‘A mighty man is listening to my prayers’

Adapted from an article which appeared in the magazine of the Norwegian Bible Society.

SAIDA, Lebanon — For a long time Saida was a largely Christian town. Over the years, however, most of the Christians left and they are now a minority. For them, the Bible shop, run by Effat Fana, has become an important meeting place.

But Christians are not the only people who come to the shop – in fact, in this mostly Muslim town, many of the visitors are people of other faiths who want to find out about Jesus.

“Many people come to ask what Jesus can do,” explains Mr Fana, who has worked in the shop for five years. “All of them question whether the Gospels are true, and some ask if Jesus was a man or a God. Sometimes they accept our answers, which we find in the Bible, and sometimes not.

“People also use us when they have a problem. A young man came to me one day and said that he wanted to commit suicide. He could speak English well and was good with computers but he could not find work. I told him to present his problems to God. Two weeks later he called to thank me for giving him the idea, and told me, ‘I experience that a mighty man is listening to my prayers.’”

Mr Fana, who has studied theology, runs Bible study classes in the bookshop every Friday, which are attended by Christians and non-Christians. On Wednesdays he travels to neighbouring villages and holds classes in people’s homes for young people who are interested in learning about the Bible.