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.

This all happened because a 65-year-old retired couple with a heart for the nations decided to visit our team, and when I took them out to go broad sowing, they went for it! Mark walked right up to those men at the mosque and started shaking their hands. The men invited him to sit down. I wasn’t sure what Heather and I should do since I had never seen any women sitting there before. But just then they turned to us and invited us to sit down as well. Soon someone was running to fetch us tea.

For about 20 minutes, we had a captive audience. I had an opportunity to share with men that, as a young single woman, I never would have had on my own. All because one 65-year-old guy who can’t speak one word of Turkish was excited about reaching lost people. I walked away smiling at how God works. All it took were a few handshakes from a smiley American retiree and I found myself in a place where women aren’t allowed, sharing Jesus freely.

God can do what He likes… and He’ll use you to do it.
When I first moved to Central Eurasia, I found it unsettling to walk by the local mosque when the courtyard was filled with men. It seemed unsafe, as if someone would notice that I didn’t fit here and attack me for it. But then one day I was walking with my Turkish friend, Derya, and I noticed that she felt completely opposite. She lingered as she walked past the mosque. There was a sense of community she felt there and with that a sense of protection.

Despite this broadening of my perspective, I certainly didn’t expect to find myself sitting with about 40 men outside the local mosque, sharing the gospel with 3 of them specifically, and whoever else was listening in!