Iron Sharpens Iron

A younger Egyptian brother told me today that he appreciated my ministry of "serving in the shadows". He described my ministry well. Though I promote many things like reproducible church planting, biblical parenting, and abundant evangelism online, I'm mainly focused on "personal ministry". Paul Tripp defines personal ministry in his book Instruments In The Redeemer's Hands as "the careful ministry of Christ and His word to the struggles of the heart that have been uncovered by good questions from a committed friend." With most of these younger Arab brothers, I'm only a "friend" by Facebook's definition. More like an acquaintance. Friendship requires logging lots of listening hours, doesn't it? In these weeks of quarantine in the Middle East, through online conversations, would you ask God to move some of my acquaintances to become friends as we sharpen one another by God's grace?


Our son Sam is living with us while finishing his junior year in college online. Our younger kids are homeschooling 5 days a week rather than two. Now may not be the best time, but let us know if you know of any work opportunities in our city between now and the end of summer for our 16 and 14-year-old girls and our 12 and 10-year-old boys.