I sat in awkward sadness in my small one-bedroom apartment on a spring afternoon about 20 years ago, sunlight pouring in the one large window. My heart was heavy as I talked to my friend and language teacher, Leyla*.
I had lived in Central Asia almost two years, and Leyla had become one of my closest local friends. Her bright smile and gentle spirit were often the highlight of my week. As my language skills had improved, she asked if we could begin reading Scripture together. She always wanted to talk about spiritual topics — God, prayer, healing, fasting.
Karis missionary, Leyla and Michelle at the International Conference of The Wesleyan Church.
Each week as we read and discussed a passage, she told me how she was growing to love Jesus. Her eyes would glisten, and her face would soften as we read about how Jesus lovingly interacted with people. But today her face was tense.
We had been talking about John 10 where Jesus says, “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.” Leyla was visibly irritable when we read this passage. She told me she didn’t want to be forced to make a choice. She wanted to love Jesus and Muhammad.
I remained silent as she explained to me that she had grown to love Jesus, but she could never forsake the teachings of Muhammad, so beloved by her family and people group. I wasn’t sure what to say, so I offered that I would pray for her. Anger flashed in her eyes. She told me not to pray that she would change her religion. A bit startled, I searched for words to say. Then I said, “I will pray that you will be at peace with God.”
Weeks later we were reading Scripture together again — this time John 14, where Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
Leyla sat fidgeting with the strap of her purse. She looked up at me with furrowed eyebrows. “I have to choose. I can’t sit down in the middle. I have to choose one way or the other.” I nodded, and she sat before me struggling with the decision.
I felt the weight of the options before her. So much was at stake – respecting her father who was a devout Muslim, her personal history, the history of her people group, acceptance in her culture, belonging in her family.
The call to follow is the call to pick up our cross … to count the cost. Leyla’s journey to Jesus took 17 years from when she first heard the gospel until she was baptized. Seventeen years.
She read the whole Bible repeatedly. She began praying to Jesus in her own words instead of just reciting the Muslim prayers she had memorized in Arabic. And slowly, she began to love Jesus enough to say yes to him.
This was a journey that took a long time and many voices. Though she first worked as a pediatric endocrinologist, circumstances — and ultimately God — led her to become a language teacher. She served as the language teacher for many members of the Global Partners ministry team over the years.
She said, “as I taught them to speak my language, they talked to me about following Jesus and praying to him.”
Michelle, now part of the Global Partners (GP) Mobilization Team, once served in Central Asia and was also a student of Leyla. She remembers that Leyla was always open to discussing spiritual topics.
“For a while, it felt like she was riding the fence between being a Muslim and following Jesus. It was like her heart really wanted to believe, but she was so afraid, she couldn’t,” Michelle wrote.
Other GP teammates like Alicia and Tracie poured significant intentionality into their friendships with Leyla as well. As Leyla continued seeking, knocking, asking, God was faithful to open the door so she could be at home in him.
The Leyla I know today is a completely different person than the one I met almost 25 years ago. She is a leader in the house church, especially gifted in visiting the sick and pastoral care for those hurting. And she is a gifted evangelist, sharing her faith with her Muslim relatives, friends and neighbors. Her witness is powerful because she understands how they think and feel from her own experience.
She is also the first person from Central Asia to be elected to the International Board of the Wesleyan Church (IBWC).
“… it was a joy to watch her become the first local unreached people group representative on the IBWC — a testament to the ways that God transforms lives and uses those who we may never have imagined would be in a role like that,” Michelle wrote.
As the International Wesleyan Church seeks to focus efforts on reaching the unreached together, Leyla’s perspective as a former Muslim is invaluable. She has a heart for the unreached — they are her friends and family. And she is passionate about taking the good news to them, knowing that it will take time. She is patient with those who don’t yet know Jesus, because she understands that it can take a long time to choose to follow Jesus, but she can also testify that following him is worth it.
Recently, on her election to the international board, Leyla said, “I praise the Lord that he guided my path to become a part of the Wesleyan family. I love the Wesleyan emphasis that the gospel is for everyone, and I fervently pray that the good news will continue to spread even to the darkest and hardest places … That is my deepest desire for the future of The Wesleyan Church — that we will see the global Wesleyan Church play a role in taking the gospel to those who have not yet heard.”
A missionary serving the Karis people
*Name has been changed due to security guidelines
