Before becoming a missionary, I worked as a nurse in a hospital. In my first nursing job, I worked the 12-hour night shift. And I loved it! I’ve always been a night owl at heart. That’s how Ramadan has felt—like working the night shift. Ramadan is the holiest month of […]
Frontiers President Emeritus Bob Blincoe on 50 Years of Missions Service
In 1970, a campus ministry worker knocked on the door of Bob Blincoe’s dorm room at the University of Oregon and shared John 3:16. Bob’s life changed in that moment as he surrendered to Christ. On a blind date a few years later, Bob met Jan, who shared his ambition […]
The Work of the Spirit in a Muslim Man’s Heart
Eric stepped out of his apartment and locked the door behind him. He entered the building’s old wooden elevator and absentmindedly pushed the button to go to the ground level. Discouragement clouded his thoughts as he descended. For over two years, he had been telling his Muslim friend Sidi about […]
Coffee, Goosebumps, and the Seat of Honor
“Yalla, nit’qahwa,” my Muslim friend says. Translation: “Hey, let’s have coffee together!” Nit’qahwa is my favorite Arabic word. It expresses one of my very favorite things to do here in the Middle East. I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve nit’qahwa-ed with a friend or a group of women, […]
A Muslim Family Baptized on Easter Sunday
On Resurrection Sunday, a Muslim-background single mother named Shamsia and her three sons were baptized into the body of Christ. What a joy for my teammates and me to witness this Easter baptism! For some time, we’d been sowing the truth of the Gospel into Shamsia’s life. A couple of […]
Jallab: A Simple and Refreshing Ramadan Beverage
Jallab is a summertime beverage popular in Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria. Sweet and floral, the refresher is often served during Ramadan after sunset, when Muslims break their day-long fast from food and drink. The beverage is made with syrup or molasses made from dates, although some people use sweeteners sourced […]
A Vision to Reach One City and Impact the World
We stood on the flat roof of a two-story school, warming ourselves in the spring sunshine. Sarah, a long-term field worker, pointed toward the city center of Al Jadid, the small, conservative city a short distance away. Fields bursting with the bright green of new shoots lay between us and […]
The Context of the Cross
“Professor, can we look at your Bible?” asked Omar, one of Andre’s new university students. “You said you always have it with you. Can we see what it says?” Andre, a Frontiers worker, had just wrapped up the first day of English class for the new semester when Omar and […]
A Stateless People Living in the Shadow of Wealth
In the oil-rich Arab Gulf, hundreds of thousands of people live with no legal identity. They are al-Bedoon. In Arabic, their name means “those without.” The history of the Bedoon begins in 1961 when the fledgling nation of Kuwait gained independence from the British Empire. Kuwaiti families were required to […]
A Surrogate Family on the Field
My friend Adana and I sat on the floor of her living room, a picture book flipped open in front of us. Adana was teaching me new vocabulary as I tried to describe what was happening in the wordless picture book. Around us, her family members were napping—as were most […]