Thank You for Planting a Seed

“God is faithful and God asks us to be faithful,” says Ann, a Christar worker who served in Europe and now serves in the U.S. But what if we don’t see His faithfulness, even when we faithfully serve? Ann shared how God recently reminded her of His faithfulness through the story of a refugee family.

The Kazems are among the many Iraqi families who fled their homeland during the second Gulf War. Omar, Nour and their 11 children lived in a refugee community in the Middle East where workers from several organizations, including Christar, ministered. Through countless interactions with followers of Christ and time at the church, they experienced God’s love through His people.

In 2012, the Kazems received asylum in the United States. When Christar workers found out that the family would be moving to Dallas—which “just happens” to be where the Christar U.S. Mobilization center is located—they reached out and asked if anyone might be willing to connect with this family and help them adjust to a new country, language and culture.

Ann and her husband, Ray, welcomed them with open arms.

They regularly spent time with the Kazems, visiting in the Kazem’s home or hosting them in theirs. Ray and Ann would help the kids with homework, play games, go to the park, have cookouts and invite the family into their home for meals. They taught them the names and values of pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters. And, bit by bit, they helped the family adjust to living in the U.S.   

Every birthday, the Kazems knew Ray and Ann would be on their doorstep to celebrate with them. Ann collected the birthdates of all 13 family members, and when each one’s special day came, she would buy a balloon and make a simple box cake—complete with pink or blue frosting and sprinkles. While the cake and balloon cost around $2, the family always reacted like they had been given $100! The time and intentionality that came along with those gifts were priceless.

Ray and Ann also practiced sacrificial hospitality in their home and invited the family over for holiday traditions like Easter egg decorating and hunts as well as Thanksgiving and Christmas parties. Though Nour was illiterate and not used to holding writing utensils, she learned how to hold a marker to decorate the eggs! Summer holiday picnics at the park brought great joy as the whole family got out of the apartment complex for an afternoon of food and fun games complete with a watermelon seed-spitting contest. At Christmas, the Kazems learned to decorate gingerbread houses and were blessed to find a wrapped gift for each family member under the tree.

As much fun as they had together, through it all, Ray and Ann intentionally pointed them to Jesus. Jesus is the reason why they love. Jesus is the reason why they celebrate. At first, when the family spoke limited English, Ray and Ann would show videos that explained why Christians celebrate Easter and Christmas. Resurrection Eggs, filled with items that tell the Easter story, were a great way to share the gospel message too.

As language became less of a barrier, Ray and Ann were able to share more and more. While Nour still clung to Islam, Omar had heard the gospel in Jordan and was more open to the gospel. Ray and Ann visited the Kazems regularly for two years–loving them, caring for them and investing in their friendship. 

But one day in 2015, when Ray and Ann arrived at the family’s home, they found it completely empty. The Kazems had moved away—no notice; they were just gone.

Ray and Ann were devastated that their friends had left without sharing their plans or saying goodbye. Through a mutual refugee friend, they learned that the Kazems had moved to a different state with better benefits for refugees. One of the children reached out to Ann here and there over the years, but she and Ray heard very little from the family for a decade.

Flashforward to 2025. Though Ann rarely uses Facebook, she wanted to share their most recent family photo, complete with all their grandkids. A couple of days afterward, she hopped back on to reply to comments. She happened to see a friend request notification, and when she saw the name, she immediately accepted it. It was from Hakeem, one of the boys in the Kazem family. A message soon popped up: “Hello Ann! It’s me Hakeem, I miss you all so much. Thank you guys for planting a seed. I found Jesus.”

Ann immediately started crying and cheering and called Ray right away to share the news. They could hardly believe that after 10 years, “little soccer-playing Hakeem” had decided to follow Jesus.

On a Zoom call, she and Ray met Hakeem, now just shy of 25, and his wife, Sarah, and heard their story. As a refugee in Jordan, the kindness of believers had prompted him to ask questions about Islam, but no one provided satisfactory answers. He continued to experience the love of God through Christians in Dallas and again after his family moved to Maine.

Sarah had grown up in a broken home but had a Catholic and Baptist background. When she and Hakeem got married, she investigated Islam and then went on to investigate other religions as well. Then, Sarah’s mother came to faith in Christ and invited Sarah to attend church with her.

Hakeem decided to go along to “support” his wife. But God was at work in Hakeem’s heart too. Every Sunday, he felt like the pastor was talking directly to him. And when he had questions, the pastor helped answer them. Hakeem started seeing the name of Jesus everywhere—on church signs and bumper stickers—saying that Jesus is the way, Jesus is the truth, Jesus is #1. Suddenly, he began having dreams, and Jesus was there, too. Hakeem and Sarah decided that Jesus was, in fact, the way, the truth, and the life, and they decided to put their faith in Him.

Today, Ann and Ray meet regularly with Hakeem and Sarah over Zoom to study the Bible, and the large cross on the wall behind Hakeem boldly proclaims his faith in Christ to all who enter their home. But this faith is not without cost: He has told one of his brothers that he has decided to follow Jesus and faces, at a minimum, the risk of complete rejection from his whole family.

Hakeem’s journey to Jesus took many years, multiple people, many conversations and many events, but all along the way, God demonstrated His love through His people. “We cannot save our friends,” says Ann. “The Holy Spirit is the only one who can take away someone’s blindness.”

Baking cakes, playing games, hosting meals, Easter egg hunts and Christmas celebrations—God can use all gospel-centric activities to point people to Jesus and bring them to Himself. He just asks us to be faithful.   

Participate Through Prayer

• Pray Hakeem will have the courage and wisdom needed to share his faith in Christ with each member of his family.
• Pray that believers in the U.S. would step outside of their comfort zone to reach out to immigrants and refugees in their communities. Ask that through these believers, many who don't yet know the good news of Christmas will understand why we celebrate and come to know the Savior.
• Pray that believers would be known by their love—through their hospitality, kindness and generosity.