Two lessons from Hussain’s story
An Arab cafe
Hassan came to Christ through a dream of Jesus and online media.
You will deny me.
He told his family and they threw him out of home. For a while, he moved from house to house, running through his savings. While his family was threatening to kill him.
The strain overwhelmed him. He buckled. When he denied Christ and his family allowed him to move back in.
He fell off the radar for a couple of months.
A second chance
Then he resurfaced and met with Rick. He told Rick ‘I don’t share the gospel anymore. I don’t read the Bible. I’ve denied Jesus to my family and they think I’m a Muslim again.’
Rick had a guest room and he invited Hassan to stay one or two nights while he worked himself out. Hassan never left.
Rick told him, ‘If you’re going to stay around, we’ll read the Bible together every morning.’ He began growing again. Within a few weeks, he was sharing the gospel.
Hassan had never really quit following Jesus.
Counting the Cost
When his family found out, they barred him from returning home. His brother tried to kill him.
A disciple called Abood listened and then challenged Hassan, ‘You told your family so much quicker than I told my family. And when I told my family they tried to kill me, they tied me up, and they beat me. I had to run away. This is what I learned, you need to deny your family if that's what's keeping you from following Jesus. That’s what Jesus told us to do. You need to choose to follow Jesus.’
Everything changed that day. Hassan has not looked back.
The Movement Surges
In the past year, Lebanon has gone through a horrible war. Hassan’s people were hit hard. There have been so many airstrikes and everyone knows people who died in the war. When people think they might die tomorrow, they don't want to just follow any religion. They want to know who God is.
Hussan began sharing boldly and making disciples.
Rick challenged him not just to train the disciples but to train disciples who make disciples. After just a few months, there were fifth-generation disciples and churches in Hussan’s network. He has passed on everything he learned — the strategy and the tools.
Lessons
Movements are slow. Discipleship takes time. Hussan had to count the cost of following Jesus. Rick and Abood played their part, but it was God who changed Hussan’s heart.
Movements are fast. Once that deep work was complete, the movement surged forward as Hussain applied a 4-Fields strategy and simple methods. The outcome was generations of disciples, disciple makers and churches.
