Salim’s Testimony

Scripture never promises an easy path, only a faithful one, and a God who does not abandon His people even in the valley.

Brother Salim (name changed for security) has walked that valley for years. During a recent visit to the Philippines, a member of our ministry sat with Salim and heard what that valley has cost him and his wife, and what it has given back.

The dangers aren't exaggerated. Death threats have come by phone and by whisper. Men have planned ambushes with Salim's name attached to them. His family has been robbed. This is what he and his wife chose when they gave their lives to reach the Maranao, a Muslim people group in the Philippines that many mission workers won't go near.

But here's what the danger couldn't touch. Salim kept showing up, not with a weapon, not with a wall, but with the same open hand every time. Prayers were prayed over the sick, and the sick got up. God answered, again and again, in ways too specific to explain away, and people noticed.

Some of the most remarkable turns came from the most unlikely people. A man who once robbed Salim's family is now a brother in Christ. Men who had plotted to ambush him are now men who kneel beside him in prayer. The very people who came to take from Salim's life ended up receiving something they never expected to find there. That's the pattern with Salim.

He answers threats with nearness. He answers fear with relationship.

Where others see danger and keep their distance, Salim sees a face and moves closer.  Over the years, those relationships have become bridges nobody else was willing to build.

This is what faithful obedience looks like when it's tested in the field instead of just talked about from a stage. Salim and his wife didn't sign up for safety. They signed up for the Maranao, and they're still there, proof that love can walk straight into the places fear tells everyone else to avoid, and come back out with lives changed on both sides.