A Burning Bible
When Amal, a teenage Israeli Arab, returned home from school one day, she smelled something burning. Her mother had set her favorite book—her Bible—on fire. Again. Nine times during a span of three years, her mother had burned her Bible to dissuade her from clinging to her Christian faith. This was among the milder reactions she would receive from her parents and siblings in a community in which Jesus followers often met intense resistance—including bodily harm—from their families.
Seeking the Way
Amal heard about Jesus when she was thirteen. She was struggling to find her way and was questioning the status quo. “I started to get real lost, and I reached a junction,” she said later.
Which path will lead me to the truth—Islam or Christianity? Upon hearing of Amal’s interest in Christianity, a high school teacher warned her to stay away from it because she could be killed.
“Okay, God,” she prayed one night, “I want to ask you if you are the god of Islam. Just tell me that you are, and I will wear the hijab [head covering] and do all the prayers that you want. But if you are the God of Christians, even if this will lead me to be killed, I will still believe in you.”
A Life-Changing Dream
Then Amal dreamed about her search for life’s answers. “In my dream, I woke up. There was so much light I couldn’t look at it,” she remembered. “The light, who I later realized was Jesus, told me to start walking. Every time I fell, he would grab my hand, pull me up, and continue walking. We reached an oasis. He asked me to grab a book out of the water. He said, ‘The answer you are looking for is inside that book.’
I read the verse where it says, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life.’ Fully awake now, she wondered, Where did that verse come from? The Quran? The Bible? Somewhere else? She searched diligently and discovered John 14:6 in the Bible, which stated those exact words. That was when she gave herself to the way and the truth and the life—Jesus Christ.
Despite the challenges and opposition she faced, Amal found the courage to seek the truth and follow her heart, leading her to a life-changing encounter with Jesus Christ.
To Be Continued…
Date: 16th August 2025
Martyr: Amal
Location: Israel
Source: The Voice of the Martyrs “I am n”
Author: Not Specified
Suffering Saturday 156
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