One80 Podcast Episode 42

David Sadik, Transcript

This is a transcript of the One80 Podcast that may veer from the original audio found at https://one80podcast.com/listen/.

Ryan Henry: Sometimes our greatest acts of evangelism are praying. Just simple acts of obedience, just doing what God asks of us. Quiet time on a beach. We don’t even know the impact that we might be making. But David Sadik was watching that man on the beach with intrigue and seeds were planted. He got up the courage to ask, and his life was changed forever, his and his family’s lives.

Welcome to David’s One80.

Coming all the way today from South Africa, we have David Sadik. David, we are so glad that we have you today. Welcome.

David Sadik: It’s great to be with you guys and I’m actually looking forward to sharing my story. 

Ryan Henry: Yeah, absolutely. I’m just really excited to have you here. We like to start our show, David, with a kind of a random question. If you could travel to any other place in the world, where would you like to travel? 

David Sadik: I would say South Korea has, I’ve had a opportunity to work with missionary from South Korea. I had the privilege of leading most of the mission work that it did back in Ghana, and I also served it as a junior pastor, so I developed a strong passion for ministering to Korean community. Very cool. 

Ryan Henry: Well, let’s get into your story. David, we want to take our listeners all the way back into the very beginnings of your life, kind of paint a picture of what that was like.

David Sadik: So could you tell us where did you grow up? I was born in Ghana, in West Africa. One of the provinces in Ghana is called Ashanti Region. It’s down in their southern part of Ghana. That’s where I was born and raised.

Ryan Henry: So what was your family life like growing up?

David Sadik: I grew up in a little town called Offinsu, so I was born there, grew up there among other siblings.

It’s home there, had a lot of children that most of them are not my parents, biological children. So we are so many in the compound where you can’t even tell the difference as to who is the biological child and who is not my father, he is highly respected in the community, so people wish for him to raise their kids, their children.

Wow. Parents will bring their children to my father and say, “I would prefer my child to grow up in your household.” So because of that, we end up having a lot of children that are not directly my parents’ kids, but then my father have to raise all of us together under the same rules and instructions. Wow.

You always had somebody to play with, I bet. Yes. Wow, I can’t even imagine that. My father, he is a community leader. People have issues. They all come to him for counseling and reconciliations and stuff like that, so our house is almost always busy and having to grow up among kids that are not your biological siblings.

Also it’s more challenging because you have to share everything with everyone. It is not like when you have a nuclear family where you have your parents, yourself. And not to say that we did not experience love, we did experience all of that, but it’s just that you have to share them with everybody else.

Ryan Henry: Can you talk to us about your faith was like growing up? 

David Sadik: Growing up in an Islam community and especially being my father’s son, a lot is expected from us. We have to outshine the rest to follow the patterns of my father. He is such a helper. He is so generous, and also he hates violence and he’s always up for making peace with everyone.

And whenever there is a misunderstanding or problems or whatever, you’ll be the first to be there and try to make peace with everybody in the community. When you are my father’s child, especially in Arabic school, you cannot make mistake. You cannot not know to recite a Quran or whenever there is a quiz or a test or something like school, Arabic school, we are always set aside because you are my father’s son.

So you expected to be smart. You expected to know more about the Qu’ran, the  Torah and the Hadith. No pressure. Yes, and my father is also keen on passing on those legacies to us as his children because we have to leave his legacy and we have to also portray what he stands for. That is what the community and everybody else who knows my father, expect of us.

I cannot be second place. I have to always be in the first place. Whenever there is an exams or test or anything of such, if I come second, it’s like I have failed. So it’s a lot of pressure growing up in our household, not just from my father, but from the community and from people at large. I have to live up to my father’s standard and to the community’s expectation of me as well.

I have to be very, very devoted. I was pressured to study hard. To study more than my peers because I needed to prove not just to my father, but also to the community at large. When people from Saudi Arabia and all that visit our community, I’ll be the first person to be introduced to them, and I’ll end up showing them around and helping them to be familiarized with our culture and tradition and stuff like that.

So I became more of a favorite in terms of being in front of most of the things that we do, like even when we go to our school, Arabic school from school to school, like sort of challenge quiz and stuff. I usually been chosen to be the leader of my group, so it’s sort of pushed me to be more committed and more zealous in terms of my Islamic religion.

Ryan Henry: What was, um, your view of God growing up and, but even your view of Jesus, had you heard the name before? What were your thoughts? 

David Sadik: God is supreme God is supernatural. God is the ultimate. I do not compare him with anybody or with any other god. So fear of God really resonated in my heart at that time because of the way I see him.

The way I imagine God to be. God is so big. He’s so extreme to the extent that he cannot be compared, you know, to any other. I live my life studying all the time, and I live my life trying to prove. And that led me to be more of challenging Christianity and especially—you don’t tell me you are Christian! The minute you tell me you’re Christian, I jump into argument and debate with you because I believe so much that I am on the right path. If you’re not an Islam Muslim, you’re not. Later on, I realized why I had to study that deep. The sad part of Muslims is that most people just got converted to Islam. And they don’t even understand every word the Qu’ran says. They only recite it, but they don’t really understand what it means. But for me, I was privileged enough to study, to extend work. I can understand exactly what the Qu’ran says, what the words say. Whether it makes sense or it doesn’t make sense whether they’re talking about something reasonable or not.

You’ll be amazed to note that in most cases where Muhammad referred to Jesus as Messiah in Arabic, one means the Messiah, but only Jesus that was referred to as the Messiah in the Qu’ran and among so many other revelations where Muhammad himself declared Jesus as, as Messiah and as also somebody who can answer certain difficult questions that his disciples bring before him. 

Yes. To where man to believe that he’s just a prophet, but one prophet because Mohammed is the last prophet to come. But then for me, I kept on asking, well, if you call someone messiah, they’re not call himself a Messiah yet.

He referred to Issa Jesus as Messiah. So I wondered who he might be, who he really is, but I haven’t really gave it a thought because for the Koran, he is just a prophet. He was one of the prophets who came and died according to them. And then Mohamed is like the last concealed prophet, the last prophet.

So I haven’t really gave much thoughts about who he really is or who. I haven’t really classified him at that time. 

Ryan Henry: I saw that even at a young age, you had led prayer at the mosque. What was that like? 

Actually, I was at the age of 16 when I started to lead prayers. I became a scholar at the age of 16. By then, I was already ordained as Imam where I lead prayers. I also lead the Arabic school that was open there. I was a madris, like a teacher at a madrasa. 

Ryan Henry: What happened to get your views to start to change? 

David Sadik: So I start to question, is this really what, what I wanna do? Is this really what I want to follow? Setting the things in the Qu’ran. Most of the time you read the Qu’ran, it’s directed to the Bible.

I came to realize that in the Qu’ran, Even Muhammad was taught by Christians. There was a time when he was escaping and he found refuge among the Christians. Then when he came back, he started claiming that he’s getting some callings and visions and and stuff like that. Then I begin to kind of ask questions because there are so many times when the disciples go to him and ask him question, he refer them to the people of the book, and in a Qu’ran, when he say people of the book, it meant Christianity.

So that was where my question started. Oh my gosh. You’d be amazed to find out that most of the disciples approached him with difficult questions. He will not be able to answer them. He will refer them to the people of the book, the Christians. There’s a lot of Bible in the Qu’ran. I did not mean that it’s quoted exactly as it’s quoted in the Bible.

Basically, if you read the Bible and the Qu’ran, you notice that most of the things that Muhammad was talking about is driven from the Bible. It is something that was inspired by somebody who have read the Bibles and then maybe they make it their own, you know? So Qu’ran is not exactly like as quoted in the Bible, but he sort of is twisted it to suit what he wants his believers to hear.

This for me, this is a religion or a book that I trusted so much into being a solution to all my questions, and rather I noticed that, you know, even he himself does not have the answers to most of the difficult questions or most of the situations that we go through as humans. So for him to be referring his disciples to the people of the book simply tells me that he does not have answers.

He does not have all the answers to what I want or what I’m looking for. So in other words, he also needs help. Just like myself, I want more than just somebody or leader who will be referring me to another source for solution. So if these are the people that you are referring me to, then I have to look for them and start listening to them.

Instead. I questioned a lot. You know, until I moved to the city, you know, when I moved to the city, I enrolled myself in school in a normal school where they teach English life skills. So I did not know much about Christianity yet. I actually left home because I was not allowed to study English. I was not allowed to go to a normal English school because like I said, it was forbidden according to our parents and our leaders in Islam.

Once we start learning English and being exposed to the Western culture, then we begin to question. So like back then at at that, around about that same age, 16, I started to wonder, I’ve always wanted to know more so, and for me not being allowed to, in fact, the local government on several occasions have made an attempt to introduce English language into the Arabic school.

And it’s been, you know, denied so many, you know, several times. Like the leaders don’t, don’t want it. And the only reason at that time they gave us is, is, is that, you know, it’s once we’re exposed to English language and the Western culture and stuff like that, then we begin to question Islam and all.

Then I said, well, why are you worried about, you know, us questioning it? So I then started to say, no, if I’m not allowed to go to school, English school in that community, then I have to move. So that was what prompted me to leave and went to my elder brother in the city. Mm-hmm. And part of the other questions that even get me more confused is after I have numerous conversation, with Christians and I begin to hear the views of being a Christian.

It’s totally different from being a Muslim because being a Muslim, like you don’t have breathing space, you know? There is no freedom. There is no freedom to choose. With all the prayers we perform five times a day and all that with citation of Quran and everything, you know? Yes. You’re not guaranteed of heaven.

That’s a scary part of it. There has never been a moment where you are being guaranteed of heaven because you always and constantly have to work. You know, there is no guarantee, so you have to live your life in fear and in Islam, they have many other ways of making people like qualifying to enter heaven.

They put it like a bridge. The hell fire is underneath it and heaven is across the the other side. So you have to walk on that tiny rope while, while you working on that rope, your sin determines whether you be able to walk without it breaking for you to fall into hell. So in other words, how much sin you have determines and if you have a lot of sin in you that sin weighs you down and breaks the rope, and that is your judgment.

So basically that is the way we were taught to believe, which would explain so much of the fear you live in. Total fear you can do right in the morning and in the afternoon when you do even one wrong thing and died, there’s no guarantee that you go into heaven. Unlike in Christianity, you know, we, we know and we can confidently, you know, and proudly say today that angels will be rejoicing in heaven because you know, he’s going home or she is going home.

But you can’t say the same when you are a Muslim. Makes me start to question a whole lot. Cause whenever you talk to Christians, they have this amazing confidence. They have this unique conviction that the candidates of heaven, and here you are, you’ve been zealous all your life. You live your life in a very careful way.

Not to do anything wrong, not to make any mistakes, not to sin. And yet you are not assured. You don’t even have that half of the confidence that the Christians do have when it comes to heaven. That was when I started to study more and more the Bibles and compare it to the Qu’ran, and then a whole lot other things start to make sense in the Bible than it does in the Qu’ran.

Hmm. Okay. What happened? So basically for me to be that confused, that was where I started walking down to the ocean, to the beach. I needed to be in a quiet space where, I can just talk to God and meditate and look for the truth. I’ve only been introduced to the Bible for a couple of months and already the Bible is making more sense to me than the Qu’ran does all my life.

So that make me ask questions like, you know, just asking God if he really, really, truly who he is. I want to know him. I want to follow Him. I want to do what He want me to do. But here I am confused between the Bible and the Qu’ran. Deep in my heart. I know that the Bible makes more sense to me. So if the Bible is what he want me to follow, I’m more than ready.

You know, I ask God to show me the truth about who he is and if there’s anything else he want me to know. Wow, I thought I was the only one working down the beach looking for a quiet moment with God and admiring the view of the ocean , the natural beauty of God’s creation and all. And that was where I noticed that I wasn’t the only one.

I’ve been having the company all along. Obruni means white man. The first morning I saw him there. I don’t know what he was meditating or what his mission there was. So the first day I let him go the second day, the third day, I got the courage to walk up to him because for us, what we know is that it’s not easy for a white man to trust.

A total stranger working out to him. They would do everything possible to avoid the person, but in this case, he was still standing while I tried to walk up to him.

Ryan Henry: So let me just get this straight. So you’re in Ghana, you’re going to the beach every morning and you’re having this question, God, there’s more that I need to know.

Show it to me. And you’re noticing that there’s a white man who is coming out there. Alone, and it’s kind of like, what is going on with this guy? You finally gained the courage. How did you actually start talking to him and what did he say? 

David Sadik: When I got there, he was the first person to wave and say hello, and then I said hello back, and he instantly introduced himself to me.

My name is Michael, and then I also introduce myself to him. So he asked me, what am I doing here? I also ask him, what are you doing here? Then he started talking about, he’s a Christian, he’s a missionary. He came all the way from America with his family to the coming day here to share the love of God. And so I was like, wow, this guy travel all this far.

Just come and talk about Jesus. For me, that was like a real commitment. So we started that conversation but not deeper. So that day we decided to go. Part ways, but I’ve asked him if it’s okay for us to meet again. He said, oh yeah, sure, why not? We can meet the same place the same time. I said, okay. So that was how it continued.

We met for a couple of times and then he opted to take me to meet the rest of the family, and I said, okay. When he took me to the house, they were all welcoming and they were all amazing. They all introduced themselves to me, and that moment I felt like there’s no discrimination for us. Usually you can tell these people are a little bit of resentment, but they never show any sign of that.

I mean, they’re so welcoming and all that. And in fact, the amazing part was also that same morning they invited me for breakfast. After that we started meeting at home and throughout this, while he never tried to introduce Jesus to me. The only time he mentioned Jesus was when he was introducing himself and the reason why they in Ghana.

So all along we’ve been having a normal conversation and we became very good friends and one of the things that I appreciate was there, especially Michael. He accepted me for who I am. 

Ryan Henry: That’s amazing. Did that catch you by surprise, the fact that they, they weren’t trying to convert you, they just were loving you and showing you the love of God?

David Sadik: Absolutely. You know, he related to me as a Muslim, not as somebody who wants me to be a Christian before he can relate to me. He tried to let me see how much God loves me. And how much he wants to make difference in my life, but not like to impose Christianity on me and the rest of the family were also the same. 

Margaret Ereneta: Hey friends, make sure to share 180 with your people. It may be the best news they hear today. Now back to the show.

David Sadik: They invite me to go out for lunch with them usually on Sundays, and we’ll go and have amazing lunch. We’ll come back. There won’t be any issue of like, Hey, David, so when are I going to give your life to Christ? It’s always been just a normal relationship that we’ve had. And throughout that period of time, he’s never sat me down to want to evangelize me.

So along all I could see in them is a true reflection of Jesus love. So that was what they always demonstrate to me and for me, that was the biggest evangelism one can do. It’s not the preaching, it’s your lifestyle. They evangelized me through their lifestyle, through the way they related to me and through the way they demonstrated the love of God.

And that was how my heart started, you know, melting. The conviction started from there. Cuz I began to wonder, so if I become a Christian, this is the kind of lifestyle I’m gonna leave. I’m going to be filled such love. Because there’s always love in the house, there’s always love in their faces and everything they do.

You see the love of God. And the other amazing part of what I always remember is that, Once in a while Michael will just look at me and say, Hey buddy, Jesus loves you. And I say, really? So yeah, he loves you so much. And then sometimes we’ll be sitting in groups and then he’ll look at us. So he asks the rest of the team who love David and then say, oh, raise their hands like I do, I do.

You know, so like love is like everywhere and there’s nothing like experiencing the love of Jesus through his followers. This amazing family made me see and experience the love of God even before I gave my life to Christ. And for me, that was the genesis of a greater love that has been inverted in my heart.

You know, whenever I talk about Jesus, sometimes I get emotional. Who am I that he loved me so much and for me, that love started from there. That was where I started experiencing that love. 

Ryan Henry: So how did you, how did you go kind of from this observer kind of watching from the outside in to actually becoming an actual Christ follower?

David Sadik: Yeah, I think beside the fact that they were sharp me with the love of God, Michael will ask me, David, I want you to pray for God to hear you. I want you to just talk to him and ask him to show you the truth about who he is. So for me to even start learning how to pray in that way was through him.

Because for me, I know you can only pray by going to the mosque, but now he taught me how I can even pray in my bed by just talking to God. And I learned to do that. And I learned to ask God sincerely and honestly to show me the truth about who he is. Mm-hmm. So the more they do and the more they show they love to me, the more I also pray harder.

I remember one Saturday night, I’m not sure that it was a vision or it was a dream. I found myself standing isolated in a plain place where I saw this bright light, you know, a real bright light, very bright, you know, shining right in front. And I was standing there staring at that bright light. I don’t know whether I was scared or what, but then the voice just told me to walk towards the light.

It was a still tiny voice, just whispering in a sweet way. “Just walk towards the light, just keep walking, don’t look back.” And then I obeyed. I started just walking. And the amazing part, you know, you felt that sensation of relief. The minute I walked through the light though, I could not see anything, but I could felt that sensation of relief and like a weight being lifted and I felt so light, you know?

And all of a sudden, I thought myself in a new dimension of faith altogether. So I woke up late that Sunday morning and the first thing that came to my mind was I was excited to rush to them and ask them I wanna go to church with them, but I was late because they already left for church. That really hurt me so bad because I really wanted to go to church with them that morning.

So when they came back, I told Michael about the vision or the dream that I had. So we went to a swimming pool to swim and lunch, as we usually do on Sundays. So I was in a swimming pool with Michael VanHuis . We were swimming and I whispered in his ears and I was like, Hey, Michael said, I wanna give my life to Christ.

He couldn’t believe he said, I what? And I repeated again, I wanna give my life to Christ. And you couldn’t believe it. You really couldn’t believe it. So actually he led me to Christ in the swimming pool. And then right there he yelled out and spread the good news to the rest. And like there was excitement all over.

It was really a great Sunday. I remember they were singing throughout the drive back home. The car was filled with excitement and joy. It was such an amazing moment for me. 

Ryan Henry: What did you finally then see clearly about Jesus? What was the truth that you got? 

David Sadik: Like I said, you know, through the Thompsons and the, and through the way they demonstrated the love of God and the true identity of who God really is to me, made me begin to experience the mercy and the grace of God.

I begin to have strong faith. And God that I begin to experience his grace in my life because who was I? I was nobody and these amazing people, they showed me with the love of God. And then I begin to experience the merciful God that they were serving. So in my life, even before I gave my life to Christ, after I gave my life to Christ, he made an arrangement for me to be baptized.

We went to the Atlantic Ocean. Where I got baptized by Michael Thompson and Michael VanHuis when I was lifted out from the water. It’s like you been born again all over again. You became a new being. You know, I never felt the same person that I was before I went down into the water. Once you come out, you feel this incredible glow of all over your face and the experience of knowing that now I’m a new creation.

In Christ. Now I’m accepted in the heavenly realms. That burden of guilt, burden of confusion, and everything all got lifted up, you know, and I became very light. That was a complete turnaround in my life, and I would never, ever forget that experience. 

Ryan Henry: Oh wow, that’s really beautiful. You know, it’s funny that you came to him and said, I want you guys to lead me to Christ, when in reality they had already kind of done it just by the way that they were loving.

And for those of you listening, if you haven’t made the connection yet, this Michael Thompson is actually the founder of OneWay Ministries, which hosts this podcast. So what else happened after you became a fa, a Christ follower? How did that have an impact on your family? 

David Sadik: At that time, it was just me. The Thompsons.

It was later that I decided that I cannot keep this to myself any much longer. It wasn’t easy because when I was leaving home, I know that my family were expecting me to further my quest for a more knowledge about Koran and all that. But my brother sometime later saw the sign in me because I started losing interest.

I started losing interest in going to the mosque. I made all sort of excuses to avoid going to the mosque and stuff like that. So he actually didn’t know what was going on until I decided I wanted to go and visit my parents. I remember Michael, Rachel, everybody, they were not happy about it. They were scared for me.

He is like, are you sure it’s a good idea? I said, well, I’m ready. If you could feel the excitement in me and how much I’m willing to share to the rest of the world about my new faith. I’m not afraid. I’m ready. I am sure I’m ready to go. So it was a sad moment and a scary moment as such, but I think at that time I was filled with the Holy Ghost that I didn’t even thought about the consequences and whatever I’m probably gonna face.

All I could see was Jesus. All I could see was the love of God in me. All I could see is that amazing strength and courage that he put in me. So I did went. And it wasn’t easy. Most of the leaders in the community gathered in my house and my father was more like the judge of the situation.

One of my uncle have to travel all the way from Nigeria to come for that purpose. And so I was surrounded by all these people and everybody’s trying to look so scary and mean for me to see how serious the situation is because I had to face them whether I like it or not. So they said, we’ve been hearing speculations.

Your brother called us and told us he’s doubting your faith in Islam. What is the truth? Well, I gave my life to Christ and the room. Was silent for a minute and before I could tell the whole room was closing in on me, these people were like rising from left to right center and shouting us trying to grab me from the neck.

I didn’t know what to do. I was confused and I could tell my mother was crying in the other room with the fear of not knowing what is gonna happen to me. So all I could hear was this yelling and screaming and shouting and swearing at me. And my father, and then suddenly everybody became quiet and he said, everybody sit down and be quiet.

So they all sat back and they were quiet. And then my father looked at me and he asked, did you just told us you gave your life to Christ? I said, yes, I did. Does that mean you are not a Christian? You are a father of Jesus? I said, yes. 

Ryan Henry: What a testimony to the work of God in your life at that point, to be able to take all that criticism and have all these people saying terrible things about you, and just sit there and take it respectfully.

David Sadik: Everybody was just staring at me and he was sitting there quiet for a while, and then I was surprised at his response. The first question he asked me, does that mean that you’re going to hate us from now on? I said, never. I even love you guys more. I even developed more love for you now than I ever did.

And he also asked me, does that mean that you’re going to abandon us? We are not gonna see you again. I said, no, we are still family. You’re still my father. You are still my uncles, you’re still my cousins. Nothing has changed. He said, are you sure? I say Yes. He also asked me whether I’ll be visiting home. I said, definitely I will.

I’ll visit home more often. He said, am I sure? I say Yes. And then he turned to the rest of them, and then he told them, well, if he had decided to choose his fate and his path, who are we to stop him? We should let him be. I looked at him and I, he didn’t even know where that came from because they were all expecting him to do something drastic to me.

So they can follow suit. Instead, he calmed the situation. He asked me a couple of questions, which I assured him that those fear that he had, they shouldn’t worry about it. I’m still his son. I love them and I’ll visit them. I’m not gonna abandon them. And that was all he wanted to hear. Then he told them they should leave me alone.

He said, from today on, I don’t want anybody. To question this young man or to talk about this ever again, and that command and instruction state that is how much they’re respecting and obeying. I was so amazed when I came back, Rachel, she was my mom. She was the first person to rush to me and hug me and be sure I’m okay.

She asked me, did they do anything to you? Did they beat you? I said, no. I explained everything and they were so amazed and right there, Michael just said, let’s bow our heads and pray. And we stood and we, we thank God for everything. That was the beginning of my freedom. And now I know that God has done it.

Jesus is truly the Savior. I never doubted my decision to follow Jesus, and I never look back because the minute I made that decision to follow Jesus, there’s this sense of boldness and courage. That came on me that I could not even think of what any other person would say. All I wanted to hear or talk about is the excitement of being a follower of Jesus.

Ryan Henry: Now, did your family, did anybody ever come to Christ? 

David Sadik: Yes. A year or so after I gave my life to Christ, Michael and the rest of the team left Ghana back to the States and before Michael left Ghana, the. Of OneWay Ministries was already being discussed. So after they left, they came back as OneWay Ministries.

Part of what OneWay Ministries does at that time was we go to the northern part of Ghana to do mission work, to do ministry, and to share the gospel flow, to show Jesus form and then lead people to Christ. So that was what we were doing at that time. The main road, the highway that linked to all the regions.

Goes through my village. So I remember one of our trips to Kamae, I suddenly went to Marco and said, I think I want to stop over and see my father. And I said, are you sure? I said, yes. Okay, I’ll go with you. I said, what? He, oh, yes, I’m ready. I’ll go with you. I’ll go meet your father. I, so, and that would be amazing.

So when we got to our village, uh, we walked in and my father came and met me. And you know, Michael introduced himself to him. So Michael said that, I want to tell you a story. He said, okay. So Michael started to tell him about story about Jesus, and he was so attentive to that. He listened to everything and I was translating everything back to him.

So when Michael finished and said, can I pray with you, he said Yes. So Michael and I and Pastor Ray, we all bow our heads and he did the same. And then we prayed. When we finished praying, Michael said, There’s a request he wants to ask him. And my father was looking at Michael, and then I explained to him and said, he asked if you are ready to give your life to Christ.

And then he asked me, is it the same thing that I did? I said, yes. That was the same thing that I did. And he said, is that what he’s asking him to do right now? I say, yes. And then he said, okay. I said, what? I was scared to ask him that question, but the Holy Spirit gave me the courage. To actually ask him exactly the way Michael said it, and I asked him, and to my amazement, he said, yes.

And Michael, his eyes weren’t rolling. I was like, did he say yes? I say Yes. He just said yes. Did you mean he’s willing? I said, yes. He said yes, and then Michael asked him again, are you ready? I asked him, are you ready? He said, yes, he is. And Michael said, okay. Then bow your head, and he did. Everything Michael said he did.

He followed, and to our amazement, that old man gave his life to Christ that night.

 And we left that place that night full of joy, full of excitement. Cause for me it was a dream come true. Wow. 

Ryan Henry: That is amazing. , did that have a ripple effect on your family after your dad? 

David Sadik: That was just the peak of it.

You know, can you imagine after numerous prayers and you know, patience, endurance, and everything later on about like so many years back, later on in my amazement, my two brothers and sister actually gave their life to Christ, and just a couple of months after that, my mother also gave her life to Christ.

Ryan Henry: Wow. What a beautiful, beautiful story. What would you say to others who are wondering and even afraid of searching for the real truth? 

David Sadik: For me, what I will say is that for somebody who is in search, what I can say to you, God is true and the love of God. Is definitely a reality, not just hearsay. My advice for anyone is to pray the same prayer that I pray, just to ask God for who he really is as a person.

I think what we always have to do, if you are in search of faith, when you want to know the truth about who God is, he will never hide himself from you. Just ask him, ask him the truth about who he is. Just experience his love in your life, and because giving your life to Christ gives you a peace of mind. It lifts you up, it lifts up your burden, and then off your shoulder, and also makes you become lighter.

I also think that part of what we believers around the world should also do is to pray for the lost ones, pray for the sinners, so that they’ll also come to the knowledge of Jesus Christ. Because we cannot just enjoy the love of God alone. We also ought to share it to the others, to other people, so that they’ll also come to the knowledge of Jesus Christ and give their lives to Christ.

Cause that is the commandment that we’re given. That’s a commission. Every believer to me, is commissioned to do that. When you pray, make sure the prayer comes from your heart. Just talk to him deep down from your heart, because the Bible says that. A seven prayer that comes from the heart reaches up to heaven.

Ryan Henry: Wow, that’s so good. That reminds me to tell our listeners about OneWay Ministry’s amazing tool called Prayer Cast, which basically is just so many videos that lead you in praying for people of different cultures, different faiths, and I know David has done some work on prayer cast with video editing, so check that out.

It’s amazing resource that we have and you would definitely be blessed. In that. So David, man, I’m just so touched by your story. Thank you so much for joining us today. So man, it’s been great talking to you. 

David Sadik: It’s been amazing having this chat with you, and I really appreciate the fact that you gave me this opportunity to share my story with the rest of the world.

Thank you so much. Yeah, 

Ryan Henry: amen. 

Margaret Ereneta: Today’s send off features a project David Sadik worked on for one way And inspiring video highlighting the Jesus Film Riders who take the gospel to remote parts of Ghana. Like the village David himself came from. 

Listen in, and then watch the video by using the link in our show notes. And if you like, today’s 180, please leave us a review. We have a video in our show notes on how to do that. 

Jesus Film Riders Video: In the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us now and forevermore. Surely his goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our life and we shall go to the house, Lord, forever and ever and ever. Amen. The nations are ready. The nations are ready. The nations are ready. 

Armed with their motorbikes, a projection kit and the Holy Spirit. These five young men ride across remote parts of Ghana, west Africa.

Spreading the good news of Christ. They must be willing to go anywhere, sleep anywhere, and eat anything. They are known as the Jesus Film Riders.

Though they are college grads, the Jesus Film Riders have chosen to forego a typical marketplace career. Instead, they are dedicating several years of their lives to telling their countrymen about Jesus as part of OneWay Africa’s Jesus Film campaign. I Ride for the Glory of God is their motto.

I’ve been inspired by St. Francis of Assisi, spreading the gospel to places that were dangerous to his life. And so it inspires me to know that, uh, I can also do something for God in my life. Jesus Christ has given us the commandment that we should all go into the world. Matthew chapter 20, verse 18 to 20. So that’s why I do this.

The greatest gift to anyone could have is to have Jesus. And since there are a lot of people without Jesus, I feel it is my responsibility to let them know about him. I have that passion and the, the, the desire to share the gospel to everyone, everywhere I ride for the glory of God, I ride for the glory of God.

Helpful links:
Jesus Film Riders Video
Prayercast Ghana
Prayercast South Africa
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