During
one of the many days we were in the village of G, we decided to do a prayer
walk through the village. A typical
prayer walk, or any prayer for that matter, looks as if we are simply
talking. We keep our eyes open and look
around so that we do not draw attention to ourselves. During this prayer walk, we were praying that
God would give us an audience to share the Good News with that day. I prayed, then Caleb prayed a similar prayer
as well, and not five minutes later a young man named "I" invited us to his
home for coffee and conversation.
After
a while of good conversation, we discovered that "I" and the four other young
men were students at an Islamic University who were a part of something called Safari
Ramadan. Safari Ramadan is a trip these
students take during Ramadan to encourage the people of the many villages on
our island to give alms, pray, and read the koran. We found many similarities between each
other, especially concerning our degree paths. They even invited us to a koran reading
competition in a village close-by.
We
eventually worked the conversation to a spiritual topic. We listened to their beliefs and respectfully
asked if we could share ours with them. We shared the gospel with them, but they
rejected what we had to say and began to discuss between one another about
different questions to stump us. The
Holy Spirit guided our tongues and we answered every question with truth. They had no response after their many
questions were answered and a perplexed look stained their face. We finished with more small talk then they
invited us to break the fast with them. We ate traditional Islamic food actually from Arabia.
The next day we returned to go to the koran reading competition,
and they told us it had been cancelled. We showed our disappointment and assured them we enjoyed their
company. We want to believe they were
telling the truth, but something seemed fishy to the whole team. We aren’t sure
why but we think one of older men staying with them probably did not want us to
go with them. Please keep "I" and the four other young men in your prayers as
they are in ours.
-Aaron