“In the hour of my anger, I forget about God,” Rahima confessed. Rahima has been our neighbor for three years. Her name means grace in Arabic. With her tall and lean figure, kind eyes, and hands that are quick to help, Rahima truly embodies the meaning of her name. Rahima, […]
Prayer for the Caucasus Region
The Caucasus is a small mountainous region with over one hundred unique and indigenous languages. Stretching between the Black and Caspian seas, the Caucasus includes the countries of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia—as well as the southernmost parts of the Russian Federation. It is one of the most ethnically diverse regions […]
Pray for Mosul
The offensive effort to take back the city of Mosul, Iraq has begun. This city, which is the ancient site of Nineveh, has been held by ISIS since 2014 Our hearts are heavy. We are surrounded by neighbors who have already lost more of their loved ones than we ever could […]
The Work of Reconciliation
The women huddled in to listen. One of them held my phone, its screen displaying the Arabic New Testament, and read several passages aloud. We had gathered to socialize and drink coffee together like we do every week. But on this day, our souls needed comforting. Fresh in our minds […]
Worshiping on the Wrong Side
“Water the ground of this city with worship,” God whispers to me. How do I do that? I wonder. I walk streets filled with garbage. Burst pipes often turn the streets into muddy swales. I look for dry patches and step over the garbage. How do I water this ground […]
Meeting a Muslim Beach Mom
A woman sat reclining on a beach chair, relaxing with her husband and enjoying the turquoise sea. She could have been any woman, from anywhere in the world. Except that she was completely covered in loose, flowing black cloth. Only her eyes were visible through a slit in the fabric […]
Faith Like a Child
As I handed a glass of tea to my Muslim neighbor, I opened my mouth to ask her about her family. “Here, Mom,” my seven-year-old, Moriah, interrupted as she walked into our living room and handed me a copy of the New Testament in the local language. “Why don’t you […]
3 More Rules of Honor-Shame Cultures
In last week’s post, I introduced how family, social capital, and aggression are used to manage honor and shame in some cultures. Here are three more unwritten rules for honor-shame cultures that help us better relate to Muslims and understand the logic that governs their cultures. 1. Cleanness reflects value. […]
3 (Unwritten) Rules of Honor-Shame Cultures
During my years in Central Asia, I always dreaded being pulled over by a policeman. No matter how much I tried to demonstrate my innocence according to all the traffic rules, the officer usually showed little interest in concepts like guilt, laws, or justice. Then one day, I saw a […]
Prayer for the Arab Gulf
The Arab Gulf—a region consisting of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates—is where Islam was originally founded. Today, 32 million Muslims live in the Arab Gulf. Throughout the entire region, there is still no known church or fellowship of local Muslim-background believers. And yet the […]