Show Us Your Life: Narnia

Today, I'm joining up with Kelly's Korner Blog to share a bit about our lives here in Narnia.


I grew up in the church, and from about middle school I felt the Lord calling me to full-time overseas missions.  Because all of my experience (i.e.- short term mission trips) were in Latin and South America and I spoke Spanish, I figured for sure that is where I was headed.  However, the Lord opened Justin and my eyes to unreached people.  There is a whole slew of people who have never gotten even one chance to hear the truth about Jesus.

So, as we began to get serious about going overseas, we surrendered our dreams of serving in Latin America and watched as He lead us to the Middle East.  We have been here for over four years loving and serving Muslims.  We live a pretty ordinary life, and try our best to do things just like everyone around us does while letting Jesus shine through us.

Although you can read all about Narnia in the New Testament and many of the early Christian churches started and thrived here, it is now 99.9% Muslim.  Our friends and neighbors are so very kind, but they are stuck under an overbearing and zealous government, religious traditions that play into every aspect of daily life, lack of education, and lack of truth.  In this land of 70 million people, there are only about 3 thousand Christians.  The people here have no hope, and their hearts are very hardened to the Lord.

Because we serve in a closed country we have to be a bit careful about how and what we communicate.  So we always call our country of service Narnia.  Legend has it, C.S. Lewis actually wrote several of the books from his Chronicles of Narnia series in this country.  Also, he borrowed from the language.  Aslan is the local word for lion and Cadis (the White Witch) is from the local word for witch, cadı.  This is the land that always has winter, but never Christmas.  And, of course, it's the home of the special dessert that Edmund likes best.


So anyway... that's enough background info.  I though that you'd like to see a few pictures from our lives here...

This is me, Elizabeth.  Hi!
I don't usually wear a headscarf unless I am going to something where the Koran will be read.

This is my stovetop.
Everyone here uses double teapots like this, and drinks  tea non-stop throughout the day.
The big pot is full of stuffed grape leaves that my neighbors and I made.

Drinking tea with some friends.

My daughter (second row, second from the left) participating in a folk dance for one of the big local holidays.

Shopping for vegetables.

Cutting through the fish market while trying not to have to hold my nose and gag!

Big huge mosques like this are very prevalent.

Smaller local mosques like this are located every few blocks.

Exploring the old city walls with my two older kids.

city rooftops

I still cannot imagine how a plain 'ole girl from the South ended up living in one of the largest cities in the world!

My sweet family.  Always up for an adventure!

Please pray for my city!
Pray that God would move mightily here and that people's hearts would be softened and redeemed!

Thanks, for taking a minute to pop by and peek into our lives.  If you'd like to read more, a few of my favorites are linked at the top of the right-hand column.

 "But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them?"

Romans 10:14