Egypt Trip

CLEAR THE ROAD! Anna has her license now! 

I just returned from Egypt. Four days in Alexandria and 5 days in Cairo. The goal was to learn from others who are doing family ministry and biblical counseling while sharing with them what I have been doing. I was able to meet one-on-one with 30+ pastors, missionaries, and ministry leaders, as well as 7 groups, one being several parents from the homeschool co-op in Alex.

Another one of those groups was 4 Christian couples who asked me questions about parenting for a couple of hours. One of the couples arrived with a 4-year-old who had just woke up from napping in the car. He was NOT happy! His father later told me that he averages 7-8 hours of sleep at night while choosing his own bedtime. We talked about that. We also talked about getting a foundation of first-time obedience through calling his name. Mostly, we talked about parental anger. This precious couple actually believed that they should express anger to prove to their child that they mean what they say.

We read together Hebrews 12:5-11 and talked about the difference between discipline and punishment. Because of God's anger, justice, and goodness, he will punish unbelievers eternally. However, He disciplines the one he loves (vs.6) for our own good, that we may share in His holiness (vs.10) which produces the fruit of righteousness for those who have been trained by it (vs.11). This is how we should train our children. Parental anger often reveals that we are punishing our children because we are personally offended by their sin.

We talked about the difference between being angry and being serious. We talked about consistency in discipline without expressing anger. Here is a practical way that has helped me to discipline our children while repenting of the temptation to be angry. Please pray that we (both Arab and American Christian parents) would be open to learning more biblical ways to raise our kids.

Please also ask God to give me wisdom regarding my role in promoting biblical counseling in the Arab world. It's fuzzy for me right now.

Refugees

As we think about refugees, let's not confuse the role of government with the role of the church. The primary role of the church is to bring God glory by making disciples of all nations, including the 7 countries listed in the recent executive order (Matthew 28:19-20). Biblically, the primary role of government is to protect people by punishing the evildoer (Romans 13:1-5, 1 Peter 2:14). I'm persuaded that the executive order is excessive and unnecessary. However, my opinion is irrelevant. More important is the fact that each of us as followers of Christ has a role to play regarding the refugee crisis in our world today. In no particular order, I would like to highlight 4 ministries for your prayerful and financial consideration.  Click either 1, 2, 3, or 4. If you would like to receive more information about any of these ministries, email me.

For the past several months I've been visiting a refugee family from Mosel, Iraq each Sunday. They have one son. Initially we talked about parenting but lately, our conversations have moved to other areas of discipleship. The husband is a young believer. He recently found out that ISIS completely ransacked the interior of his home before leaving. He was also discouraged about the executive order, saying that it is difficult for him to discern whether he should go back to Mosel or wait for relocation in the West. I showed him from 1 Thess. 4 that God's will for us is more about "who" we are (joyful, faithful, thankful) than "where" we live or "when" we move. We also talked about the need for Arab believers to return to Iraq to strengthen the church. Please ask God to give believing refugee families like his courage to make decisions based on God's glory more than personal happiness.

Also, pray for my 10 day trip to Egypt next week as I meet with others involved in ministry to Arab families, as well as visit many of the families I used to visit when we lived there in 2010.

Honor and Shame

Our frequently updated list of online family videos here. 

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Honor and shame influence our behavior in the west. However, their influence is super-sized here in the Middle East, especially when it comes to a subject as sensitive as parenting. Perhaps many believing couples genuinely want biblical advice about raising kids but, like all of us at times, are ashamed to admit their struggles. While most may confide in a relative, close friend, or a pastor, perhaps some would prefer to speak anonymously online to an expert trained in coaching parents according to scripture. These experts could help them find answers in the Bible, while at the same time encouraging them to healthy transparency and accountability within their own church community. I'm prayerfully taking steps toward developing such online parent coaching in Arabic. Would you please ask God to give me Arab partners and wisdom along the way?

Recently I summarized some of the teachings of Growing Kids God's Way and Parenting Made Practical into 3 one-page documents in English: Marriage and Parenting, Training ages 1+, and Discipline ages 3+. These are now translated into Arabic and added to my list of resources to train parents (You can see the list in English here). If any of you have questions regarding these resources, message me to arrange a time to talk via phone, Skype, Facetime, Facebook, etc.

Please pray for my wife as it was difficult for her when Kendra left after being here 6 weeks. She really misses her, Samuel, and Anna.