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 […]
A Reason to Stay
“But this is your home,” I said to my friend Abdul Rahman. “Why are you leaving your country?” Abdul Rahman was a new Muslim-background follower of Jesus in Northeast Africa. He’d become my close friend during a training and discipleship program that our team had started. In this program, participants […]
Syrian Refugee Update: She Smiled So Much
We sat around the campfire with five local families, laughing, singing, telling stories, and playing games on an overnight campout in the mountains. If it weren’t for the soft desert sand beneath our feet and the cadence of Arabic dominating the chatter, it would have felt like we were back […]
The Biblical Priority of the Unengaged
When I was finishing my university studies many years ago, God started to speak to me about those who had no access to the Gospel. Initially, I was not willing to alter my plans. Movies, messages, and even a dream could not move me. I felt I had done my […]
A Burden Not Meant to Bear
I stood outside our house, locking up the front gate, as the neighborhood imam began broadcasting his evening sermon from the nearby mosque. “The Quran teaches us that the message received by the prophet Muhammad was unique,” the mosque leader proclaimed. I leaned on our rusty gate, curiously listening to […]
Prayer for the Arab Gulf: Waiting In Suspense for Jesus
“I want to know what happens next!” Halima pouted, folding her arms sternly across her chest. Our time was up, and our next Arabic language lesson was scheduled over a week away. Halima, a young Muslim woman in the Arab Gulf country I now called home, was my language tutor. […]
Compelled by Kindness
Khamis and Aisha, a young Muslim couple, spent several years studying in Europe. While living abroad, they were befriended by followers of Jesus. Deeply moved by their Christ-like kindness, Khamis and Aisha began attending church services with their Christian friends. I met Khamis shortly after he and his wife returned from their years in […]
Prayer in a Hostile World
I live in a country that is still considered to be 100% Muslim. Lately, there has been so much in the news about refugees, ISIS, and Islamic extremism. We see evidence of extremism here, too. We thank God that, so far, there has been no violence here yet. In some […]