Ep. 183 - True Confession

With Dr. Wiles in Rome, Katy and Luke welcome Bud Houston, a First Baptist Arlington member who works with the Joshua Project maintaining data on unreached people groups worldwide. Bud, a former automotive technician with seven children (expecting an eighth named Conrad), previously worked with Global Gates before joining Joshua Project as director of people group data. The conversation centers on the church's upcoming Ramadan outreach, explaining that Muslims fast from sunup to sundown during this holy month. Bud shares that Arlington has approximately 20,000 Muslims, primarily Arabs and Kurds from the Middle East, many of whom came due to persecution. He offers practical advice for engaging Muslim neighbors using what he calls the "F words" - asking about family, food, friends, fun, future, faith, and ultimately forgiveness. The key is building genuine relationships through proximity and presence rather than programmatic approaches. Bud emphasizes understanding honor/shame cultures versus guilt/innocence cultures, noting that Muslims often make communal rather than individual decisions about faith. The church's gift bag distribution serves as a catalyst for relationship-building, with the ultimate goal of positioning Christians to be available when God works in Muslims' lives through dreams and visions.