Her face, head, body, and even her eyes were covered with a black veil. I wondered what she looked like- I mean what she really looked like- her hopes, fears, and joys. What was her identity?
I smiled and greeted her. With my breath held in anticipation I wondered what I always wondered- Am I far away from the mosque for her to forget that she is suppose to hate me? Her veiled face turned away from my greeting and my heart. This story tells a little about my heart since I have been here. I am actually disappointed with myself for not emailing sooner and sharing some of the AMAZING things that have been happening here. It has been so life changing in almost everyway. There are so many stories that I find that I can’t include even all the best because this update would be far too long so I will start with just a couple and then we can go from there:)
We arrived in 
and now I am sleeping in a tent in front of a church. It is beautifully complicated here. I have not quite been able to put it into words so I will try to spell the ministry out with short stories, pictures, and prayer request to see if I can convey what is going on in this part of the world. I know that I am where I am suppose to be because I can see the fruit of the labor.
After arriving in
The call for prayer rips thru the night air. It is 4am and I am awakened by the call. Many faces race thru my mind and my heart aches in prayer. I pray for their strength and revelation. I awaken from my bed and join a group of Christians that meet every morning at 4am as well to pray for the future of this country. 
As I walk thru the village with my head covered and my mouth and heart ready to speak to the lost children of God. They cry out for a Redeemer. 
They cry out to have their sins forgiven- but they have no idea how.
“Do you know anything about a Man named Jesus?” I ask the fathers as they congregate for work. Before they answer I survey the group. They are so devote and so determined. They are continually dressed in their prayer garments and they meet at the mosque 5 times a day. Such dedication is hard to find, even amongst my most believing friends. Their faces turn towards me as they answer, much to my surprise and excitement that they have never heard of this most precious 
The One who came to give them the very precious righteousness that they so long for. “Please tell us about this Man” they ask. As a smile as big as Texas spreads across my face, I say a prayer of thanks as I begin to tell them the best news that they will ever hear.
Logic is never what brings people to God. He is a very much a God of both logic and order, but you can’t argue people into the believing. Nevertheless, I have prepared my mind and heart to speak with these precious children of God- to answer with both intelligence and logic- all of their debating points on the Son of God. It has become a passion of
mine to have the answers to their questions because I know the stakes. I must share the truth because the truth will set them free!
The countries that I have traveled thru rush through my mind like someone has opened the faucet on a fire hydrant. They fly thru my mind and then 
These people’s decision is not small- serving Jesus in this land is the hardest and most difficult decision they could ever make. They have become thoroughly convinced that Jesus is the Son of God, the One who can finally redeem them from their sins and set them free.
He was three when he was first diagnosed with leprosy. His father was already dead and his mother was on her death bed. The family sent him to a leprosy camp to die but, 
to everyone’s surprise, he was still alive at 17 when he ran away from the camp. He has no where to go so he sneaks back to the village where he grew up. He sleeps in the bushes during the day and lurks thru the village at night in search of scraps of food. Since he still has leprosy everyone is scared of him being there. They throw things at him and try to kill him when they see him. At 17, he comes across some missionaries who tell him about Jesus. He has always been Muslim and wants nothing to do with this Man Jesus but his ears perk up when they mention that Jesus heals. 
Not having anything to lose, literally, he accepts what they say and submits to their prayerful hands. Within a week he is completely healed. Completely. 15 years of sickness are behind him. Still, he has no desire to serve the Lord but the nagging dreams of Christ beckoning him won’t go away. He finds the missionaries and they explain the joy of truly knowing Christ and he accepts with a grateful heart. His family, the ones who had been waiting for him to die, now try to encourage his death all the more stating that it would be better if he were dead rather than being a Christian.
He flees for his life and goes to a major city. He wants to study God’s Word but the problem is that he has never had a day of education. He feels like God tells him to trust Him and to step out in faith so he saves his money and buys a small bible. As he opens it he almost cries because he can’t understand anything on the pages but with a trusting heart he presses on. In a mere two months he is reading and writing fluently. He longs for 
Again, he steps out in faith and contacts a local
When he gets to the education portion, he fills out truthfully that he has no previous schooling. They contact him to see if it is a joke. He replies that it is the way his life has gone and against all odds they accept him! He works a night job and goes to school all day. The first semester ends and to the entire facilities surprise he is on the top of the class. He manages to make it thru school and begins to settle down in the city he is living in. God has other plans for him though and soon he hearing a call to go to the extremely fundamental 
He arrives first by himself leaving his wife and children at home for fear of their lives. After arriving on the island he begins to ask around. The people make it clear that they don’t want him there, refusing accommodation and even food. But soon he finds a house to rent and he moves his family over. He couldn’t stay there long though because the neighborhood would hurl rocks at his house and children whenever they could. Then the neighbors went to the landlord and he was evicted. 
He and his family ran for their lives. There were no other Christians on the island so no one would house them and they left until he could find another house. He did this and the old neighborhood found out and went to the new neighborhood to tell them about the Christian man who was moving in. Again, they went to the landlord, but this time he wouldn’t kick them out. The people tried to kick them out and to hurt them but amazingly, every time they tried they were unsuccessful! It was miraculous how this family could not be touched. Still, the rocks were thrown and the village has a meeting to discuss what could be done. Since they couldn’t get rid of them or kill them, they set rules. They were not welcome at any community events, births, deaths or meetings. They were not to go to hospitals and they were not, under any circumstances, to talk to anyone about their God. So the pastor began his work. At first there was no one, and I mean no one that would talk to him. Then one day he was walking through another community and he heard that the headman’s child was sick. He went and asked if he could pray for the child and, assuming the child was as good as dead, they let him. Instantly the child was healed. The headman accepted Christ later that week and gave the man land to build a church on. 
The Muslim’s surrounding the area kicked and screamed but they couldn’t undo what the headman had done. Slowly, very slowly, the church began to have people stop by. Some out of curiosity, some to be healed, but some to stay. 
It was amazing to see what the Lord was doing. He has been there 10 years now. There are 3 churches on this island that he has both built and raised up pastors for. Most of his support comes from the mainland of 
They stared and cursed but still the church was still going up! The battle continues. The prayers continue and the truth is being spread! This is not about a destruction of culture or the forcing of a particular way of thinking. No, this is the antithesis of this. The ones who have come to understand who Jesus is have literally been blown away by the freedom and love they feel. It is offering freedom in a place that has been filled with everything but freedom for generations passed. 
Often when we pray for people to receive Christ, demons will manifest and the people start crying for deliverance. It is an amazing thing to watch people effusively thank us out in sheer gratefulness after they have received freedom from bondage. Please continue to pray for those that are fighting on this frontline! Please pray that God will continue to send people to the frontline! 
I appreciate you taking the time to read such a long update. There are so many stories I want to tell you still:) I can not express how much I covet your prayers now and I have already felt the strength of the one's you have already prayed. Every salvation here you have a part of! I could not be here without your prayers and support!
I am so grateful to be here and see these lives changed forever. Please write me soon if you get the chance. It means so much to me to hear news from home:) God Bless!! Cherie Hurston
