Imagine with me for a moment…imagine that you and I are in a church just worshipping God. The building is small and is likely used for something else during the week. The mood is set for worship; the lights dimmed, the people focused, and band is just starting to play. You don’t recognize any of the fifty faces in the room… you’ve never been here before. The room is filled with different cultures, from American to African, and from English to Indian.

Suddenly, as you are worshipping, you hear a loud noise coming from outside of the building. It isn’t chaotic…no it is a voice speaking in a language you can’t understand. It isn’t louder than your music, but you can hear it distinctly. A man standing next to you tells you what it is. It’s obvious from your expression that you’ve never heard it before. It takes a moment but reality hits: it is the mosque call, calling all Muslims to prayer. You have already heard it four times today but never got the chance to ask someone what it was. The realization that you aren’t home doesn’t make you home-sick… rather it ignites you. You are on the mission field in a world of people who believe in an distant, uninterested God. That is life in the U.A.E., and we experienced just a taste of it.

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