30 Days of Prayer for the Muslim World is a handy tool for helping believers learn about and pray for our fellow human beings who live within the Islamic culture and religion. I have been using it personally over the last few weeks. This morning I read about “Turks in Berlin” and how they encounter culture shock as they leave their familiar surroundings in Turkey and 
face the radically different way of life in Germany. Many are disillusioned by how difficult it is to realize their economic dreams in their new city. As numbers of their own nationality have increased, they have gathered together in parts of the city (in this case, the district of Kreuzberg) and formed Muslim communities where their traditions are practiced and even enforced. For example, if someone desired to visit a Christian book store, they would be pressured by the community to stay faithful to Islam, just like they would back home.
In spite of this, quite a few Turks in Berlin have become believers, and are meeting in homes or other venues.
The reason I mentioned this is that as I read the suggested prayers in the 30 Day guide, it dawned on me that this is the same way we pray (or need to pray) for our immigrant communities in the USA. Given the number of Muslims (and Hindus, Buddhists etc) we have in our country, we have similar opportunities here as do European countries. Here are the suggested prayers for the Turks in Berlin. Let’s pray them for the people in our cities, and for the believers there too:
Pray for closer contacts between believers in Berlin and their Turkish neighbors so they can learn of the love of God and hear clear testimonies of Turks who have come to Jesus.
Pray for love, authority, and effective witness of the believers who actually have contact with Turks. Motivated believers are especially needed to reach out to the second- and third-generation Turkish migrants.
This is our global reality, presenting believers with the opportunity and responsibility to reach across the street to make a friend for Jesus’ sake!
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