Breaking a Curse

By ChanMin Chung

Sunny and Salma met during orientation for first-year students at a university in the Middle East.

Sunny, who is from Asia, is a “Waldensian student”, a Seventh-day Adventist studying at a secular university in the Adventist Church’s Middle East and North Africa Union.

Image © Pacific Press

Salma is a local student who grew up in a non-Christian family.

The two young women instantly became friends. They shared the same classes and lived in the same neighborhood. Salma soon learned that her new friend was an Adventist Christian. She had been taught to be wary of Christians, but Sunny seemed so kind and honest.

As their friendship grew, Salma accepted an invitation to attend a Friday evening meeting in Sunny’s home. Salma met other Adventists at the meeting, and she liked the friendly conversations. Soon she began to enjoy singing hymns and praying with the group every Friday evening.

After a year, Sunny invited Salma to visit an Adventist church, and she agreed. But Salma faced harsh criticism from family and friends.

“What did you do there?” one said.

“Does this mean you have become a Christian?” asked another.

Family members warned that they would be cursed if she became a Christian.

Salma was worried, but she kept going to church. She even joined the youth choir and participated in health seminars. Her Adventist friends prayed for her.

One Friday evening, the group watched a video about Jesus’s life and, afterward, Salma asked to study the book of Acts.

“I was surprised because Salma hadn’t been interested in Bible studies for about a year”, Sunny said.

Salma began weekly Bible studies, but she insisted that she had no desire to be baptized. She worried that her family would be cursed.

One Sabbath, Salma participated in a women’s ministries retreat where each woman had to select a heart-shaped card and meditate on a Bible verse written inside. She prayerfully chose a card and opened it. Inside, she read, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you and your household will be saved” (Acts 16:31).

Instantly Salma realized that she didn’t need to worry about a curse falling on her family. She stood up and announced, voice trembling, that she wanted to be baptized.

“This is not the end but the beginning”, Sunny said. “After I finish my studies, I plan to stay here to develop a lifelong friendship with people like Salma. I pray for God to send more people like her to me”.

ChanMin Chung is communication coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa Union.

Produced by the General Conference Office of Adventist Mission. Find more mission stories at adventistmission[dot]org

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