Monday, June 19, 2017

Prayer Walking

During one of the many days we were in the village of G, we decided to do a prayer walk through the village.  A typical prayer walk, or any prayer for that matter, looks as if we are simply talking. We keep our eyes open and look around so that we do not draw attention to ourselves. During this prayer walk, we were praying that God would give us an audience to share the Good News with that day. I prayed, then Caleb prayed a similar prayer as well, and not five minutes later a young man named "I" invited us to his home for coffee and conversation.
After a while of good conversation, we discovered that "I" and the four other young men were students at an Islamic University who were a part of something called Safari Ramadan. Safari Ramadan is a trip these students take during Ramadan to encourage the people of the many villages on our island to give alms, pray, and read the koran. We found many similarities between each other, especially concerning our degree paths. They even invited us to a koran reading competition in a village close-by. 
We eventually worked the conversation to a spiritual topic. We listened to their beliefs and respectfully asked if we could share ours with them. We shared the gospel with them, but they rejected what we had to say and began to discuss between one another about different questions to stump us. The Holy Spirit guided our tongues and we answered every question with truth. They had no response after their many questions were answered and a perplexed look stained their face. We finished with more small talk then they invited us to break the fast with them. We ate traditional Islamic food actually from Arabia.

            The next day we returned to go to the koran reading competition, and they told us it had been cancelled. We showed our disappointment and assured them we enjoyed their company. We want to believe they were telling the truth, but something seemed fishy to the whole team. We aren’t sure why but we think one of older men staying with them probably did not want us to go with them. Please keep "I" and the four other young men in your prayers as they are in ours.

-Aaron