It was 2:30 p.m. on a Saturday afternoon when I met up with my language helper, Aqil, a burly, well-educated 28-year-old. We started our language lesson. Then after half an hour or so, I shared Jesus’ parable of the weeds from Matthew 13:24–30. Aqil wasn’t surprised to hear me share […]
Sow What You Know: The Soil of Unengaged Cities
Sow what you know. We had prayed these words during our morning Bible study, and now they tumbled around in my mind. In Mark 4, Jesus talks about the farmer casting seed onto four soils. As my team of intrepid short-termers studied the passage, my mind filled with thoughts of seed […]
Finding the Kingdom in a Strategic City
“The Kingdom of God? Oh, I think it’s just a bit north of here,” said the Muslim man at the restaurant table next to us. The four of us had just landed in this strategic and unengaged city of one million Muslims, asking God one question: “Now that we know […]
Surrendering the American Dream: Safety
In the Western world, we wear seat belts. We lock our doors. We install security systems in our homes. The pursuit of safety is a high value for Westerners. But if our own safety is of higher value than obeying God, we won’t consider a calling that involves the potential […]
Surrendering the American Dream: Financial Security
My parents followed God on one spiritual adventure after another for fifty years, moving to the Philippines, then America, and then to India and back again. For the majority of their lives, they lived on half the income that most other overseas field workers made. Their knees boast spiritual calluses […]
Surrendering the American Dream: Wealth
When our family first contemplated moving to India, we knew it meant selling most of our possessions. The process of determining what to keep and what to toss or sell was both sobering and freeing. The first garage sale felt easy. We decluttered and sold outgrown children’s clothes, extra sets […]
The First Time I Met a Muslim
Tall, stunning, and dressed head-to-foot in flowing black, my new Muslim acquaintance strode out the front door of the office to shake my hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” she said, “I am Aiysha. Please come inside.” I had never met a Muslim before this moment. I smiled awkwardly, […]
The Gratitude of Beauty
I grew up in a developing country where beauty was a luxury. Green lawns and gardens of flowers didn’t make sense in a world of concrete, where every square foot meant another place for a person to sleep. Children didn’t skip home from school with backpacks full of art to […]
There’s No Yelling in Heaven
“God, how can I keep my kindness?” I prayed nightly through the swish, swish of my rattan swing. “I don’t think people yell at each other in heaven, or in the Garden of Eden,” I would muse. We lived in hot and humid India, in physical discomfort we hadn’t experienced before. […]
The Art of Celebration
“You’ve just landed in India!” our new teammates quipped, brimming with excitement over our arrival in a city with no other expats. “Let’s celebrate!” The air sparked with exhilaration, as if we’d just donned a gold medal or were crowned the winners of some pageant. Our friends showered us with […]