A New Journey

This morning I began a journey with millions of Muslims.  Though I will be walking through Ramadan with them, I will not be walking the same way.   I began a 30 day prayer journey for Muslims during their holy month of Ramadan.

When I think of Muslims, I think of them differently than I did just a year ago; God now brings specific people to mind - my Muslim neighbor who no longer practices Islam but still counts himself as a Muslim.  I think of a young man who grew up in our church and converted to Islam.  And I think of Ata.

Ata was the bus driver we had when we toured Israel.  I trusted Ata with my life and I would do it again.  I watched him drive that big tour bus down narrow streets, through incredible traffic and down one if the steepest, most winding and no doubt dangerous roads in Galilee (you could see the wrecked vehicles that did not make it down below on this breath taking road).  He did it all incredibly.

Ata is not just any Muslim, he once was the one of the men who voiced the "calls to prayer" from the towers of mosques in Jerusalem.  I was told, his rich deep voice is still heard in recordings as he read the Koran - for those recordings he is somewhat of a celebrity.  Ata drove me and our group to the most important sites for Christians in Israel.  He heard our stories, he understood the guide's explanation, he heard the Bible read as we moved from one place to another.  I pray that it all sinks in somehow and he can see Jesus not just as a prophet recognized by Islam but as the savior of all mankind and specifically his savior.  I know that Ata will be praying and fasting during Ramadan and I will be praying for him - that all this exposure to Christians and to the Bible would not harden him to the gospel but soften him to it.

I will remember his impeccably pressed dress shirts that he wore each day, I' ll remember how he made sure there was always bottled water for us and I will remember that he called me (and all the other men) "Brother."  He seemed to have a genuine concern for us beyond his job.  So it is easy now for me to pray for Muslims because I will think of Ata, who is a true servant, and I will pray that he becomes a servant of Christ.

This Sunday, I will ask you to join me in praying through Ramadan.  Maybe you don't have someone specific to pray for, the prayer guide we have available will help with that.  Or maybe you can join me in praying for Ata.

for the journey...

Tim