NYC | Kelli

There’s a tissue tucked in the pages of my Bible, in the book of John where Jesus says, “I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” It’s the tissue that caught my tears on September 26, 2025, the day I went to a mosque as an observer with the New York City mission team. 

My female teammates and I removed our shoes and made our way to the stairs, careful not to step on the carpet where the men would sit for prayer. We sat in the balcony among the women, our heads covered, unable to see the men or the speaker in the main room below. When it was time to pray, the women stood in rows, shoulder to shoulder, facing Mecca. The women invited us to join them; we politely declined and moved back so they could close the gaps in their rows.

I am well-versed in living in a culture where people are indifferent to God. In the mosque, however, I was surrounded by people who were seeking God but blinded by the false teaching of Islam and the worship of a false god. 

I don’t know what I expected, but what I encountered was a heavy, nearly overwhelming, spirit of oppression and darkness, void of the joy that worship of the one true God produces. I couldn’t stop the tears as I heard the Arabic chanting and watched the women going through the prayer movements. I silently begged God to remove the veil, to open eyes to Truth. I fiercely hugged my teammate who stood beside me, also weeping. And in that moment with my teammate, I recognized the Holy Spirit – comforting, uniting, interceding, strengthening, equipping. 

When the prayer movements ended, women began casually chatting. Still shaken by what we’d observed, we talked with Z, a friendly young mother who said she was seeking spiritual healing. She asked about us. “We follow Jesus.” We asked her questions about the prayer movements. “I’m not sure, but it’s from a long time ago. That’s what the prophet did, so that’s what we do.” We asked how we could pray for her, and I am still praying for her. I am asking in the mighty name of Jesus for the one true God to reveal Himself in dreams and visions and to send a friend who will introduce Z to the only One who can offer the healing she seeks: Jesus.

Kelli Whitehead, NYC 2025