When we came to the field years ago, we were in our early 20s. It was our first time overseas, and our bags didn’t show up. My wife, Amy, and I were dropped off in our new home in the unfamiliar city, with no phones and zero knowledge of the local language.
As the reality settled in, we wondered what we had just gotten ourselves into.
I ventured out in search of food—which was tricky since I had no language, no car, and no sense of direction. I eventually found a bread shop. After 20 minutes in line, with floods of people cutting in front of me, someone took pity and helped me order. Plain bread was on the menu for Day 1.
As the reality settled in, we wondered what we had just gotten ourselves into.
That night, Amy woke up around 2 a.m. with local wildlife—a cockroach—climbing on her face. That was followed by the dismantling of the entire bedroom. We killed the critter and went back to sleep. Over the next week, I killed nearly 150 more cockroaches. Yes, I counted them.
Two weeks into our new life in our new country, we woke up to a group of women climbing on our window sills. We didn’t know whether to be alarmed, to laugh, or to cry. After observing them for a little while, we realized they were picking the leaves off our vine. That evening, they introduced us to dolma, which are grape leaves stuffed with rice and meat.
These first months were a whirlwind of survival.
They were also fertile ground for God to prove His faithfulness and love to us.
We woke up to a group of women climbing on our window sills.
One of our fondest memories from that early season happened on a day when Amy was at her lowest point of culture shock. We heard a knock on the door. Amy answered it and found a group of neighborhood children standing there with a bouquet of roses.
These weren’t the kind of flowers you buy at a flower shop. No, these were the kind you get when you sneak into the mosque garden and cut all the roses off their beautifully manicured bushes.
Nevertheless, it was Amy’s first bouquet in our new country, and God had delivered it when she most needed some encouragement. Through every season, He continues to show His faithfulness and care toward us.
- Praise God for sustaining new workers as they begin their ministries in the Muslim world.
- Pray they receive the inevitable challenges and new experiences with grace and humor.
- Ask the Lord of the harvest to send more teams of laborers to the field.
This account comes from a long-term worker. Names and places have been changed for security.