Photo By Frontiers Usa | Used With Permission

Sacred Bread

Day 29 – Sacred Bread

“I never feel full unless I eat some bread,” a Muslim told Jessica, a Frontiers worker.

Bread plays an important part of life in Muslim community where Jessica lives. Her neighbors carefully hang tied bags of old bread on dumpsters. They never throw bread away. Even discarding stale or moldy bread would be a sinful waste.

Author Hamed Ammar writes in Growing Up in an Egyptian Village:

“Bread is not only filling, but also possesses an aura of sacredness, being believed to be the essence of life. The [Arabic] name given to bread is aish which literally means life. It is profane to put bread on the ground, and every effort must be made to pick up any crumb that falls to the ground for fear of it being trodden on. … Children are also enjoined to kiss bread if it falls from their hands on the ground, and if they find it lying in the street to remove it into a crevice on the wall. They are punished if they throw bread from their hands when angry or annoyed, as this might make the baraka [blessing] fly from the house.”

Jessica noticed that, inevitably, those little bags of old bread would be collected by some hungry soul.

But Muslims need more than just physical aish. Recently, one of Jessica’s Muslim friends begged her for resources to learn more about Jesus. She is hungry for the Bread that gives eternal life.
“Understanding their sacred view of bread makes me all the more excited to tell my friends about Christ, the true Bread of Life,” (John 6:48-51) Jessica says. “May their hunger be filled by the Living Bread that comes down from heaven!”

How to Pray

+ Thank God for Muslims who are discovering Jesus Christ, the Bread of Life.
+ Pray that more Muslims would hunger for the only One who gives eternal life.
+ Ask the Lord to give wisdom and insight to field workers as they share how Jesus alone truly satisfies.

Adapted from an article originally published by Frontiers USA.

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