Prayers

It is the Muslim month of fasting called Ramadan and all around me people are trying to work their way into heaven by not eating, not drinking and not even swallowing their saliva from sunup to sundown.  Honestly, it is a very hard month to be a believer and see so many around us completely blind to the truth of Jesus.  A Gambian friend had two daughters in law deliver sons last week and normally that would mean a large baby naming ceremony; imagine getting two new grandsons on the same day! During this month of fasting many will delay these kind of ceremonies and opt for something smaller.  This family decided to have an all-night feast and celebration after their breaking of the fast at sunset.  What this meant is that the sisters in laws and others at the compound spent all day long, starting about 10am preparing two meals over a wood fire in 100+ degrees and did not eat any of this food until after 8pm and did not eat or drink at all while they were preparing it.  The cooks were exhausted, the work was hard and yet they did it because this is their culture and the expectation.  I stayed with them for several hours and as the call to prayer and the time to break the fast approached the sadness, the futility of what they were doing and the heaviness of the evil one just permeated their home.  I left with this take out meal (rice with potatoes, onions, yummy sauce and goat) just before their prayer time and as I walked out seeing the men laying out huge mats for all to pray my heart was heavy for these two new baby boys, for their families and for the lost around the world following this ritual of fasting in the hope to work their way to heaven.  Pray for Muslims around the world that they would see Jesus during this month and that they would turn to the truth, pray for safety and health for all who are fasting and pray for boldness for the believers in their midst.