Have you heard the expression “Boots on the Ground?” Well our Live Dead Missionaries are the boots on the Silk Road. Here we’d like to take a moment and allow one of them to share a snapshot of their life with you. Some names and details have been changed, but this is a true story from this colorful, vibrant, and sometimes surprising region.

It has been years since God began whispering in my ear about His love for the people along the Silk Road and His desire for me to join in His plan there. In that time, I’ve personally spent countless hours on research and planning, have prayed what has seemed like endless prayers, and let my heart dream often about what it would be like to finally be walking where He had called me.

When asked if I was ready to go, one of my frequent answers was an enthusiastic, “Beyond ready!” or, “I’ve BEEN ready!” I’ve been excited for the adventure, in anguish for those He asked me to go to, impatient that I couldn’t just get there NOW, and anxious about the details falling into place. And now that I am actually walking on the Silk Road, I can enthusiastically tell you … I wasn’t ready!

I know now that nothing can truly and fully prepare you for facing the lostness firsthand. Stepping into a place… a nation… a whole region where so few have no knowledge of the Savior is different than just researching and praying. Knowing that you will be learning how to share the Savior with those different than you may seem simple enough, until you are surrounded 24/7 with very few things that are familiar to you. Knowing you need to learn a whole new language to communicate is a lot different than feeling the helplessness of not being able to ask for a bottle of water at the corner store, let alone share about His love with the clerk. I could continue, but I think you can begin to understand just how expectations and misconceptions can be mistaken for preparedness.

The amazing news is: I serve a God that doesn’t leave my side if I abide in Him, despite my lack and naivety.

I serve a God that knows the plans and purposes for this part of the world so much better than I ever could, and I am learning that it is enough that I know Him. He is a faithful God, and has been incredibly gracious to give me visions of what a move of His Spirit will look like here. I wish I could express how it feels to see in the Spirit different Muslim’s in my neighborhood standing in the streets and praising God through Jesus. How it feels to see the Mystic’s that have stores in my area completely shut down and no longer leading those disillusioned with Islam into darker practices. I pray God gives you a piece of that feeling, but I know you won’t truly get a sense of how these things feel unless you join us here. God has been so amazing to me as I have been obedient and taken the first giant step onto the Silk Road, even though I wasn’t ready for the terrain I’d be walking on. And I am humbled I can play a small part in His Spiritual promises unfolding here.

If you are considering taking that same giant step… I can tell you, you will not be prepared. I can also say that it might be the hardest thing you’ve ever done. Learning language might be difficult, being confronted and surrounded with darkness and the lost is an experience that can’t be described, and you must sacrifice to be here. But I know you will learn the faithfulness of God on a much grander scale than ever before, and that is more than worth coming.