Written by Tyler Penn, IM missionary to International Students in Illinois
“Who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” is a statement I made to a student this past year in our discussion of life, faith, and Jesus. My friend from Oman, a small country near Saudi Arabia, had been a part of our student club called English Corner from the fall of 2022 to the summer of 2024. On July 4th, 2024, he told me he was not coming back to the University of Illinois but returning home to Oman. This was the first time I had heard of this, and realizing this moment would most likely be the last time I would see this friend of our family. The only thing I could think to tell him on such short notice was this. “You know what we are about. Seek Jesus.” We gave each other a hug, and that was it. Like so many other students before him, he was gone.
In late January of 2025, there was a group of us waiting to enter our reserved room at the student union to hold our meeting for the English Corner. While I was standing there, I noticed someone walking up to the group, and I knew immediately that it was my friend from Oman. He had returned with a change in his major and would be with us for another year. I couldn’t believe it!
In the several months to follow, my friend and I would meet on Wednesday afternoons for hours to talk about life, faith, and Jesus. With every discussion I could see his heart softening towards the faith and with every discussion he assured me that it wasn’t. It was after months of these discussions that I shared with him the story of Esther and its most famous line, “who knows…for such a time as this.” I went on to apply it to him. Perhaps he was brought back to the University of Illinois, to us, for such a time as this. A time to get to know the truth of Jesus Christ. He could see the parallel but couldn’t really believe it. I assured him that whether he believed it or not, I believe this to be true. His response was that somehow that made him feel really good that I held to that belief even if he didn’t at the moment.
I would love to end this story with one of a new believer in Christ, but I cannot. My friend went back to Oman once again, only this time not to return. We again said our goodbyes ironically on another July 4th night. I again told him to seek Jesus.
My trust is not in my connection to a student, not in my teaching of the Scriptures, not in my persuasive arguments for the faith, my trust is that God’s desire for my friend to come to repentance is much, much greater than mine, and that He will pursue him even in a very dark place in this world. In one of our later discussions, we had this understanding of each other. He informed me that he may never choose to believe in the faith, and I assured him that I would always hope that one day he would, whether that day was 10 days from now or 10 years from now. Please pray for my friend from Oman!
