When Rita was first offered a Bible, she didn’t want it.
“I had heard that people around me had received Bibles, but I wasn’t interested in the Bible,” she said.
Rita was devoted to her Muslim faith and the religious duties she had been taught since her youth. She never missed a chance to pray, and it irritated her that the rest of her family living in Jordan wasn’t as devout. But deep down she knew that something was still missing in her life.
“Even after having done all of my religious duties, there had always been an emptiness in my heart,” she said. “I had thought this was due to my loneliness, me being the only one reaching out to religion.”
Then, all of a sudden, Rita’s family was interested in religion … just not the religion she followed. Those Bibles she had heard so much about had finally arrived in her community.
Thanks to generous donors who provided Bibles, Rita’s siblings and husband each received a copy of God’s Word. After reading it, they opened their arms and their hearts wide to Jesus.
Even though Rita didn’t accept the gift of a Bible herself, she couldn’t deny that her family had changed.
“They were all thanking and praising,” she said. “What was going on? What had happened with my husband who earlier had only cared about money and had laughed at my religiosity? Here he was a changed person — everything he cared about was Jesus.”
Rita was angry. She had spent her entire life chasing religion, and it had left her empty. Now after her family had spent just a few weeks reading God’s Word, they acted as if they were completely happy and fulfilled.
One day, all of the family came over to Rita’s house for dinner. Soon, the conversation turned to their newfound faith.
“That evening, I ran out of the dining room as many times as possible to look after the food,” Rita said. “I was happy that I was the one in charge of the food … because I felt that I didn’t belong and was simply trying to escape.”
Eventually, though, there was nothing left to do in the kitchen. All of the dishes had been set out, and Rita was forced to sit down and nibble on her food.
Her siblings could tell she was uncomfortable, and finally, one of her sister’s blurted out, “Rita, Jesus loves you!”
“She said it in such a way that it went straight to my heart,” Rita recalled. “This time there was another reason for my running to the kitchen. I ran there, and I just cried and cried. But it wasn’t because of sadness. No, it was because that emptiness, that vacuum, had been forced out of me and waves of love were surrounding me on all sides.”
When Rita returned to the dining room and told her family what had happened, they fell on their knees praising God. Then, someone put one of those precious Bibles, that had been given to them as a gift, into Rita’s hands.
Rita vividly remembers the first time she flipped through the pages of God’s Word:
We read together as a family that He, our Jesus, who loves us so much had been a servant and a person who went the second mile for everybody and He wanted us to serve Him and give the message about Him to everybody around us. The Word of God became our Daily Bread, and I — who had been sure that I already knew the way — suddenly realized that Jesus was waiting for me to talk to Him directly and get to know Him through His Word and share Him with others.
Rita is so incredibly grateful for the people who provided those Bibles to her little community in Jordan. Even though she didn’t accept one at first, she couldn’t run from the Truth, and God’s Word eventually changed her heart and her life.
She doesn’t feel lonely anymore. She has the best friend of all — Jesus Christ.
Eventually, though, there was nothing left to do in the kitchen. All of the dishes had been set out, and Rita was forced to sit down and nibble on her food.
Her siblings could tell she was uncomfortable, and finally, one of her sister’s blurted out, “Rita, Jesus loves you!”
“She said it in such a way that it went straight to my heart,” Rita recalled. “This time there was another reason for my running to the kitchen. I ran there, and I just cried and cried. But it wasn’t because of sadness. No, it was because that emptiness, that vacuum, had been forced out of me and waves of love were surrounding me on all sides.”
When Rita returned to the dining room and told her family what had happened, they fell on their knees praising God. Then, someone put one of those precious Bibles, that had been given to them as a gift, into Rita’s hands.
Rita vividly remembers the first time she flipped through the pages of God’s Word:
We read together as a family that He, our Jesus, who loves us so much had been a servant and a person who went the second mile for everybody and He wanted us to serve Him and give the message about Him to everybody around us. The Word of God became our Daily Bread, and I — who had been sure that I already knew the way — suddenly realized that Jesus was waiting for me to talk to Him directly and get to know Him through His Word and share Him with others.
Rita is so incredibly grateful for the people who provided those Bibles to her little community in Jordan. Even though she didn’t accept one at first, she couldn’t run from the Truth, and God’s Word eventually changed her heart and her life.
She doesn’t feel lonely anymore. She has the best friend of all — Jesus Christ.