This is Shudaice (pronounced “soo-dice”), or Daice for short. He caught my attention from the first day I met him, wearing his American flag polo shirt. A few days later I was dancing with him in church, and one of the church members told me that his family is Muslim. He has been heavy on my heart ever since.
His mom’s name is Aisha. She is the same age as me, 25, and has 2 sons Shudaice, age 3, who adores me, and Ryan age 1, who is terrified of me. She spends her days caring for her family, as a lot of moms do, but all of her cooking and cleaning is done without the aid of modern conveniences. Her life is hard, she tells me. She carries her baby on her back all day long, bending over as he clings to her, not even tied on. She hand washes her family’s clothes in dirty water, then goes to fetch more from a pipe that comes from who knows where. It would make me sick if I drank it, she tells me, and yet they use it for cooking, cleaning, and even drinking.
I ask if I can pray for her. She asks for power and tells me she is living in darkness. She is referring to the fact her home lacks electricity, but I know it’s spiritual as well. She says she loves Allah and asks me why I am not Muslim. Sounds of the nearby Mosque and Muslim call to prayer drift through the air.
She lives a stone’s throw away from the Christian church we are working at this month. Most of her friends are Christian. But her husband is a “staunch Muslim.” Daice loves going to the church and comes home singing about Jesus. This angered them and they used to beat him and not allow him to go. At age 3, Daice has already been persecuted for his faith, but he persisted in crying and begging to go to church, so now they tolerate it.
Daice comes running up to me with outstretched arms, knowing I will scoop him up and love on him. Aisha tells me it makes her happy when I visit her, even if it just means sitting quietly in her front yard. I have been visiting them almost every day and simply getting to know them. Yes I want Aisha to receive Jesus but I don’t want to “convert" her or my pride takes over and gets in the way.
This month is Ramadan, the month in which many Muslims fast. Please join me in praying for little Daice and his family. I believe that he knows Jesus and could transform his family’s life. But it is the Holy Spirit's job to bring people to Christ, not my own.
