It was my first year in a boarding school, and I was afraid. I was surrounded by strangers and felt all alone. I needed a friend. As I chose a seat in my first class, I waited nervously to see who would take the place beside me. Suddenly, a short, athletic-looking girl ran into the class. "Is anyone sitting here?" she asked, throwing her books on the desk next to me, still panting from dashing up the stairs.

Before I could even answer, she had made up her mind, sat down and said, "What's your name? Mine is Sarah."

"I am Aryantungyisa," I replied, looking away. Because my name is so long and sounds strange to people, they always ask me to repeat it, or they laugh at it. I'm always nervous when I introduce myself.

"What?" she asked. My heart skipped a beat. What had I gotten myself into? Was she going to make fun of my name? I had been told all about the way new students were teased, but I didn't expect it from another new girl.

"Aryantungyisa," I repeated, still looking away.

"Oh, that's a long name," she said. "Can I call you Aryantu?" I felt myself relax a little.

"OK," I answered, warming up to her now. "Actually, all my friends call me that."

The teacher walked in, and I was glad I would not be expected to say any more. At the end of the class, I walked off alone to my dormitory.

The next day, Sarah chattered away. She told me all about her family. At some point during the conversation, she said she was Muslim.

I was shocked. All I knew about Muslims was that they were very different from Christians. I didn't expect a Muslim to be so friendly. I had been brought up in a Christian home and gone to a Christian school. I knew that to go to heaven, you had to believe in Jesus as the Savior who died for your sins. I believed Muslims would not go to heaven because they believed in Allah and not in Jesus.

"I'm a Christian," I volunteered to my own surprise, "and I am saved."

I instantly wished I could take my words back. I thought Sarah would be offended, but it did not seem to matter to her.

One day I asked Sarah if she knew about Jesus. She told me that in her religion, they knew Jesus as a prophet, like Moses or any of the other prophets in Christianity.

"But to be saved," I said, "you have to believe Jesus is more than just a prophet. What would happen if you got saved?"

"Saved! If I did such a thing, my dad would refuse to pay my school fees, and he would send me away from home. Being saved is for Christians."

I was very confused. How could I lead Sarah to Jesus if her father would disown her?

I decided to ask Sarah to my fellowship group. But she said no. She didn't think Christians would accept her. It was important to her that Christians respect her beliefs and get to know her as a person, instead of just dismissing her because she was a Muslim. I decided I would remain her friend and keep telling her about Jesus.

During the term, the Muslim Holy Month of Ramadan began. Sarah explained to me that it was their month of fasting. Suddenly it dawned on me: This was my opportunity to show Sarah I accepted her and really wanted her to know Christ.

"I'm fasting today," I told Sarah one morning about a week into the fasting period.

"Why?" she asked.

"I just want to fast with you," I answered.

She stared at me in disbelief. I've been told that Muslims often asked their friends to offer encouragement by fasting with them. But at our boarding school, no one wanted to give up their already meager share of food. Sarah had not even asked me. She thought since I was a Christian, I would have nothing to do with a Muslim tradition.

"Why are you fasting with me when you are a Christian?" Sarah asked me later. I told her I didn't think there was anything wrong with fasting, and I was only doing it to show her that I accepted her and respected her religion.

I again asked her to come to fellowship group with me, now that she knew she would be accepted, at least by me. And I told her I still wanted her to know the truth about salvation. "When we die we can only go to heaven if we believe in Jesus as our Savior," I said.

Sarah did come to fellowship group with me a few times after that. She did not get saved. But I think that because I had respected her beliefs, she was always willing to listen to me tell her about Jesus.

Sarah and I lost contact with each other after that year. But I learned an important lesson from my Muslim friend: We may not always be able to get people of other faiths to change their beliefs immediately. But if we respect them and accept them as they are, they are more likely to listen to us talk about Jesus. As they watch our lives and wonder why we do the things we do, they will learn from us what it means to live as Christians.

Editor's note: Aryantungyisa Kaakaabaale, from Uganda, Africa, spent a few weeks with us, finding out how we put Campus Life together, tasting the wonders of American food, and teaching us a few things about Ugandan culture. She also took the time to share with us this personal experience about friendship.

Read more from 'Defending Your Faith'

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