I am from Nigeria, and I have lived in the Middle East for the last 5 years. I initially hoped to go to the UK and study Mechanical Engineering, but I lost my father shortly after graduating high school and did not have the funds to pursue that. A scholarship brought me to this region, and it has become clear that this was a part of God’s good plans. 

Firstly, He saved me from my sin by making it clear through a conference organised by the Middle East Student Fellowship in August 2017. It was week-long conference where students spend about 30 hours studying the book of Mark. I realised that I did not know the Son of God and had not trusted in Him. Even though I had grown up in a Christian home and had attended church multiple times, I had no understanding of the gospel. I did not understand that a righteous God had made a way for sinners to be saved and reconciled to himself in the death and resurrection of his Son, Jesus Christ. 

I had been blinded by my sin and the lies of the ‘prosperity gospel’ that promised happiness, health, and wealth, with no suffering. But in that summer of 2017, He opened my eyes to see my sin clearly and the lies of the ‘prosperity gospel’ that had enslaved me. He caused me to turn to His Son, Jesus Christ, for forgiveness. The ‘prosperity gospel’ still enslaves many of my countrymen and women who profess to be Christians, and I pray that He will also open many eyes, just as he has done for me.

And now, working with MESF, there have been many opportunities to build new friendships, to share the gospel with students in the region, and to train students to share the gospel with other students. Recently, one of the students I have been working with, for nearly a year now, boldly shared the gospel to a group of students including some conservative Muslims that had attended a park event organized for students.

Many students, just like myself, come from all over the globe to study here in this region for a while and then leave for other places. When they leave they will take the gospel to their home countries.