Walt DeVault

Faith journeys often take us to most unusual places. My Christian mission journey began at age 55 and led me to Kurdistan, Iraq. I had retired in 2008 from a wide variety of business ventures. From 2012 until 2015, with no formal teaching experience, I taught history and political science in a predominantly Muslim high school. I often felt that my students were teaching me more than I was teaching them. I also realized that Muslim young people are very similar to American youth, only most speak three or four languages. I speak one. While I was there, they captured my heart and tore down many of my prejudices.

Soon after I arrived, I met a young Muslim student named Meer, one of five siblings in the Sindi tribe. When I was forced to return to America after ISIS began its campaign of terror in the Middle East, many of my students and their families fled to other countries. Four years ago, Meer’s family was able to flee to America.

The close friendship with the Sindi family afforded me the opportunity to notice that Meer had a flair for illustration. His drawing talent was just what I needed for A Heavenly Dream. With his family’s encouragement, we forged a long-distance partnership. Imagine, if you will, a 69-year-old Christian grandfather partnering with a 14-year-young Muslim to produce a children's book about Heaven. Mentoring Meer in his understanding of Jesus and how to illustrate the face and body of a Holy Spirit was only one of many challenges we had to overcome. As the book evolved, we grew to understand that our religious differences were far fewer than we realized, and this understanding brought us closer together rather than tearing us apart.