That the Work May Continue: Naima’s Story

Suzanne Pearson • Oct 02, 2023

Naima (name changed) was an unlikely candidate for the body of Christ. Born into a family of faith healers in the Indo-Malay region of the Pacific Islands, Naima was one of 15 children. She grew up instilled with the strong cultural value of honoring and caring for her family above herself. Yet spiritual darkness pervaded Naima’s upbringing, her parents’ belief system an intermingling of “witch doctoring” and Islamic teachings from the surrounding community.

As a young adult, Naima furthered her education by attending college. During that time, she heard the Gospel and trusted Christ as her Savior. Naima says that the joy and hope she found in Jesus quickly spilled over into a desire to share the Good News with others. “I had a heart for missions,” she shares. “But my discipleship leaders helped me understand that missions starts with family.” Naima knew that sharing her newfound faith with her family would not be easy. Yet she also knew the Holy Spirit was calling her to be a light into the darkness that overshadowed her parents and siblings.

Choose Jesus or Your Family

The response of Naima’s parents to her faith in Christ was severe. Her father locked in her in her room without food or water for two weeks, telling her she must renounce her faith in Christ. Naima refused. Each night, her father would come into her room again, demanding that she turn from Christianity. Naima says the only way she survived is that a cousin felt compassion for her and snuck a glass of water into her room every few days.


Then one night came the most frightening event of all for Naima. Her father came into the room, as he had done for several nights in a row. But this time he held a gun to her head and told her that he would kill her if she did not renounce Christ. Resigned to die for her faith, Naima again refused.


Miraculously, her father did not follow through on his threat. He did, however, give her one last ultimatum: “Choose Jesus or your family.” Naima knew that if she chose Jesus, she would be banished from her home and become an outcast from the family she loved. Still, Naima trusted the Lord to provide and care for her. She looked her father in the eyes as she said, “I choose Jesus.”

Seeds Sown in Hard Soil

Naima was disowned by her family and her access to them was limited for many years. Yet whenever small windows of opportunity to interact with her parents or siblings arose, Naima continued to boldly share the Gospel with them. Even as she studied God’s Word and began missional work in other Muslim-background communities, Naima never stopped praying for or witnessing to her family. And although the process was tedious and often discouraging, over time, those seeds began to take root in the hearts of Naima’s family.

“After many years, my mom and my dad both came to faith in Christ,” Naima shares. “And not only that, but now they support me in my [mission] work.” A number of Naima’s siblings are believers now as well, and the others stay continually in her prayers. God has truly done a miraculous work in Naima’s family, and they stand as a great encouragement to many Muslim-background Christians who face similar challenges. One of Naima’s colleagues says, “When we see what God did in Naima’s family, it gives us hope for what He can do in ours.”

TEAM’s partnerships are expanding like never before in Muslim-background communities in the Indo-Malay region, bringing the Gospel into communities that are unreachable for western workers.

That the Work May Continue

Naima is an agent of change and an ambassador for the Gospel well beyond her family of origin. She and other believers like her recognize that there are areas of their homeland that they can access in ways that western workers and church planters cannot. In partnership with TEAM and other organizations, Naima is one of many blazing those trails.


Naima works for a non-government organization that travels around to different towns and villages to help with community development projects. Naima and her co-workers stay in each location for several months before moving on to the next. Doing so gives them opportunities to build relationships, share the Gospel, and then disciple the new believers. In many of these areas, house churches are formed and then continue under the leadership of the local believers.


Naima said the training up of leaders in each community is essential because of the limited amount of time that she and her team can stay in any one area. “It is important that they know how to lead and disciple others, so that the work may continue with their own people.”

We Do it for Christ

Naima’s name is changed here in her story, and we’ll never be able to show you her beautiful face (which radiates with the love of Jesus) because of the risks and dangers she accepts by sharing the hope of Jesus in “closed” regions. When asked what gives her the boldness to continue in her tireless, nomadic work, she smiles and gives two answers.


First of all, she shares how close she and her co-workers have become. “We see each other as family, not as co-workers.” The camaraderie between Naima and her team is contagious and their love for one another is evident. They cry together, laugh together, pray together, and encourage one another on the difficult days.

Secondly, Naima speaks with unfaltering resolve of the calling the Lord has given her and her team. They fully recognize and understand that this calling has risks. “We expect persecution,” she says with a quiet confidence. “But it’s OK because we do it for Christ.”

You have a role to play in bringing the Gospel to the darkest and most unreached corners of the globe. TEAM workers can train, and local believers can carry the message, but it all starts with your prayers and support. A gift to TEAM’s general “GO Fund” assists us in strengthening and increasing partnerships with the global Church around the world.

Loving Like Jesus Cross-Culturally (Part 1)

By Megan Lunsford • 23 Apr, 2024
When seeking to serve cross-culturally with an authentic love for others, there’s no better example for us than Jesus. If we sat around a table and threw out the question, “How do we love like Jesus?” I think we would have several commonalities as we respond. For example, Jesus loved all people right where they were. He loved those who were deemed the least, those hardest to love, or those who were His enemies. These are all beautiful realities of the heart of Jesus. When we step into relationships, it can be easier to take on the warmer, more gracious gestures of Jesus’ love, especially in cross-cultural relationships. Think about it––when doing life with those who look and act differently than us, we are already out of our comfort zones and would rather keep things as simple and familiar as possible. But there are other facets of Jesus’ heart we often overlook that can transform us and others even more into His likeness. Jesus is love because God is love. Everything Jesus did was out of love; it’s the mere definition of who He is. As followers of Jesus, He calls us to the same: “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.” (1 John:7-12) Every display of love we offer to others is an opportunity for them to encounter the ultimate love of the Father. That’s a pretty big deal! In this article, we’ll look at three expressions of Jesus’ love that we tend to overlook when engaging others cross-culturally. (Next month, we’ll look at three more.) 1. Jesus loved sacrificially. Everywhere Jesus went, crowds followed Him. We even see times in Scripture where Jesus had plans to step away for time alone but those who were hurting found Him and He had compassion on them and stayed with them. Can you imagine rarely having any time to yourself but, instead, constantly being surrounded by crowds of people wanting help from you? Jesus loved sacrificially. He welcomed all who came to Him with love and compassion, never turning anyone away. “When He saw the crowds, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” (Matthew 9:36) In the same way, we can make room in our lives for Jesus to bring sacrificial interruptions which, in His eyes, are orchestrated encounters to transfer His love to others. It can be tempting to be so “on mission” that we are full steam ahead and find ourselves frustrated when the Holy Spirit sends an interruption into our path that we feel we don’t have time for. Or, perhaps, we have scheduled a meet-up but it’s the norm in another culture to be 30 minutes or an hour late. We anxiously think through how it will affect whatever we have planned next. While it’s normal to feel a little stressed, what if the very "interruption” standing in front of you was really a divine appointment sent by God? Or what if that person running late experiences how peaceful and gracious you are in adapting to their culture and therefore, they can encounter a beautiful display of Jesus’ love? To truly represent Christ, we should remain ready and willing for each assignment the Lord sends into our path, no matter the cost or how much we will have to re-route our day. He is always a hundred steps ahead and will work all things for His glory and our good. 2. Jesus loved by discerning each situation well. Think about how many situations Jesus had to respond to on a daily basis. We read in Scripture that there were lines of people waiting to be healed by Him, talk to Him, hear His teachings, or simply touch the hem of His robe. Jesus was fully dependent on His Father to discern each situation before addressing it. “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.” (John 5:19) Another temptation we can have when in a relationship with those God has sent us to is to think we already know the solution or what God wants to do before we’ve even asked Him. We believe we are full of knowledge, so we just pull from the bank we have stored within and go with it. However, when we access what is familiar to us as our default, we risk missing out on a God-given solution that might truly be the key to unlocking whatever challenge is in front of us. What does this look like when interacting with others? We can simply ask, “God, what is on Your heart for the person standing in front of me?” Then we listen and respond as He speaks. When we make it a daily habit to pause and hear God’s heart for each situation before responding, we are guaranteed to be effective in loving those around us. He knows the heart of every person that will cross our paths. Imagine how impactful we can be if we first lean on His wisdom and discernment before moving forward. 3. Jesus loved by speaking truth. Most of us are familiar with the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well. If we are honest, this conversation makes us a bit nervous as none of us would be comfortable with Jesus calling out intimate details of our lives that we would prefer to hide. But Jesus went further than just airing her dirty laundry. He offered her the hope of the Gospel and a relationship with Him - a divine fulfillment that could never be found in an earthly relationship. Jesus modeled a powerful example of loving others well cross-culturally. He took the low place and spoke truth, truly out of love––speaking to her heart from His. Like Jesus, our goal in sharing the truths about Him and His Word is to bring hope and satisfaction through Him alone. When we speak truth from Scripture, we are calling others higher into all God has for them. The tricky part here is we should avoid speaking truth if it isn’t first fueled by compassion. If it merely comes from a place of judgment, condemnation, or self-righteousness, it will fall flat 100% of the time. But if it truly comes from love, you are likely to not only win a heart back to the Father but, like the story of the Samaritan woman, even an entire village! If you see someone living outside of God’s best for their lives, ask God to show you your heart before engaging theirs. Once your heart is properly postured, you can speak truth out of an overflow of God’s love and trust Him for a transformation in their lives.

Hospitality, Help, and the Hope of the Gospel

By Suzanne Pearson • 16 Apr, 2024
TEAM Canada provides warm welcome and trusted friendships for diaspora populations living far from their native countries. As TEAM Canada workers Peter and Ruth (names changed) drive from their home to a nearby community center, they pass numerous apartment buildings and townhouses. Most of the families who live there are immigrants. They’ve left their countries of origin due to political unrest, trauma, and other difficulties. They’ve left family, friends, homes, jobs, and personal wealth behind. They search for peace, justice for the oppressed, and rest from fear and weariness. And as they adjust to a new country and a new language, they are often very isolated from others around them. “The sad reality is most immigrants are never even invited inside a Canadian home,” says Ruth. Peter and Ruth and their team try to change that reality. For the last nine years, the team, which includes workers from partner organizations as well as volunteers, has held English classes at the community center. Three days a week, over 60 students from more than 20 countries come together to learn English as well as to fellowship together and receive practical help in assimilating to a new normal. Meeting Needs and Building Trust That practical help may come in the form of procuring furniture, clothes, or dishes for newcomers, assistance with creating a resume and finding a job, or teaching people how to navigate Canadian laws and the medical system. As these tangible needs are met, relationships are built. “We invite them into our homes for meals and games,” Ruth shares. “We take them on hiking trips, picnics, outings, and out for coffee.” This is particularly important in this type of ministry because most immigrants come to Canada from cultures that value hospitality. Conversely, Canadians do not typically prioritize hospitality and consequently many newcomers feel lonely and isolated. Inviting folks to various gatherings and outings allows the team to spend extended time hearing people’s stories, struggles, hopes, and dreams. When she speaks about building friendships, Ruth’s heart for the people she serves is evident. “Hearing their stories, it’s easy to love them, and many have become close friends,” Ruth says. “We recognize the value of steady one-on-one relationships.”
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