who Jesus is through the relationships being built in this community.
Pray that you will find ways to love your neighbor in your community, wherever you live.