Author: Erica Merrell

For my last post, I wanted to write about the baby house (orphanage) I visit often.

One of my family’s favorite things is to celebrate religious holidays from around the world.

The mufti here in Bishkek spoke at a conference on religious tolerance a few days ago. He has recently returned from a trip to the United States and said that if Muslims want Islam to be more respected in America, Muslim countries need to allow religious freedom in their own countries.

My conversion has been a lot more like studying a language than being granted the gift of tongues.

Islam in Central Asia is nothing like Islam in the Middle East. But this is what I love about Islam. It has its own local flair everywhere you go.

My husband and I had the good fortune to spend some time in a few small branches in the Middle East about 8 years ago while we were studying Arabic. While we spent most of our time in the Jerusalem Branch, we also visited branches in Cairo, Amman, and Irbid, Jordan.