Sunday, June 23, 2013

Rumors and Truth

When we met with Nabil in May, he told us that the American news often paints a much worse picture that what it is really like.
As we near our departure date our attention is of course drawn to the news and what is reported therein concerning Lebanon; especially Beirut. We are very thankful to be in touch with our liaison there who, when recently asked via email what the conditions are like, responded:

"For the situation in Lebanon, what Nabil said is very true and I wanted you to read something that one of our visitors who came from the US last week wrote. This might help:

A Texas pastor and I spent the afternoon walking around downtown Beirut. We stopped in at Starbucks for a frappuchino, bought some souvenirs, and went inside to visit the central mosque (with shoes off, of course).
Last Sunday we went to church at a baptist church in the central Bekaa valley, visited one of the national forests of cedars of Lebanon, and then returned to the Bekaa Valley for a nice lunch at a local restaurant. We also visited the Beirut Baptist School, which is in the heart of the Muslim section of Beirut.
I give you all this detail to illustrate that life is going on as normal, despite the Syrian refugee situation. The local Baptist leaders don't see Lebanon in any more delicate position, or tenuous situation, than any of their neighboring countries. One of their main leaders described life here, with the shadow of hostilities, as their "daily bread". All of the tension, caution, etc is found up on their northern borders."

Rest assured we are paying attention and not going heading out blindly - simply in faith!

Thank you for your continued prayers.

Why We're Going

A few weeks ago we had the honor of hosting Nabil at Westover Church for an update on the many great things that are happening in Lebanon through the ministries they are running.  Our team was also able to meet with him for dinner the following night.  We were so excited to meet Nabil.  Our team was ready with a long list of questions!

Nabil's message to us on Sunday came from 2 Timothy 2:2, "And the things that you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others." 
Spreading the Gospel in the Middle East can be difficult due to the hold Islam has on the people and culture.  Nabil and his colleagues have built a seminary in Beirut to teach and train Christians who will be pastors and deliverers of the Good News to all surrounding nations.  These students come from all over the Eastern world and are bringing Jesus to the Middle East and North Africa...  The Gospel is being entrusted to qualified individuals who are teaching others and introducing people to Christ.
After hearing this message, we were so excited to be supporting these students.  Although we will not meet them, our desire to come echoes support for their ministries.  It shows that we believe in what they are doing.

On Monday, we got to know Nabil a little better.  Nabil grew up in a Christian household in Lebanon.  He went on to become a very successful businessman before ministry slowly took more of his time.  Eventually, he found himself in full-time ministry.  At dinner, we asked Nabil how he ended up in ministry.  In the US, we often explain it as a 'calling.'  So we asked, "Nabil, were you called to ministry?"  His answer caught us off guard.  Although his English is great (sometimes more correct than ours!),  this took him time to talk through.  The gist was this..  Few people are called by God.  If someone comes to you and says "I was called by God to do this" then fall on your knees where you stand and pray over them.  A calling should not be taken lightly.  When the disciples were called, they dropped everything they owned and everything they were doing, and followed Jesus. They left their families, their friends, possibly their livelihood.  If you are called by God, listen.  But if you do not feel as if you've received some personal calling from God, then go read God's Word and see what it says about how to care for and love others.  Jesus' mission was one act of service after another, completely humble, and all with the purpose of drawing people to himself.  This line of thinking really applied to us.

We were not called to go to Lebanon.  We all have a heart for the Middle East.  We feel that only peace from Christ will heal that land.  We are very excited to support the people who are already doing this.  We are happy to work with teenagers, the CURRENT generation proclaiming Christ.  We go because we believe God has already asked this of us (and every Christian), in Matthew 28:19..  "Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."  He didn't say wait for his calling, wait for a good time, wait until you're ready, or anything else.  He has already asked us to GO!