Mutually Encouraged
It is, after all, the essence of these journeys with The Outreach Foundation— guided, as we seek to be, by Paul’s words to the Church in Rome: “I long to see you …that we might be mutually encouraged by one another’s faith.” (Romans 1).
Read MoreIn 2015, Rev. Boutros (Peter) Zaour, pastor of Damascus Presbyterian Church in Syria, was in San Diego, preaching at Rancho Santa Fe Presbyterian Church, where Rev. Dr. Jack Baca is pastor, and as the key international guest for a Presbyterian Fellowship Community Gathering. While there, Pastor Boutros received terrible news from Damascus that his church in Damascus had been hit by stray mortars. Many of us on this team were with him when the photos of the devastation began to arrive from church members, showing the gaping hole in the church ceiling, damage to the chancel area, and the complete destruction of his pulpit. He and his wife Wafa were in deep shock and grief, and far away from their congregation, but they were with family, and Jack’s church along with The Outreach Foundation promptly pledged and followed through with help in renovating the sanctuary. This past Sunday, Reformation Sunday, we gathered to worship with the congregation in that beautifully renovated holy place.
Read MoreSing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord, praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples. For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods. Psalm 96:1-4
The sweet, sweet spirit of one hundred and fifty women singing to the Lord filled the restored sanctuary of the Damascus Presbyterian Church this morning. We were expectantly joining the women from the Damascus and Kharaba churches for the first women’s conference post COVID. It was a sweet “family reunion” for us and for our sisters in Christ.
Read More“Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” One imagines the gospel writer’s knowing smile as he records Nathaniel’s question. The place one is from inevitably leaves its imprint on the soul and destiny. Occasionally, the stigma of origin is overcome by the power and beauty of the person much as Jesus upended Nazareth’s sketchy reputation.
Today, our little van made its way south from the “Street called Straight” in Damascus to Kharaba. To Arab ears, the little town would likely be mentioned with the same scorn Nathaniel held for Nazareth. The word “Kharaba” means “ruin, destruction.” We were to discover that, though the name fits the place, it is the people whose warm welcome and winsome witness for Christ turn the town of destruction into a home of redemption.
Read MoreWhile a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from town after town, he told this parable: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds ate it up. Some fell on rocky ground, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.” When he said this, he called out, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.” Luke 8:4-8
We headed north from Damascus this morning on our way to ancient places, in this part of the world where faith was born. On this trip to Maaloula and Saidnaya, our “ecumenical” day as Marilyn put it, I was noticing the landscape along the road and this parable about soils struck me.
Read More“Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul… for, this man is my chosen instrument.” - Acts 9:11,15
Never in my life have I ever compared myself to the Apostle Paul. I know, it's preposterous. But here I am feeling a little like the man whom God used to take the good news of Jesus to the Roman world. To clarify, it was only a few days of Paul’s life to which I relate. Acts chapter 9 records Paul’s days of closed eyes after Jesus blinded him on the road to Damascus until he was visited by a very freaked-out Ananias. Like Paul, friends took me by the hand and led me into Damascus. Like Paul, I sit in a room on the “Street Called Straight.” Like Paul, those days were and are bewildering and overwhelming days. I have heard so much in so little time. Unlike Paul, I can’t expect that my eyes will be opened to understand, yet God has given me a heart to care, to love, and to support. So though I arrived blind and now may see dimly, I choose to do what I can to walk beside our sisters and brothers in Syria. I hope you will read on, as I struggle to tell a tiny part of their story.
Read MoreSee, I am making all things new. - Revelation 21:5
Seven years is a long time. That’s how long it’s been since my first visit to the National Evangelical Churches of Fairouzeh and Homs. Seven years ago these congregations were emerging from a darkness that threatened their very existence. On that trip in 2014, we saw first-hand the destruction and the first glimmers of renewal in Homs. Today we found a city still struggling but moving in the right direction and two vibrant churches serving their communities in the name of Jesus Christ.
Read MoreThe apostle Paul gave us the word which encapsulates faith-lived-out-through-much-difficulty: perseverance. Few of us have had to live it, but we know it when we see it. And we saw it today in Mahardeh, an all-Christian city of about 25,000 halfway between Aleppo and Damascus, where the Presbyterian Church is pastored by the Reverend Ma’an Bitar. In a place that doesn’t receive all that many visitors, our team was greeted with great joy by Ma’an, his wife, Ghawth, and their daughter, Fida, who had just graduated from medical school in Damascus. But the hugs were extra long for Jack, Julie, Steve, and me because we had been here before—and in the midst of the war. And indeed, as we sat on the patio of their home, overlooking the church, and drinking the first of many subsequent cups of tea, we were very conscious of the fact that the former sound of shelling in the distance (which we well remembered) had now been replaced by the gentle rustling of leaves in the nearby lemon tree and the voices of children playing at the kindergarten which is run by and at the church, a few hundred feet away.
Read MoreThe meat of this day comes after we cross the border (praise the Lord!), but before we get to the meat, let’s just take a moment to consider border crossings.
As we set out from Beirut north toward Tripoli and beyond to the border with Syria, we had a natural border to our left: the Mediterranean Sea. Land and sea side by side is something we do not have in Nebraska. The sea is vast, and the boats that cross it look small, and yet many have made the journey from these places to get to new lands of promise. It is dangerous, and lives are lost every day. We weren’t crossing that border.
Read MoreSaturday was the second day of our revised schedule. Originally, we were supposed to be in Syria visiting our partners there. But, we had found out on Thursday that our visas into Syria had been denied. With that news, a mad scramble had begun to rearrange our schedule to visit our partners here in Lebanon. On Friday, we were able to meet with our good friends at the National Evangelical Synod of Syria and Lebanon. But Saturday was unspoken for, and so we decided to go and see the sights at Byblos – one of the oldest continuously occupied cities in the world. As we set out, there was a palpable sense of sadness and resignation as the disappointment of not being able to go to Syria continued to sink in.
Read More“Commit your works to the Lord and your plans will be established,” says the old Proverb (16:3). For many of us, this writer included, that little morsel of wisdom is sometimes taken to mean something like this in real life: “I’ll tell God what I’m going to do, then ask him to bless it, and with a little extra help from him, everything will turn out just fine.” That sweet little scenario, however, may not be what the ancient sage had in mind.
Read MoreShe gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” (Genesis 16:13)
This text came with me on this trip as the basis of a team devotional to offer if given the chance. Today’s visits to two ministries of seeing and vision prompt me to use it for our daily blog. Let me give you some fleshing out of the idea of El Roi from a post I wrote two years ago for Thanksgiving and connect it to our visits:
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