Ken and Emily (and their children) minister in central asia– in a land that is 99.8% muslim. They were home on furlough, so we took a little time to ask a few questions about life on the mission field.

Can you describe the spiritual condition of the place and the need you see today?

      Even though this country has Christian roots, it is 99 % Muslim. The missionary movement started 30 yrs. ago and is in the work of breaking ground and making Christ known in a place where there is a distorted view of Christian society. We see our job as making Christ known there. People are very hungry for God and we find people are very open to prayer. Their society has very strict formula for prayer and they are very interested in how we pray-from our hearts. While it is predominantly Muslim, individually we see a big hunger for God.

      There is an acceptance of your lot in life. It is how it is. They are aware of the fact that something is missing in their life. While they recognize the wholesomeness in the face that they present to the world, they know that they are still struggling w/ their own sinfulness.

With the people you’ve gotten to know, if you ask them what their view of an American Christian, what do they say?

      They have a general perspective of Americans being amoral. But as they get to know us, they are surprised by how we live our lives. They say that we are morally better than the nationals. One family we have gotten to know over the past two years, has said that they’ve found that we are “just like them.”  As we live out our life among them, they see that we are different (than their perception of Americans).