“I feel like I’m dead inside,” my friend Hamid said to me as we sat in a park. “I need someone to come and make me alive.” I had met Hamid several weeks earlier when he came to our house to fix our stove. He texted me a few days later and […]
The Grip of Religion
Sitting in my Muslim friend’s living room, we chatted about how Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting, had just started. Meanwhile I could hear someone muttering in the room next to us. It was my friend’s grandmother, Fatima, praying. I got up and I stuck my head in the […]
Jeremiah’s Story
If prison couldn’t shake Jeremiah’s sense of calling, then nothing could. He had faced persecution before. As a long-term field worker bringing the Good News to Muslims, Jeremiah had been questioned by suspicious authorities more times than he could count. He had even faced death threats in his last country—a […]
When You Feel Hesitant
I’ve enjoyed decades of my life as a missionary. But coming home to the U.S. is also great. It’s so great, in fact, that I always struggle when it comes time to go back to the field. Pressure from other people to stay in America never helped my struggle. “Your […]
The Message and the Mediator
“Come with me to the dargha,” said the man in the café. Alex and his teammate Nathan had only just met the man. But in the hospitality characteristic of the culture, the near stranger didn’t hesitate to invite the Frontiers workers into his life. The three men left the café and […]
The First Person You Meet
Over the course of our years in South Asia, we have seen God move in the hearts of Muslims in our city. Many of them have chosen to follow Jesus Christ. But about 100 miles away, there is a Muslim region that has no Gospel witness—not a single follower of […]
The Leafless Tree
One by one, the leaves dropped off the tree. I had inherited the tree from a former teammate who had left for greener pastures in another country (literally, they were greener). And I loved that tree. When it started dropping leaves, I pleaded with it to stop. I cajoled, spoke […]
Diets and White Hearts
Fresh dates, finger foods, and assorted juices had been set out on a plastic mat on the floor, ready for the fast to break. The six women around me chattered quietly as we waited to break the day-long Ramadan fast together. “This is the first time that I’ve fasted like […]
Married to the Carpenter’s Sister
Every day for two years, I walked past Izat the carpenter’s shop. His single-room shop was tucked beside a little hardware supply store just down the alley from my apartment in the Muslim community. Each day, I’d greet Izat and exchange blessings of peace for a few moments. For those […]
A Sticky Gospel
“I thought the Good News was interesting,” said Khalil, one of my local friends. “But I didn’t think it was for me.” The first time Khalil heard the message of the Gospel, it somehow missed his heart. He isn’t the only one. Some of my other Muslim friends have told […]