Ramadan Day 30 - Varanasi, India

30-Days of Prayer for the Muslim World
- Ramadan Day 30 -

The Muslims of Varanasi, India

Interwoven within one million Hindus are 250,000 Muslims who have made the city of Varanasi their home for the past 500 years. Standing high over the Hindu temples and shrines, the Mosque of Aurangzeb evokes the past, when Mogul Muslims ruled India for generations. Entering the close-knit Muslim communities is like stepping back in time to that Mogul past.

Many of Varanasi’s Muslims belong to a weaver caste called “Ansari”, or “helper” in Arabic. For generations they have passed on their craft from father to son, hand-weaving silk on room-sized, foot-powered looms. The silks they create are beautiful and intricate. Many a Hindu girl has dreamed of, and worn a Varanasi silk sari for her wedding day. Even as they value the saris, Hindus look down on the Ansari.

The economic challenges of the 21st century are pressing in on the Ansari. Chinese silk and weaving is competing for the silk market; fabrics woven by power looms compete for the sari market. The realities of the modern world require more of them to mingle with the outside world. And, God has led some workers to these people. There are now some house churches among the Muslims in Varanasi.

Let’s Pray:

---------------------------------------------------------------
* Pray that as the Ansari mix more with the outside world God would reveal Himself to them and they would find believers to disciple them.

* Pray for the house churches, that the Muslims may continue to grow in their knowledge of God and their understanding of His plans for them.

* Pray for emerging leaders of house churches to be identified and trained to take the Gospel to their family and friends.

* Pray for the missionaries living in Varanasi that God will sustain their ministry and lead them to the harvest fields.


---
This is an excerpt from our 30-Days Prayer Guide ISBN 2-9514163-8-5. Encourage others to pray with us - pass this on.
---
View video, maps, sights and sounds of Islam. Click "Hot Links" (Day 30) to view (on the youth site).
---