The next day however, we found ourselves strolling aimlessly from daybreak through the Bazaar streets of the old, mud built city. Tired and hot, because it was about the sixth hour, we didn’t think twice about entering the very small Cafe & Cool Drink shop, wanting only to escape the scorching heat of the sun. Here we were greeted by the barista and shop owner. I think it was clear to her that we simply wanted to rest for a while.

As we spoke to her I definitely sensed that she had lost her father, but because of a lack of confidence in knowing God’s voice, I carefully asked what her father does. She confirmed that he died three months before. I also realized that this might be a bit culturally inappropriate for three men to be talking to a woman alone, but knew she was the one God wants us to minister to.

While saying that she is married and two months pregnant she offered us water which we gladly received. Mesach then saw the relevance of reading the story of the woman at the well in John 4. After hearing the whole chapter, she said that she didn’t understand everything but asked him to send it to her, before inviting us for a meal at her house when she closes shop.

Later that day we bought our own food because she didn’t reply to our messages. When I thought about her invitation to us, I realized that we couldn’t expect of her to invite three young men into her house, reasoning that her husband probably didn’t think it was okay. After lunch we greeted Mesach at the bus stop since he needed to catch his flight the next morning from the capital. 

Walking from the bus stop I asked Shadrach, “So, where to now?” The only thing we could think of then was to go to a viewpoint and see whether we can sleep on a roof somewhere for the night. We figured this wouldn’t be much of a problem since the people are hospitable, and we heard that the night sky of Yazd is mesmiric.

After a number of declined requests we ended up at the Orient Hotel where we asked one of the waiters if their roof was open and available to sleep on. After asking the manager he came back with chai and gave us the thumbs up. Then he also showed us where the outside shower is and said the buffet breakfast starts at 7am, which confused us a little, but hey…

No further questions asked, we were really thankful and decided to use this opportunity to wash our clothes for a change. Of course, another waiter approached us when the restaurant was closed and asked for our passports and for 10€ each, the going rate per person for a night. We paused for a moment realizing we never really said we don’t have the means to pay, but for some reason expected to sleep for free on the roof of a hotel.

Now it was 00:20 and we had just wrung and were about to hang all our wet clothes to dry. We quickly apologized for our poor communication and told the man that we honestly don’t have the money because it is our last night in the country. While throwing all our wet clothes in a bag we felt somewhat disappointed about the rejection, and were now conscious of how easily we took Persian hospitality for granted.

Since all Shadrach’s long pants were wet, he wore my blanket to cover his legs as we walked in the streets of Yazd, as shorts are illegal in public. We made our way to the Silk Road Hotel where, earlier that day, they ensured us a free place to sleep on their restaurant benches if we didn’t manage to find a place to sleep elsewhere.

What a disappointment when we knocked on the hotel door to be rejected once more: the worker on duty was adamant in his refusal and made no effort to understand what had been communicated between us and the manager earlier in the day. We could very well identify with Joseph and Mary searching for a place to stay in Bethlehem…

With no other choice we made our way to the park, where there was grass enough for our two-man tent, but little more. 

To be honest, this was not at all how I imagined our last night under the stars. I thought of the brothers who persisted in trying to convince us to stay with them just one more night… and here we are, homeless and feeling without purpose in this desert town. God, what are we doing here?

We had one audio Bible left and deep inside I still believed that God had a divine appointment in store for us and I started to understand something more about walking by faith and not by sight.

The next morning we ate our last amazing breakfast and started to debrief our time in the country.

The day’s plan was to check whether the Samaritan’s coffee shop was open before we made our way to the outskirts of the city to the bus terminal. Finding her shop closed we decided to greet one of the other warm shop owners and then leave. After we greeted him, Shadrach asked me if we shouldn’t quickly check one last time if the Samaritan is at her cafe.

To our surprise the shop had opened during the ten minutes that we were away and this time we decided to buy a coffee, because we couldn’t really explain why we came back. Knowing that it might be awkward for the Samaritan, I said we understand that she could not host us for lunch or dinner because it was probably not appropriate in their culture. She interrupted me by saying that she wants to tell us a secret…

She has no husband. At first the only word I could get out was “Wow”, in awe of how God orchestrated our story to be so similar to that of the woman at the well.

The Samaritan then told us that she listened to the story in John 4 in Farsi the previous night and she cried because she knew that, what had happened the day before, could not have been a coincidence.

Hearing this I thought back to the previous night where we were being rejected time after time, and I just praised God: He is at work in so many ways, even when it feels like He is silent!

Also, the Samaritan told us then and there that she has a doctor’s appointment: “tonight I kill baby.”

Blown away, we felt as though God was overwhelming us with something we didn’t know how to handle. But it seems as if this is how God operates and stretches our faith, for neither we nor anyone knows what words or lack thereof it will take to save this child, and hereby we were and are continually compelled to trust God on levels beyond what we can think or imagine.