Gospel Movements in the Middle East



I had the privilege of spending a week in Lebanon, March 14-20. The occasion was a Church Planting Consultation lead by Joseph N. (can't use full names). My colleague Craig Ott and I taught and facilitated discussions and worked with them on strategic place. Joseph N. and Keith Rascher who work in this context all the time led the discussions about contextualization and collaboration for missional advance. My topic was developing Acts 19 movements in this context. We had a great group from Syria, Lebanon, Sudan, and Egypt of about 25 people. About 1/3 were movement leaders from Egypt, Syria and Lebanon, 1/3 local leaders from Beirut and 1/3 missionaries from the USA serving or considering serving in this context. I enjoyed working in a team. Discussions were lively and some subjects got emotional (like Latinos). Some of the most heated subjects were the shape of the church, the degree of contextualization, and what to do about buildings. There are places (Syria and Jordan) where groups cannot meet unless they are official and to be considered official they must own a building. One leader will lose official status which the church has worked hard to earn unless he can purchase a simple building within a month. Others are forbidden to own building and must meet secretly in home (H-zbollah areas of Lebanon for example). These people are mature workers who have been through it all. It's an honor to work with them.


I arrived a day before the training started and God blessed me with a special treat. I was able to go with a group to an archeological museum and to a site called Byblos that has digs from 4 civilizations and a crusader castle. The oldest fossils go back to the stone age (6000 BC) before the Phoenicians and Canaanites. Saturday I went to Baalbek (called Hieropolis by the Greeks) and the greatest Roman center of the whole region. What a joy to see Mt Hermon covered with snow and groves of Lebanese cedars up in the mountains.

There is a great diversity of types of ministry and types of responses. However almost all agree that this is an exceptional time of response among M-slim background people. One question is "How can they work together to impact other areas?" Pray for Joseph and Keith who will be discussing plans and leading the follow-up. Joseph is a great coach and visits them at least once a year and has a contact by phone, skype or email at least monthly. Joseph came to our Church Planter training in Minneapolis last year and took the coaching clinic with me. It's a joy to see him in action. In his former profession he was in charge of the entire Middle East for a major international company. But he and his wife have no regrets. There are plans in the works to continue to expand from Mauritania in the West to Afghanistan in the East. I will work primarily with Joseph but I made friends with five leaders who speak English or French and want to keep in touch. I will never be the same after this trip. My heart has been stretched. I empathize with these men because of their courage and because I live 13 years in Morocco as a youngster.

 

Can I share a true story our brother Ibrahim just shared over lunch? It brought tears to my eyes. I asked him how he became a Christian since he grew up in a M-slim home. He said it was through the witness of his brother and a miracle. He was rooming with his brother and serving as a sheik or imam in the local mosque. His brother prayed in his presence that God would stop the call to prayer. Ibrahim washed himself to prepare to lead prayer but the call to prayer didn't come. He went to see the head imam who was supposed to do the call and he said "I looked at the time and I saw the clock said 1 hour earlier than it actually was."



His brother came back to their home village to share the gospel. Their parents said "go away." The village elders told the family to stop him. They tied him to a chair and started threatening him with knives. They ended up stabbing him in the throat and he bled to death. When that happened his mom saw Jesus in place of her son and became a believer on the spot. Two weeks later his sister believed and 2 months later his father believed. Now 18 members of the family are believers. This is one story among a dozen I have heard.


One Lebanese leader lived for 11 years in Montreal and we are becoming friends. He is in the textile business. He asks for prayer as he needs to make a decision this week about where to serve God- in Lebanon or Quebec. Next year his oldest son goes to university. He has much more potential for study and work in Canada and there are 4 others kids. Yet Wajih loves to serve God bi-vocationally in his country. His pastor has asked him to prepare to take over the pastoral role but that would mean a great sacrifice for their family. He does not have theological training, though he is a mature elder in the church and teaches at times.


Unfortunately the little Arabic I remember is significantly different from Lebanese Arabic. So I can say the basic greetings and understand bits and pieces but can't converse. The Lebanese speak French and English as well. But the Syrians and Egyptians only speak Arabic. So I have to do a lot through an interpreter. They have simultaneous translation so that helps a lot.