Hi Viktoriyia,
I lived in Europe before it was part of the union and latterly in Egypt for a while, so I'm used to being a 'foreigner' in a strange land. In Egypt, I only ever met Muslims, who worship the prophet muhammed and the quran. My sister was married to a muslim once, so am familiar with their beliefs and customs, which I totally disagreed with long before I ever became 'Christian' [anyone advocating the murder of infidels didn't really strike me as 'divine' - I feel the same about any religious order who slaughters people who don't believe as they do] I was subject to a certain amount of distrust and 'dirty looks' I think also there was a few who thought I was nothing better than a western harlot with no morals because all they had to watch on T.V was old re-runs of 'Dallas' [Sue-ellen was maybe not a shining example of a western woman!
]
I was not yet a Christian even in Egypt and though I was aware and believed in the existence of both God and Christ, I just never knew them. What the experience did though was to give me experience of being kind of cut off from my family and friends and being different from everyone else [the place I lived in the Sinai used to be considered a village at the end of a desert rather than the holiday destination it has now become] I was also a divemaster in the Red Sea so often was away on boat trips and apart from the dive school radio, was uncontactable for periods of time.
The experience of being 'the odd one out' but still being able to be friends and caring about the people I worked with, and more importantly, being able to maintain my own beliefs [or maybe unbeliefs at that time] in the face of everyone else's, feels like it was a foreshadow in preparation of what was to come. [not believing the Christian doctrines of men but the truths of God as revealed to me]I was eventually accepted for who I was on a personal basis once people got to know me, even though I was not a muslim or of the muslim faith, which was really nice.
I don't know many Christians at all, but my closest friend was the one who took me to her church when I started searching for truth. It all felt wrong right from the start. I found Bible Truths almost immediatly and never looked back. I still don't know whether or not my friend will turn away from me [I am only the messenger] and the truth in favour of everything she has been taught up to now, or will 'see' the real truth, only God can know this. She has moved away but we communicate via e-mail. It will break my heart if she decides to have nothing more to to with me, but so be it rather than me accept a false doctine.
Anyway, dividing and separating is what God does, it is a pattern all through the scriptures, ultimately, it is for the good of everyone. We just need to carry on in the faith that it is all Of God and He knows what He is about, even when we don't. When telling truths to others, we must be aware of when and where it is appropriate to do so, sometimes 'too much' truth telling at any one sitting will have the opposite effect and alienate the listener even further. You will soon learn to discern when and what to say, the Holy Spirit will give you what you need in the hour that you need it.
Stay with it sister
love in Christ
Angie
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Topic: hoping to hear other experiences (Read 4963 times)