She says, "I am grateful that we were able to make another trip together to Nazareth, Beirut, Amman, and Cairo. We visited around 35 families, some workers, mostly Arabs. We spent most of those visits listening to them share their ups and downs about ministry. We desired to encourage them, as well as spend time in prayer for them. God is working in these countries and many surrounding ones. Please pray that more Arab Christians will have a burden to share their faith with Arab Muslims, most of whom have yet to hear the gospel."
Tuesday, March 31, 2026
We Left the Middle East Just In Time
It was very encouraging to have my wife join me for 2 weeks in the Middle East. When we lived there as a family, she was busy homeschooling and faithfully raising our 8 kids. She didn't have much time for language learning or engaging with local ladies. Therefore, the travel and the ministry conversations are new to her, but she learns quickly. She personifies James 1:19, "be slow to speak, quick to listen." She has lived out Philippians 2:3-4 for so long as a wife and mom that it carried over into our conversations... "Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others." She finds contentment in God easily and is therefore low-maintenance!
She says, "I am grateful that we were able to make another trip together to Nazareth, Beirut, Amman, and Cairo. We visited around 35 families, some workers, mostly Arabs. We spent most of those visits listening to them share their ups and downs about ministry. We desired to encourage them, as well as spend time in prayer for them. God is working in these countries and many surrounding ones. Please pray that more Arab Christians will have a burden to share their faith with Arab Muslims, most of whom have yet to hear the gospel."
She says, "I am grateful that we were able to make another trip together to Nazareth, Beirut, Amman, and Cairo. We visited around 35 families, some workers, mostly Arabs. We spent most of those visits listening to them share their ups and downs about ministry. We desired to encourage them, as well as spend time in prayer for them. God is working in these countries and many surrounding ones. Please pray that more Arab Christians will have a burden to share their faith with Arab Muslims, most of whom have yet to hear the gospel."
Wednesday, March 11, 2026
Overeating
In 2012, I met an Egyptian brother who has become a good friend. Shortly before that, he was asked to leave the Apostolic church he attended after he spoke against the prosperity gospel he saw there. Then he could not be a member of the Evangelical Presbyterian church he attended because he was not willing to baptize his infant child. (This denomination in Egypt is the largest evangelical denomination in the Arab world.) Over the past 5 years, his wife and kids have joined the homeschool group that our family helped begin when we lived there briefly in 2010.
He has a home "group" that he hopes will become a church. Since he is literally a theological scholar, he is seen as the leader, so they ask him to do everything. He has two part-time ministry roles, but will leave one soon for several reasons, including that the director told him he was overweight. He has struggled with health issues and with his weight as long as I have known him, but it doesn't seem that the director communicated this in a God-honoring way. Would you pray that God would provide for this family, provide another elder-qualified man for this potential house church, and help my friend overcome obesity?
Please also pray for another Egyptian with whom I have walked for 7 years, who is house church planting in Saudi Arabia, but struggles with obesity also. He sees himself as an elder-qualified man, but I have doubts (and told him so 3 years ago) due to his lack of self-control in more than one area of life. I need wisdom regarding when and how to suggest to these brothers that they listen to something like this 12-minute podcast. For me personally, I may look fit, but I know well the temptation to overeat carbs or sweets, and my belly fat reveals it.
He has a home "group" that he hopes will become a church. Since he is literally a theological scholar, he is seen as the leader, so they ask him to do everything. He has two part-time ministry roles, but will leave one soon for several reasons, including that the director told him he was overweight. He has struggled with health issues and with his weight as long as I have known him, but it doesn't seem that the director communicated this in a God-honoring way. Would you pray that God would provide for this family, provide another elder-qualified man for this potential house church, and help my friend overcome obesity?
Please also pray for another Egyptian with whom I have walked for 7 years, who is house church planting in Saudi Arabia, but struggles with obesity also. He sees himself as an elder-qualified man, but I have doubts (and told him so 3 years ago) due to his lack of self-control in more than one area of life. I need wisdom regarding when and how to suggest to these brothers that they listen to something like this 12-minute podcast. For me personally, I may look fit, but I know well the temptation to overeat carbs or sweets, and my belly fat reveals it.
Tuesday, March 3, 2026
A Camouflage Bible in Kuwait
What do you think of when you think of Kuwait? Maybe Desert Storm, if you are old enough to remember? The metro area of Kuwait City is home to over 3 million people. Around 40% of the population are workers from Southeast Asia. Maybe 20% are Arabs from Egypt and other Arab countries. Only 30% of the population is Kuwaiti Arabs. Similar to other Gulf Arabs, such as Emiratis & Qataris, Kuwaitis are also difficult to reach with the gospel. Through a few mutual friends, I have connected online with several brothers who live there and have a burden to reach them.
One of them is an Egyptian who has lived in Kuwait all his life, except for his college years in Egypt. He began doubting Islam after reading the Hadith, or the oral traditions of Muhammad. After trying agnosticism, Baha'i, and the occult, he had several dreams about Jesus. He began reading a camouflage New Testament in English that his father had received while working with the US military. Soon after his father passed away, he began attending an English-speaking, gospel-centered church in Kuwait. Pray for a better work opportunity for him, as those around him in his current legal work are constantly skirting the truth. Pray for my online conversations with others living in Kuwait, and possibly adding Kuwait City to my itinerary every 3 months.
A long but interesting conversation with Kirk Cameron about whether or not hell is eternal conscious torment here.
One of them is an Egyptian who has lived in Kuwait all his life, except for his college years in Egypt. He began doubting Islam after reading the Hadith, or the oral traditions of Muhammad. After trying agnosticism, Baha'i, and the occult, he had several dreams about Jesus. He began reading a camouflage New Testament in English that his father had received while working with the US military. Soon after his father passed away, he began attending an English-speaking, gospel-centered church in Kuwait. Pray for a better work opportunity for him, as those around him in his current legal work are constantly skirting the truth. Pray for my online conversations with others living in Kuwait, and possibly adding Kuwait City to my itinerary every 3 months.
A long but interesting conversation with Kirk Cameron about whether or not hell is eternal conscious torment here.
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