ca06

Please Keep Praying...

(This prayer update just in from Central Asia #6, on June 2:)

You may have just heard the news about bombs in K. Just to let you know we are just fine. The explosions were directed at the airbase. It shook our house (nearly broke our windows) as we are 3-5 miles away from the airbase. We called a US captain at the base one of our contacts and he let us know it was intended for the airbase. One of the first bombs hit their ammunition, that is why our house shook like an earthquake.

Remember us in your prayers. We noticed that the more people talking to the Lord, the calmer the situation became-- and know that we are prepared to leave if necessary. ... We will keep you updated. ... for now we have peace about staying here.

Workers in Central Asia #6

Blessings for the Pure of Heart

I need help…
I can’t survive in the middle of this desert war. There’s no way. A Westerner stands as an awkward target. I can’t accomplish this task – It’s unreasonable. It’s impossible for any mortal to stand in the throne room of God. The flesh burns to ash and the soul is annihilated. This is an impossible task, but I’ll not let it go.

More than anything else in my life I want to see God. I really don’t care about the cost. But this isn’t like the story of the pearl of great price. This little gem is beyond my grasp. I am the man who decided he must have the pearl no matter the cost. So I sold all my possessions and I did not have enough. I took loans and gathered credit to the limit of reputation. I did not have enough. On the black market I put myself into slavery and yet this was not enough. This is not the story of the pearl of great price. This story is the pearl of impossible price. This is my story.

More than anything else in my life I want to see God. It’s not enough for me to ‘do the right thing.’ It started in church. I became a regular attendee. That was good, but not enough. I became a leader in my local campus ministry. That was good, but not enough. I decided to be a Christian worker in another land and to be trained for this vocation… good but not enough. And to the most dangerous places on earth I would go. This is good but not enough. In fact, I would be willing to sacrifice my life as a martyr to bring the gospel to the unreached peoples of the world. Good, but not enough.

More than anything else in my life I want to see God, but it’s impossible for any mortal being to stand in the throne room of God. This gem is more than I can acquire. Yet I’ll not give up this dream. I will see God.

This is my dilemma. This is why I need help.

If God choose to ignore me, how would I get his attention? I’m a mortal man; by what power could I grab the attention of God.

So this journey begins by His grace. He turns an ear towards me and only then can I speak to Him. He gives my life purpose and meaning and that is enough for me. He purchased the pearl, beyond my grasp and He delivered it to me. He set my course to the Middle-East and He is my refuge. By His sacrifice I can enter the throne room of God.

I noticed through this sacrifice something was unexpected. I didn’t enter the throne room as a mortal man. I entered as an adopted son of God. And it is right that a child is in the presence of his Father. Now I can see God.

Adapted from an anonymous letter from a couple serving in the Middle East

My Father Sent Me

"Who are you, Why are you here."
One of the first issues we’ll have to deal with is our identity. The local culture is one already setup for paranoia. It comes with being oppressed by a dictator. I’ve already been asked if I’m with the CIA. I guess I don’t blend in as much as I hoped. Or maybe I should quit wearing sunglasses and talking into my sleeve. HA! HA!
It’s important to answer the question of identity in a way that’s relevant to the local culture. I could simply tell them that I’m part of an NGO and we’re here to ... [edited]. The problem is I’m setting up the identity of a foreigner who has come to provide and leave. They’ve seen this before. But that identity doesn’t impact the society. It puts me in a separate district of town where other NGOs exist. I need an identity that is socially relevant.
This is a society built upon the shoulders of the father. The father sets the attitudes and values of the family. He describes the political orientation. He is the most important figure in the social structure of the Middle-East. It’s common for a young couple to get married and move into the household of the husband’s father. Fatherhood doesn’t end when the children are married. The grandfather is still there to be an example of fatherhood to a new father.
I can describe myself as an NGO worker here to provide [edited]. But when I tell locals, “I am here because my father sent me to you,” suddenly I’m one of the locals. They know that Westerners don’t act like that. It makes sense in the Middle East that the father gives an instruction and it will be obeyed. But they know western society doesn’t act like that. I’m acting like a local. “My father sent me to you.” “Really! why?” Suddenly the local culture wants to know about this father of mine. They want to know why my father would consider them so special that he would send his only son. “Why would a father send his only son to a people?”
The spiritual realities are obvious to most of you, but this has a very personal reality to me. You see we were sent by our local church and Team Expansion. They had a small ceremony after the Sunday service where my childhood Sunday school teachers and spiritual inspirations gathered to celebrate the calling God put in our hearts. I remember standing before the elders of the church as they prayed over us. And there was my dad standing among them. He simply acknowledged that God was the author of this endeavor. And my father sent me.
A couple in the Middle East