Despite being raised in a Christian home, Mervat Zaki struggled to dedicate her life to Christ.
“I started to feel like I was separated from God when I was a young kid because of my sin,” the 57-year old southern Ontario resident recalls of her younger days living in Egypt. “I went through a depression as I tried to stop sinning to please God. But I couldn’t, and I was sure if I died, I would go to hell.”
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But then God opened a door for Mervat to attend a Christian camp, and at age 17, everything changed.
At the summer camp, a preacher revealed the life-changing truths behind Jesus’ parable of the prodigal son.
“Everything he said was touching my heart as if he was talking about me,” Mervat said. “I was convicted by the Holy Spirit, and at the end, when he invited us to return to the embrace of God, I didn’t see the preacher, I just saw Jesus with His arms wide open. I was broken; I was done. I gave my heart and life to Jesus and repented of my sins.”
The experience left her crying and unable to sleep: “I sat on the bed feeling abundant joy.”
Mervat’s transformation had an impact on her parents, too. They had stopped attending church but resumed when Mervat came home from camp and encouraged them to reconnect with their old congregation.
After her mother died in 2002, Mervat and her husband, Ashraf, started the long process of applying to immigrate to Canada, where they sensed there would be more opportunities for them and their two sons.
More than three years passed before the Zaki family finally obtained their visas and moved to southern Ontario. Once they were settled and Mervat felt comfortable in her new country, the Holy Spirit put it on her heart to find ways to serve God.
One of the ministries she connected with was Search for Jesus, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association of Canada’s internet outreach initiative. During the pandemic, the ministry was an answer to prayer.
“My heart is to help according to the need. I will not hold back. When you see how the Lord is working through you to touch lives, you will put all yourself into it. After my family and my job, this is my top priority.”
“We couldn’t go anywhere and I didn’t have a car, so it was a great opportunity to use the gift He gave me to help disciple people,” she said.
Applying first to volunteer with the English ministry, Mervat was surprised to learn Search for Jesus reaches out to Middle Eastern people through its Arabic ministry. Sensing it was a door the Lord was opening for her, Mervat agreed to use her first language to become the first Search for Jesus discipleship coach helping new Arab-speaking believers.
Discipleship coaches spend a minimum of two hours online each week helping new Christians, but Mervatgenerally spends two hours a day.
“My heart is to help according to the need,” she explained. “I will not hold back. When you see how the Lord is working through you to touch lives, you will put all yourself into it. After my family and my job, this is my top priority.”
Of all the new Christians Mervat has discipled, her strongest memories come from Sarah,* her first student. Sarah, who was raised Muslim, had little knowledge of Christ beyond the dreams she had, where He was such a presence that she decided to follow Him.
At the end of her discipleship training, Sarah joyfully shared that she understood who Christ is, why He came to Earth in human form, how His teachings “are the correct way to live,” and how He is always present with His followers.
“The decision is ours, to accept Him and be saved or reject his teachings and perish,” Sarah wrote.
Mervat and Sarah are still communicating two years after they first met online. “I became her spiritual mother,” Mervat said happily. “Sometimes when I’m online, I’m in tears. When you see how the Lord is moving, you have to move with Him.”
Beyond the vital work of providing Christian training and online courses to people in restricted countries, Mervat sees value for everyone who feels called to carry out Jesus’ call to “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation” (Mark 16:15, ESV).
“We’re not just here living for ourselves,” she pointed out. “The Lord sent us to be His disciples and proclaim the Good News to the world. This is our duty as believers.”
©2023 BGEA
*Name changed to protect privacy
Please visit SearchForJesus.net to learn more about what God is doing through this ministry, including how you can participate by praying and volunteering.
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