The names and faces may be changed for safety but the stories of what God is doing are very real.
I’ve been on an exploratory trip to scope out the area that we will be working in, and was totally blessed the whole time! I get excited when God says to do something and then people say how difficult it is. I asked God to use me in a difficult place and my request has been granted.
Mohammed is one of my (four) roommates and he’s a believer. Mohammed is the only believer that we know of right now in this whole area around where we live. He will be a leader of the emerging church. Pray that he will have the boldness and the confidence in Christ to step up to this role. He’s been working with my partner and me on scripture stories and we have been able to help disciple him.
The Lord is continuing to do great things in the hearts of these people. This month I worked out in the fields with Miriam (our local language speaking story teller). Miriam’s family has faced persecution, because Miriam and her sisters know the Lord. They have had to get rid of all their Bibles, in case their house is searched. One cool thing is that Miriam has 40 stories memorized from God’s Word and she is sharing them with her family. Yesterday, for the first time, Miriam’s family all came together to talk to the Lord. Miriam is going to two different villages each week sharing Bible stories. We are hoping to get into another village very soon, which is farther from the city. We wear the full Muslim dress when we go there.
“Abraham” is our newest helper; he began crafting scripture stories with us just last month. His family is somewhat conservative; in fact, his brother is a Molvi (religious teacher). Well, we’d been walking for two days before we arrived at Abraham’s home, made of logs and earth. Horses and buffalo grazed in the fields beneath the towering rocky peaks. In the evening we all gathered around the fire, and I listened to Abraham tell stories to his family members. He told the stories with confidence and assertion – true stories, stories of the Prophets from the Heavenly Books, stories about Moses, about Job, and about Jesus. I watched six or seven of his sisters and nieces gazing intently at Abraham’ face as he told about Jesus calming a storm, about Jesus casting an evil spirit out of a man, about Jesus being accused of having Satan’s power but showing everyone that indeed he had come in God’s power. I had never seen Nomad women listen to a story so intently. Their eyes were wide; they kept saying “Really?!” or “No way!” or “What happened next?” Just yesterday I heard that Abraham continues telling more scripture stories to other family members in his mountain village. Stories about Jesus seem to be his favorites!”
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