08/06/20 2005 MISSION TRIP TO CENTRAL ASIA #3 — I suppose I should have known but I was unaware until after I had actually arrived that my entire visit occurred in the month of Ramadan, during which Muslims fast from all food and drink from sunrise to sunset every day.

Our small group had several meals in the homes of a few residents. I noticed that they gorged themselves right up to the moment when they heard the loud, shrill call to begin fasting in the morning as well as right after the same call in the evening to break the fast and resume eating.

My missionary host told them my church had been fasting for at least six weeks. I tried to correct him—only four weeks, I said; but he knew that my folks were continuing to fast and pray for us during my visit (I had NOT known that)! So the family concluded that Christianity was better than Islam!? I tried to explain that the length of time one spent in prayer and fasting was not necessarily the best measure of the validity of one’s religious faith, but they stubbornly refused to change their minds. At least right there and then, they thought that we American Christians ought to be admired for our faithful dedication to our religious rituals. MORE TO COME…