Abby Learns Arabic
You may know a foreign language, but chances are I bet it’s not Arabic!
Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada and it’s true, some people just have a gift for learning languages, especially unusual languages, like, oh my goodness, Arabic. You see, I’m thinking of Abby Booher. She is a volunteer who I met this past summer at Family Retreat. During a break in the activities, I asked Abby about her background, and she told me the most remarkable story. You see Abby was a student at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio where she studied English as a Second Language. While on campus, she met many Muslim students from Saudi Arabia who had come to Wright State to study. And, of course, part of their studies while at Wright State involved learning English. That’s how Abby got connected with a whole group of young people from the Middle East who were hungry to learn more about western culture. And of course that culture included learning about Christianity, even though the background of these students was Islamic.
From the very onset, they struggled trying to grasp the concept of a loving God who would die for sinners. Abby could tell that part of their struggle had to do with their inability to understand the English language. Abby was able recognized that these, her new friends from Saudi Arabia, they had a genuine spiritual thirst, and she wanted to do all she could to help explain the Gospel. So Abby gave them a challenge. She said to these students, “Friends, if you work harder to learn English, I will meet you halfway and I will do all I can to learn your language, Arabic.” At first, they didn’t believe her. “You would learn Arabic? Just to help us?” Abby smiled and assured them, “You bet!” And that’s exactly what she did.
I was so fascinated by this story and so, sitting there with her, I decided to test her. I said to Abby, “Well, let’s hear some of your Arabic” (thinking that she might haltingly share maybe a few words). But, oh my goodness, she rattled on and on, saying things I certainly could not understand, but yes, it was Arabic. Needless to say, Abby’s foreign friends at Wright State became her fast friends. And those Muslim students could see that this young Christian took their friendship seriously. It went a long way in proving to them the depth of Christ’s love for them.
Second Corinthians Chapter 9 verse 13 says, “Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, others will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the Gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else.” I tell you, that verse perfectly describes what happened between Abby and those students from Saudi Arabia. Bless her heart, in her desire to share the love of Christ, Abby not only went the second mile in learning Arabic, she was so creative. Because of her service through which she proved herself as a follower of Jesus, those students gained an up close and personal experience of how much the God of the Bible cared for them.
Abby’s example is the Apostle Paul who says in First Corinthians Chapter 9 verse 22, “I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.” And friend, the question is: what lengths are we willing to go to prove the love of Christ to others who are thirsty for the Way, the Truth and the Life? Well, if you need an example, you can always look to the Apostle Paul who went the second mile to be used of God to save some, but you can also look to Abby Booher from Wright State University. Let me hear from you today on my Facebook page or you can always post a comment on my blog at joniandfriends.org.
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