May Your Kingdom Come

I'm writing from Cairo, Egypt. It has been a good trip but a little sad since our youngest kids got covid last week, then my wife tested positive. Her symptoms have been mild and she has lots of help but it's hard to be so far away. I'll be home soon. 

On my previous trip to the Middle East in May I visited Sudan, where we lived in 2006 and '07 but had to leave after our residency visa was denied. A multiple-exit/re-entry visa for Sudan is not looking possible in the near future. On this trip, I was able to visit a country that I had not visited since 2011... Saudi Arabia. We never lived there as a family but I was traveling to and from KSA to visit the Muslim guys with whom I was engaging in gospel conversation online. In 2012 and '13, I served with a team of mobilizers under the Saudi Advocacy Network, mobilizing the church to reach the 100,000 Saudi students who were studying in the US at that time.

Saudi has changed a lot over the past 10 years. Women now drive, the religious police have much less authority, and I was able to get a multiple-exit/re-entry visa online in a few minutes! Would you ask God to give me wisdom as I process whether or not to add KSA to my itinerary on regular trips to the Middle East? I desire to do so but my role there is unclear for now. Israel is still not open but a Jordanian friend introduced me to several brothers from Irbid with whom I will begin connecting online. I was advised not to visit Lebanon on this trip.