Soon after the mid-morning call to prayer echoed through the market from nearby minarets, and faithful Muslim shopkeepers spread—then later rerolled—their prayer mats in devotion, Youssef and Alan looked up to see a large, bearded man step into their narrow shop.
“Mahmoud,” Youssef called, forgoing all expected greetings, “Alan says that the Qur’an is a book full of lies, and 1.6 billion people have been deceived.”
Alan stiffened at the sudden pronouncement. He saw Mahmoud’s eyes narrow; the neighboring shopkeeper’s Islamic zeal was visible even in the callus built up on his forehead from prostrating in prayer five times a day. In their North African city, Alan knew he could be killed for a statement like this. Bowing his head, he prayed silently, Lord, please help me!
The fear racing through his mind then collided with another thought: I’ve been praying for this man for years. This is a perfect opportunity to share the gospel.
He met Mahmoud’s intimidating gaze and, breathing deeply, asked, “What do you know about the Ten Commandments?” Mahmoud, like many Muslims, was not familiar with the commands God gave Moses, so Alan continued: “If I told you there were five gods, is that the truth or a lie?”
“That’s a lie,” Mahmoud answered grudgingly.
“Right, there’s only one God, and that’s the first commandment.” Alan grabbed a piece of paper and began to draw. “If I were a great artist, and I drew a beautiful picture and said, ‘This is what God looks like; let’s worship it,’ would he like that?”
“No, that’s haram, forbidden.”
“You’re right; that’s number two—don’t worship idols.” In this manner, Alan proceeded to explain each commandment. When he reached the seventh, Mahmoud considered his own lust toward the attractive women he watched in the market and hung his head in shame.
To Alan’s amazement, Youssef—also a Muslim—suddenly interjected. He began relating Jesus’ teachings from the Gospels, which he had heard previously from Alan during their many conversations in their shop.
Mahmoud’s scowl deepened. Speaking severely, he rebuked Youssef with a quote from the Qur’an: “The truth has certainly come to you from your Lord, so do not be one of those who doubt” (Surah 10:94). He turned on his heel and stalked out of the shop.
Alan drafted an urgent email to his supporters:
“Please pray; I’m afraid these men are going to stone me.”
Terrified, Alan quickly shoved his belongings into his briefcase. The store was surrounded by tightly packed market stalls, encircled by fervent Muslims. Would Mahmoud incite them into a mob? he worried. Rushing back to his apartment, Alan drafted an urgent email to his supporters: “Please pray; I’m afraid these men are going to stone me.”
Missions as Business Meetings
Alan and his wife, Joan, had followed God’s call to North Africa four years prior. Their destination—a country nearly 100 percent unreached, according to Joshua Project reports—does not grant missionary visas for residency and restricts Christian activities. Like many believers serving in creative-access contexts, Alan and Joan planned to leverage their education and vocational experience to meaningfully contribute to the local economy and create natural openings to share the gospel.
Opportunities arrived unexpectedly; Joan was hired as an international school teacher and administrator and Alan found himself part-owner of a shoe store.
Alan first noticed the shop on their daily commute through the neighborhood market. As he navigated the wares spilling into the narrow street—crates of fresh fish, mounds of vegetables, bins of spices molded into bright pyramids, and traditional robes and rugs strung from awnings—he greeted each shopkeeper in Arabic. His greetings turned to conversations, then later to relationships solid enough to support the weight of the gospel through the tremors of opposition.
One shopkeeper, Omar, mentioned that the shoe store he ran with his brother, Youssef, was experiencing financial difficulties, and he approached Alan about joining the business. Alan prayerfully agreed. He drafted a business plan based on biblical principles and initiated conversations about what God was teaching him through the Scriptures during their hours in the shop and their weekly business meetings at a local café.
One day while sitting in the shop, Youssef asked, “Alan, why don’t you believe the Qur’an is God’s word?”
Alan answered readily, “It doesn’t matter what I believe; I’ll show you what God says about the Qur’an.” He turned to the prohibition in Revelation 22 against adding or subtracting from Scripture, noting that it was written more than five centuries before Muhammad is said to have received the Qur’an. Then he read Proverbs 30:5-6: “Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Do not add to his words, lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar.”
Based on these verses, Youssef announced to Mahmoud that Alan believed the Qur’an was full of lies. Fearing for his life, Alan had avoided the market until, several days later, Mahmoud amiably invited him to lunch.
The betrayal Alan anticipated came not from Mahmoud, however, but from Youssef, his own business partner.
‘My Whole Life Has Been Built on a Lie’
While visiting the US later that year, Alan received a frantic message from Youssef’s brother, Omar: Youssef had stolen the store’s finances, disappeared without a trace, and left the business to fold. Youssef was gone, it seemed, for good.
A year and a half later, Alan answered his phone to hear Youssef’s voice. He urgently wanted to meet with Alan, and he planned to pay back the money he had taken. The next morning, Alan walked into the café to find Youssef already seated in the back corner.
Youssef exclaimed, “Why didn’t you tell me the prophet Muhammad was a murderer, a rapist, a vile man?” He continued: “When we sat in that booth over there for our business meetings and you shared all those stories about Jesus, I knew they were true. I’ve spent the last year and a half investigating. My whole life has been built on a lie, and 1.6 billion people have been deceived. What do I do?”
Breathing a prayer of thanksgiving, Alan presented the gospel, then connected Youssef with a local pastor he served alongside. Youssef repented and believed.
“When we sat in that booth over there for our business meetings and you shared all those stories about Jesus, I knew they were true. I’ve spent the last year and a half investigating. . . . My whole life has been built on a lie. What do I do?”
youssef
The men began meeting regularly for discipleship. They were listening to an Arabic audio Bible one day when Youssef reached over and paused the recording. “I need to tell you a secret,” he said. Twelve years earlier, he had fallen in love with a girl he met working in a factory. His family had forbidden their marriage due to the girl’s recent divorce and baby daughter. They married anyway, and, unbeknownst to his family or to Alan, now had four children. They lived in a nearby city near his wife’s family, all fundamentalist Muslims.
“You can’t tell my wife that I’ve become a Christian,” he warned. “She is a devout Muslim, so much so that she fully veils in public with only her eyes visible under her niqab. But could you tell her why you are a Christian?”
At Youssef’s apartment, Alan watched the children arrive home from school and Youssef’s wife, Kenza, prepare lunch with warm hospitality. He contemplated how he could insert the gospel into the conversation. As the family scooped bites from communal platters of food, he asked Kenza, “Do you realize these children aren’t yours?”
She stared at him, incredulous, as he continued. “Children are God’s creation, and he gives them to us as parents. It’s our responsibility to teach them that he is holy, and they are not, and they desperately need a Savior.” Then, he related the biblical accounts of creation, the fall, the prophets, and the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. As he prepared to leave, he prayed aloud for God to have mercy upon the family and save them. He opened his eyes to see Kenza sobbing. She requested one thing: a Bible to read for herself.
Youssef awoke late one night to find Kenza sitting in bed, holding the Bible, and weeping. “Do you realize what Jesus did for us?” she asked tearfully. Youssef revealed that, yes, he had become a Christian. He led her to the Lord that night.
Imminent Danger
Kenza immediately became burdened for her sister, who was nearing death from cancer. She began sending her WhatsApp messages with the gospel. When their father discovered the messages, he gathered their mother and brothers and stormed into Kenza’s home while Youssef was away, shouting at her and attempting to drag her out by the hair until her children intervened, injuring one. A week later, her family returned, saying they had found a Muslim man to take Youssef’s place as Kenza’s husband.
“You’ll regret the day you ever came into this family,” they threatened Youssef.
Upon hearing of their imminent danger, the small church that Alan and Joan were part of contributed funds to move the family to another city. Finding themselves still within reach of Kenza’s well-connected family, they discussed with Alan a plan to seek asylum in Europe, citing Jesus’ instructions to the twelve that if they were persecuted in one town, they should flee to another. Alan hesitated, wrestling with other Scripture passages that provide alternate examples.
“We need believers here for the local church to exist in North Africa,” he later explained.
Youssef and Kenza decided to cross the border to a neighboring nation—an attempt which usually proves impossible for would-be asylum seekers. Before dawn, the family climbed into a taxicab and rode to the border. They exited the car into a jostling crowd of hundreds of people vying for entrance. Suddenly, a border guard pointed at Youssef and motioned for the family to come with him. He escorted them to the passport control booth, stamped their passports, and pointed them toward the officials across the border. Once in the neighboring country, the family applied for asylum. In the subsequent interrogation, Kenza explained their situation and boldly included the gospel message, to the amazement of the officials. Within three hours, they were installed in a refugee camp.
Their safety in the refugee camp was short-lived. The camp was populated primarily with sub-Saharan African Muslims who, after discovering Youssef and Kenza were believers, began murmuring threats. One afternoon, the camp director—providentially also a Christian—summoned Youssef and instructed him to be ready with his family at midnight: he had learned of a plot to kill them and planned to quietly help them escape to Europe.
Youssef quickly called Alan. “Before we go, I want you to come and baptize me,” he urged.
Alan and a national pastor hastily traveled to meet them. Gathering on a beach in joyful celebration, they baptized Youssef and Kenza—and then their oldest daughter who, after talking with the pastor, trusted Christ that day. They proceeded to a café to observe the Lord’s Supper before tearfully embracing in farewell.
Once in Europe, Youssef and Kenza intentionally sought work at a refugee center, where they assist fellow immigrants and introduce them to hope in Christ.
Shaking the Faith of Unbelievers
Alan and Joan’s deepening friendship with Youssef’s extended family, and with other individuals in their city, has underscored the importance of building relationships to establish trust in their closed, often-suspicious society.
“One relationship gets you into these huge family networks,” Joan said, explaining that Youssef’s family has taken them to meet relatives in their conservative mountain village that currently has no gospel witness. “We have relationships now with people in the village.”
Alan and Joan find that, hidden behind intense social pressure to adhere to Islam, some North Africans are questioning the beliefs they’ve been taught, secretly searching for answers on the internet or in private conversations. By being present in their communities, missionaries and national believers can fulfill the vital role of sharing the truth of the gospel that they likely would not hear otherwise.
As relationships develop, and people demonstrate openness to discussing the gospel, Alan and Joan invite them to visit their church plant. Church planting is central to their mission as the means for gathering Christ’s body, practicing the ordinances, discipling new believers with sound doctrine to overcome previous beliefs and superstitions, and reaching others with the message of Christ.
“We’re seeking to raise up the next generation of leaders to spread as leaven throughout their culture, as Jesus described. By God’s grace, we want to see the gospel ignite like wildfire through North Africa.”
Alan, ABWE missionary
“We’re seeking to raise up the next generation of leaders to spread as leaven throughout their culture, as Jesus described,” conveyed Alan. “By God’s grace, we want to see the gospel ignite like wildfire through North Africa.”
This does not come without risk. “We’ve had people come into the church, profess faith, and then turn on us and threaten to turn us into the police,” Joan shared.
In much of North Africa, foreigners are permitted to be Christians, but it is illegal—even imprisonable—to shake the faith of a Muslim through proselytizing.
“This is where our theology is so important,” said Alan. “We don’t have the ability to shake anybody’s faith—that’s God’s job. So, when somebody’s faith is shaken, their issue is with God.”
This confidence grounds their commitment to continue serving unreached people groups.
“In North Africa, and around the world, ABWE missionaries are following Christ’s commission to carry the gospel to the ends of the earth,” said ABWE President Paul Davis.
In locations opposed to the gospel, they enter authentically to bring value through healthcare, education, business, or community development—integrating it with their Christian faith and their identity as believers.
“Even in the darkest places, ABWE missionaries remain true to our core values,” continued Paul. “We boldly celebrate the gospel. We give Jesus first place, above any humanitarian cause. We enter nations with humble confidence, deferentially submitting to just laws while maintaining our allegiance to Christ’s command. We demonstrate a biblical family atmosphere to those whose faith has cost them earthly relationships, and we share our lives and possessions in pursuit of Christ’s mission.”
These faithful workers know that their risk is not in vain. “Sometimes you don’t know what the Lord is doing,” explained Joan. “But we don’t have to see what he’s doing; we just need to be faithful to what God has called us to. The story is still being written.”
