The imam stroked his beard, listening with a steady gaze. He was measuring our words carefully. This respected religious leader had never seen Westerners in this part of town before. Usually, they toured historical sites near the outskirts—they never went into the city’s heart, where millions of devoted Muslims lived […]
Prayer for Bangladesh
Tucked like a pearl in a labyrinth of rivers, Bangladesh is a Muslim majority nation that remains deeply rooted in Indian culture. Separated from British India in 1947, the people of Bangladesh then fought and gained independence from Pakistan in 1971 As one of the world’s poorest developing countries, Bangladesh […]
Sacred Bread
“I never feel full unless I eat some bread,” a local Muslim friend once told me. Bread plays an important part of life in my Muslim community. For years, I observed odd treatment of bread in the neighborhood. I would see my friends and neighbors hang carefully tied bags of […]
A Journey of Faith: An Audience to God’s Story
The final installment of Tarek’s journey of faith. Click here for part 1 and part 2. Tarek was encountering Jesus Christ from all sides, it seemed. Meanwhile, we continued to play the part of audience in the amazing story God was writing in his life. Tarek consumed chapters and chapters of […]
A Journey of Faith: “Pray that I will follow Jesus”
Here’s the 2nd installment of Tarek’s journey of faith. Click here to read part 1. I will not soon forget the level of eagerness with which Tarek received his new Bible from my husband Kevin. Tarek was dropping Kevin and the children off in one location and then would continue […]
3 Things We’ve Learned While Parenting on the Field
“Why haven’t you shaved your baby’s head yet?” our local friend Fatima demanded when we took our baby Samuel to visit her. “You should, or else his hair won’t grow well.” My wife and I came to the field as a couple with no children. Visits to our friends seemed […]
A Journey of Faith: Taxi Rides with Tarek
Join us in this first installment of a 3-part series on Tarek’s journey of faith. My children and I stood in the shade of a tree, shielding ourselves from the hot North African sun while my husband Kevin stood on the sunny sidewalk attempting to flag down a taxi. A white […]
In Christ Comes Safety
A field worker who ministers to Syrian refugees reflects on valuing Christ above safety. It’s something we value more than almost anything. We think we can control it, and we never want to jeopardize it. Safety. We’d like to believe that if we live in certain places, stay away from […]
A Familiar Good Friday
Jamshir sipped his cup of tea as his wife Nadia nibbled on a savory pastry. “Do you know what today is?” I asked the couple. Jamshir nodded and smiled. “It’s Good Friday,” he said. He had seen it printed on the calendar they had hanging in the living room at […]
Between Hope and Fear
Several months ago, we hosted a short-term prayer team from the United States and sent them out to pray in provinces where there are no Gospel workers. Now, we were retracing their footsteps and looking for persons of peace—local men and women whom God uses to open doors for […]