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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.

I hurry across the street in front of my apartment building with groceries in my hand. Something feels different. I look around me and then realize it’s the lack of noise.

I am quite positive that I live on one of the busiest streets in the city. It is in a constant state of LOUD most any time of day, unless I happen to wake up at 3 A.M.

I check my watch. It’s 7:45 P.M. Typically, this is a busy time of day. What is going on? Then it dawns on me. The evening call to prayer goes off in an hour from now. I start to notice other things. The bread shop next to my apartment has a line of people coming out the door waiting to buy bread. The grocery store down the block is brimming.

Everyone is making their last minute preparations for Iftar, the breaking of the fast after the sun goes down during the month of Ramadan. I hurry into my house and unpack my groceries. At 8:50 P.M., I hear the call to prayer sounding and know that all over my neighborhood people are gathered with family and friends, feasting together.

What is it like living in a Muslim country during Ramadan? In my city, it’s mostly subtle differences that could easily be overlooked. A quieter street in the evening, less choices at the bakery, some restaurants closed, drums sounding in the wee hours of the morning and the resemblance of what I have dubbed, “The Little Drummer Boy” Christmas lights hanging in my local store.

However, there is a definite difference in the spiritual atmosphere. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but it’s there.

My friends and I went to experience an Iftar celebration near one of the sacred mosques in the city. When we got of the bus at our destination, a dense crowd of people immediately surrounded us. We moved along with the crowd to the mosque and went inside. I saw more men and women praying in the mosque than in any I had been in here before. When we exited into the courtyard, I saw a line of people waiting to view the grave of a holy man. I stood by two young girls standing with their hands cupped out in front of them, praying. Another young girl was sitting down on a stone ledge, reading the Koran.

Iftar Observations

As we exited the mosque, we made our way to a large open area where many people were gathered along rows of stone steps. On a large screen, the different names of Allah played in a slide show. A TV crew was filming on the roof of a nearby restaurant. A man dressed in white started singing on top of the restaurant where they were filming. We started to notice the people around us coming with packets of food. They were getting ready. A woman came around and offered us dates with which to break the fast.

When the call to prayer went off nothing spectacular happened, everyone just started eating. Silence encompassed the square. We ate our dates and decided we should maybe find something real to eat. We walked through the now empty streets.

All over for blocks people were gathered at tables, on the ground, on benches and inside stores eating their Iftar meals together.

We found a place with an empty table and joined in the feast.

My Iftar experience was interesting and not exactly what I had expected. I didn’t see any great displays of devotion to God. It reminded me of Christmas in America. Some people celebrate it because of true gratitude for the birth of Jesus, and others simply follow a cultural tradition. But in the midst of it there is a sense of unity and community. That is what I see here during this month of Ramadan, and there is an ache in my heart for those who are truly seeking something greater.

Please pray for the countries of Central Eurasia during this season, as many celebrate this Islamic holy month. 

Pray for hearts to be open to hear the Gospel, as people are truly seeking. 

Pray against the forces of darkness that would try to rise in power over these lands. 

Pray for those of us on the ground that face spiritual warfare as we seek to proclaim the Gospel to those who have not heard.

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