Gulnara*, a 75-year-old grandmother in the Caucasus region, had always been “too shy” to share her faith with others. Then, one day, she overheard her grandson, Samir*, sharing the gospel over the phone.

Samir graduated from OM’s teenager discipleship school in the Caucasus in 2024, and even though he is only 17 years old, he is already an active disciple-maker. For the past two years, he has led a Discovery Bible Study (DBS) group with his family, including Gulnara. He also leads two online DBS groups and mentors four teenagers, with plans to bring them together to form a new group.

As Gulnara listened to Samir share from Matthew 7:7-11 about how the Father gives good gifts to those who seek and ask Him, she felt deeply encouraged. When Samir ended the call, she said, “Please send me those verses. I want to share them.”

Gulnara was part of a WhatsApp group chat for elderly women in the neighborhood, but she had never before told them that she was a follower of Jesus. With Samir’s help, she posted the same verses in the group chat. Shortly afterwards, questions begin to appear: “What is this?” “Who is Matthew?”

Gulnara immediately began to do research, learned who Matthew was, and wrote in the chat that Matthew was one of Jesus’ disciples. She then began to talk about Jesus.

Some of the women responded, saying, “We are Muslims. We don’t need this. We have our own religion.” After some time, a few knocked on her door and told her they wanted to hear more. Although they listened, they did not accept what she said.

Since that day, the neighborhood women have not been speaking to Gulnara. Sometimes, when she walks past them, she hears them talking behind her back. Yet Gulnara is glad that she took a brave step and proud that her grandson supported her in it.

She plans to talk to her neighbors again and explain things more fully. Because Gulnara handles many responsibilities in her building, her neighbors usually consult her before taking any action. So she knows they cannot ignore her forever. She is already in the perfect position to keep sharing the hope and love of Jesus with them.

Please pray for Gulnara to have the courage and words to share the gospel clearly and explain Jesus’ love to her neighbors. Pray for the Lord to soften their hearts. May a new gathering of grandmothers begin in her home. Pray, too, for gatherings of teenagers that will take place this summer. OM’s youth ministry, TeenStreet, is designed to help teenagers around the world, like Samir, go deep and be bold in their faith, which creates wide ripple effects in their families and communities.

Operation Mobilization USA (OM USA) is a faithful partner of The Bolick Foundation