Courage to Start Praying in Central Asia

I am Dutch, but my husband is from Switzerland. After we married, we made our home in Switzerland. Eight years ago, I heard about Moms in Prayer for the first time. My friend invited me to their group, but I was a bit shy and praying out loud with a group for a whole hour seemed like too much for me. They invited me several times, but I waited until all three of my kids were in school, then I gave it a try  (with a warning that I was not used to praying out loud and that I would probably keep quiet the whole hour).

Since I was raised in a more traditional family and we did not pray out loud in church or in groups, it took me a little time to feel comfortable praying this way. Thankfully, I had loving moms in the group who understood and accepted my short, stumbling prayers. Moms in Prayer was a good place to give my sorrows and burdens to the Lord and my heart often felt lighter after prayer time. The hour went by quickly.

I was in this group for five years when my husband accepted a job offer in Central Asia, so we moved in the summer of 2017. Before moving, my friend in Switzerland suggested it would be a good idea to start a Moms in Prayer group in this new city. I agreed with what she was saying, but I was not sure I could start one since I did not think of myself as a “prayer-warrior-woman;“ more like a “prayer-stumbler.“

After the boys started school, I kept considering a Moms in Prayer group and that it would be good to have one even if I didn’t feel like a leader or a super-prayer-mom. I just thought God would be pleased to see moms praying, even if we stumbled with our prayers.

I knew it was more important to start the group than worry about how well we could pray or how confident and mature we thought we were in our faith.

So I started looking for another mom, one I would feel comfortable with. After a few weeks, I found two moms. I explained what I wanted to do and I gave them the link to the website so they could better understand what Moms in Prayer was about. One of the moms said it was easy for her to order the Moms in Prayer Booklets in English, so we ordered a few and got started in September 2017 with a German and an Australian mom. Sometime later, I asked a Korean mom whom I knew was a Christian also. As soon as I asked her, her face lit up and she said, “Today, I was going to ask you to join me in starting a Moms in Prayer group! Now you’re asking me and you already have a group formed!” She was so happy and joined the same day. Now we were three.

I wanted to officially register our group online, but as I was filling out the form, I hesitated again when it came to “group leader.” Hmm… I don’t really feel like a leader, more like a starter. I wanted to wait a bit.

The weeks and months passed by and two more moms joined our group.

Now we are six moms from Switzerland, Germany, Australia, Korea and the USA, praying for three different schools here in Central Asia!

We meet every other week and we take turns in leading prayer. We move from house to house so that no one has to make a long drive every time. We live quite far from each other.

Recently, I met with my friend in Switzerland again. She encouraged me to register online on the Moms in Prayer website so other moms could join us too, if they were looking for a group in our area. I knew she was right and registered right away. I pray this encourages you to start a group, no matter where you are, and see what God will do when you are obedient. He is not looking for super prayer warriors but for a heart yielded to His.

Warm regards from Central Asia— praying mom