A Summer Summary.... Sorta

I’ve tried to sit down and write a post about this summer every day this past week. I’ve pulled up a blank document, clicked “play” on my CHILL Spotify playlist (creative title, I know), made a cup of tea, and tried to force myself to process everything the best way that I know how to do. But each time, I freeze. I’m left merely staring at the screen wondering how in the world I am supposed to articulate the messy emotions, the heart-wrenching stories, the dark days, the bubbling laughter of my students, the beautiful faces, the slow lessons, the darkness but also the glorious brightness of my two months teaching, living with, learning from, and loving a group of refugee women. How desperately I wish each and every one of you could relive this summer in my mind for even a few minutes. I wish you could look into the eyes of a child who assumes I’m Muslim because Islam is all she knows, see the buried glimmer of hope in the face of a woman burdened beyond belief when she hears there is a God whose love is perfect (very unlike the love of her husband), feel the hospitality of students who stole a piece of my heart when I met them, see the extent to which people are brainwashed by a false god and his false prophet, witness the fervency of a new believer who finds truth after a lifetime of lies. I also wish you could taste a kidney meat pie from the halal market next to our classroom on “meat pie Monday”, sip the sweetness of tea lovingly prepared and served amid the squeals of children, and feel the love I felt walking down the streets of my summer home while greeting students in their shops.  Read more....

-Madeline
Urban Muslim Outreach
South Africa

Renewed Focus

However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me - the task of testifying to the good news of God's grace. Acts 20:24

Team of the Day: Urban Muslim Outreach

Country of the Day: South Africa

Please pray for team members to have a renewed focus, a renewed steadfastness to the calling to share the Gospel. Pray for distractions to be recognized and overcome through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Super encouraging week!

This past week has been extremely encouraging for our team! 

• Abbie and I spent Monday visiting students for Eid, and we had several other outside-of-class visiting opportunities this week, too! 
• On Tuesday, we went shopping with a student. 
• On Wednesday, we visited a woman whose family we had broken fast with earlier in the summer (winter here!), and we were even able to give her a New Testament in her language! She had to read most of the Old Testament for her English Literature degree, and she was open to "finishing the story". We've made plans to spend time with her again, and we pray this will blossom into a sweet friendship and open the door to more spiritual conversations. 
• On Thursday, we spent a few hours visiting a sweet woman who used to come to class but hasn't been in a while. She even invited us back for lunch on Tuesday! The guys were able to eat lunch with several of their students and seem to be growing friendships with them that prayerfully will lead to sharing opportunities. They were also able to join one of our supervisors and spend time talking with a few students and their friend on Thursday. 



Abbie and I warming up with some

coffee after an early morning safari drive!

• Friday and Saturday we spent some time at a national park a few hours away taking in God's breathtaking creation and praising His creativity in making such unique animals! Today we were able to worship with the church we've been attending and had lunch with a family from the church. Our English classes are going well, and we love planning lessons, watching our students grow in their ability to use the English language, and having sweet conversations before and after class with our students. God is definitely at work in us and in this community!

Prayer Requests:

• Pray that our visits with students this week would lead to spiritual conversations and that the Holy Spirit would go before us to prepare people to hear and accept the wonderful gospel of grace that we proclaim. Pray also that language and cultural barriers would be overcome through the power of Christ.
• Pray that more students would attend class and would come more consistently so they can develop their English.
• Pray for a new female student we have who is around the same age as me and Abbie. Pray that a beautiful friendship will be able to form and that we will be able 'to speak truth into her life.
• As Abbie and I have started praying with our students at the end of classes, pray that God would be faithful to answer these prayers and that our students would see these answered prayers as coming from our God.
• Pray that Nic and Logan will be able to spend more time with students outside of class. Their students are oftentimes busy with jobs and other responsibilities, so opportunities for them to develop friendships after class have been harder to discover. Pray that they will be invited into their students' lives to a greater extent.

Thank you for faithfully interceding for our team and for our people groups!

With love,

Madeline

Following, Fishing, and Faith

This verse came up when we were worshipping with a local group of believers last Sunday. I'd heard this verse hundreds of times, memorized it, and even Bible-journaled it, but I had never really thought much about the analogy on a deeper level until this Sunday. Ministry among our people groups here is slow, hard, often seemingly fruitless work, and fishing can be like that sometimes too. Fishing doesn't always lead to huge catches; rather, it often results in a peaceful (or frustrating) day in a boat with little to nothing to show other than maybe a sunburn. 

Working among cousins, especially our cousins here, can be like those days when there's little to show after spending hours on the water. For me, personally, this has been a humbling experience and has served to further reinforce the truth that salvation comes from God alone and not from words that I or one of my teammates share. Instead of letting this resistance to the gospel discourage us, our team is praying for boldness on the same level as the disciples in the book of Acts who fearlessly proclaimed Christ to people just as reluctant to believe as our students and friends. We're praying for divine appointments like with Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch, and we're praying for miraculous, unlikely salvation stories like that of Saul-turned-Paul. 

Our team has been able to share with several of our students and their families, and we have had the opportunity to celebrate a couple Iftars as well. We've eaten all kinds of Somali, Ethiopian, Turkish, and Syrian food, and we were able to teach one of our students how to bake cookies (called biscuits here) yesterday. Teaching English has been fun, and getting to better know our students has been exciting. 

• Pray that with the end of Ramadan, we would have even more students since they won't be as busy. 
• Pray also for the one or two believers here among our focus people groups that they would be bold in reaching their people in ways we as outsiders never could and that they would live in a manner that is above reproach. 
• Lastly, pray that hearts now hard toward the gospel would be softened through the Holy Spirit, that words may be given to us to boldly proclaim the truth of the gospel, that God would reveal himself to our people groups through whatever means necessary, and that we would be able to form deeper friendships with our students and their families.

Here's a photo from a hike we took on our free day. This is the most green we've seen since we got to the city!

South Africa: Meet the Team!

Greetings from South Africa! I am part of the Urban Muslim Outreach team, and my teammates and I will spend the summer teaching English and seeking opportunities to share the love, peace, and life found through Christ alone. You'll be hearing from us many times this summer, and we want you to know us a little bit better so you have a more complete concept of who it is that you are praying for.

My name is Madeline. I'm from Kentucky and am studying Middle Grades Education (Language Arts/Social Studies) and Teaching English as a Second Language at WKU. I picked this NT project because I really have a heart for Muslims and for refugees, it's an opportunity to use my interests in TESL for God, and I want to get a better idea of what international missions is like and how God could use me. My favorite things include black coffee, KY sunsets, writing/reading, sunflowers, and Isaiah 43:19!

Next up is Nic! Nic is from Arkansas and is studying biology and Spanish at Lyon College. He chose this project because he wanted to use his TESL program certification and to follow God'/ command to "go". His favorites include hiking, movies, long walks on the beach (just kidding... he's never been!), steak and potatoes, and Isaiah 53:5.

The third member of our team is Logan. Logan is from Tennessee and is studying Biology secondary education at Tennessee Tech. He chose this project because he loves working alongside Muslims and thinks God is at work among this population. Some of his favorite things include fried chicken, reading, Star Wars, labrador retrievers, and Romans 8:28.

Last but certainly not least is our fearless team leader Abbie! Abbie calls Kentucky her home but has lived in several places around the world. She is currently studying global studies at Boyce College. She chose this trip because it is in an area of the world unlike anywhere else she has been. Her favorite things are pasta, throwback jams, sunsets, Chick-fil-A, and Isaiah 25:1.

As our team settles into our routine for the summer, pray that God would place people and divine opportunities before us as we work among hearts closed and hardened to the gospel. Pray for a smooth transition, grace when teaching, and fast friendships with our students.

-Madeline (representing Urban Muslim Outreach)