North African Christian Parents

We recently arrived in our home state. It has been great to be with family, especially our older kids! I arrived two weeks after my family from a conference for ministry in the Arab world, in particularly ministry in North Africa. My goal for attending the conference was to begin as many friendships as possible with leaders who have influence in the lives of Arab Christian parents. I was able to talk individually with 50+ leaders for at least 30 minutes each and give them a copy of the Arabic version of Shepherding A Child's Heart.

Let me tell you about one couple from Tunisia at the conference. He is working full-time and studying theology. The mother of his wife was saved when she was young. When she saw me giving someone an Arabic copy of Shepherding, she told me, "My mom raised me and my 3 siblings by that book!" Please pray for more of these North African believing dads and moms to read the book, begin obeying the biblical principles, and share them with other parents in their countries. I will continue these relationships online from here in our home state. For almost two weeks prior to this conference, I was in Egypt, where I was able to meet with approximately 40 leaders and teach on parenting at two churches.

Returning To The US

We were planning to be in the US only for this coming summer 2018. However, we left in late-February with the option to return to Jordan at some point in the future. We are not discouraged :-) We are excited about what God is doing in our family and ministry. Here are the reasons for this indefinite return to the US, in order of priority:

1) I am trying to promote biblical parenting not only in Jordan but in the Arab world. It seems that I spend most of my time online, cultivating relationships with leaders in the region and preparing to visit them. I would like to see if I can do this online from the US, while making four trips a year for 3-4 weeks each trip, visiting 3-4 countries each trip. My biggest concern is being away from my family for so long, though I know that many of you who serve our country in the military are separated for much longer. My wife approves of the travel because we are living in her hometown. I will be intentional about connecting with the family via video chat twice daily. In future years, my wife would accompany me on some trips. We will test this traveling idea for the next 6-9 months and then decide whether or not to return to Jordan. The Jordan Baptist Convention has allowed me to keep my affiliation with them whether we are living in Jordan or America.

2) We, like so many other volunteers in Jordan, were "on hold" regarding our residency visa. I left for Egypt on Feb 10th and would not have returned until after our residency expires on Feb 25. Rather than my wife and kids traveling outside of Jordan for a few days and then returning on a tourist visa for just a couple of months before leaving for the summer anyway, we felt it was better to leave in February. Update 4/1/18: Two families who have lived there for 25+ years have told us that they are leaving also. One noted, “if one’s name is on the ‘person non-gratis’ list, this means they can never return to Jordan and possibly other Middle Eastern countries” as opposed to leaving on our own initiative and coming back for week-long visits.

3) We now have our 4 oldest children living in our home state. If I am traveling, it is better for my wife to be near her extended family and the older kids. We feel that we should be closer to our 4 oldest children during this time.

4) We have a free apartment in my wife's home town because we will invest around 10 hrs a week managing an apartment complex through a Christian organization, serving refugee families mainly from Syria and Iraq. God has answered our prayer to rent our furnished apartment in Jordan to like-minded folks. We still have the option to return at some point in the future if we think it would please God for us to do so.

We are thankful to God for two wonderful options for our family in the future, either to stay in our home state or return to Jordan. Either way, we feel very blessed. Sometimes we spend too much time thinking about “where” we are supposed to be and “when” we are supposed to be there. God is more concerned with “who” we are. He is more concerned with our hearts being satisfied in Him at any time and in any place. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” Our failure to do these three things perfectly should lead us to the cross to find mercy and grace, which actually empowers us to want to be more of “who” he wants us to be.