Revealing Ramadan - Sara

By Carol Pipes
Yesterday, I met a young woman named Sara* at a local college campus. I was with a volunteer team from Clarkston International Bible Church in Clarkston, Georgia. Using Soularium cards, we were engaging students in conversation about God and other spiritual matters.

Sara is from Syria but she moved here from Kuwait where most of her family still lives. She misses her family but isn't interested in moving back to Kuwait. When I asked her to describe God, she used words like beautiful, protector, giver of life. Interesting, I thought. I asked her if she attended church anywhere while at school. Sara told me that she was Muslim and attended a local mosque. She also told me she was observing Ramadan.

"I haven't broken my fast," she informed me.

With that, we ventured into a discussion about Ramadan and fasting. I asked her why she felt she needed to fast and how it impacted her life.

"I fast because it is tradition," she said. "It makes me more aware of those who do not have anything to eat. It also makes me feel closer to God."

I asked her if it was easier to observe Ramadan in Kuwait or the United States. "Oh, it's definitely easier to observe Ramadan in Kuwait," she said. "In Kuwait, everyone fasts. Here, there is much more temptation. There is food everywhere. Even in class there are students eating next to me."

She said that being able to overcome that temptation made her feel stronger.

I told her about the church and the ministries they provided to internationals just moving to the states and that perhaps her family members might check them out when they moved here.

She took a card with information and then was off to her next class.

We're about half-way through Ramadan. In the next couple of weeks, pray for Sara and others like her who are fasting.
Pray that God would reveal Himself through dreams and visions.
Pray that American Muslims who are discovering the living Messiah would become a source of life and inspiration for other Muslims in the U.S. and in their homelands.
Visit 30-Days Prayer Network for more ways you can pray.

*Name has been changed.