2021 January

Meet the Family

This month, I recently had the privilege of witnessing five brothers and sisters make a public confession and go into the water as a sign of their belief. All five of them came from the majority religion; two are Lebanese and three are Syrian. As each of them stood up there and shared how they came to know the Father, the closed service was quiet, humble, and celebratory.

 
I want to highlight one story that touched my heart in particular. Please note the names and details of the following story have been changed for their safety and protection.

Ali and his wife lived in the middle of a civil war with their three young daughters. As tensions raged between the rebels and the government, no one was safe. Ali stumbled across the Word and began to read it and ask questions. At this time, Ali, whose family was involved in the war, was captured and thrown into prison. They told him he was on the execution list, and tomorrow he would be publicly killed. For the first time in his life, Ali talked to the Son. That night, like the prison doors opening for Peter, all the prisoners escaped by what can only be considered a supernatural act of the Father. He knew he would still be wanted, both by the government because of his involvement in the war and by his family because he now professed to believe in the Son, which was unacceptable to them. Therefore, he took his wife and daughters and fled. He has been on the run for two years, and his wanted pictures are all over his home country. By the Father's sovereignty, he ended up in our country and in our fellowship. They never had a fellowship family before because they never stayed in one place for long. We don't know how long they will be here, but we will continue to love them and lift them up. After the water service, we asked them what it felt like, and Ali said, "It feels like I've finally been released from prison."

Making Hard Choices

In my last update, I spoke of the English center, something that I am still very passionate about launching. However, an opportunity presented itself to me, and after much seeking and thinking, I have decided to take it.

My Arabic is okay, but I have not been progressing much in the past several months. There are many reasons for this. I have been forced to study online because of Covid, so that has inhibited me. I also still heavily rely on my team leaders who are American and speak English. I discovered an immersive, intensive language opportunity about 2 hours north of where we currently live. I will commit to 5 months in this program, making the temporary move in February. Though it is out of my comfort zone, I believe it will be an awesome chance to navigate this country on my own without the crutch of English I currently have here. This will allow me to speak Arabic on a daily basis in a place where no one knows English. We have taken safety precautions, of course, and we were connected with a couple of believers in the city so that I would not be completely alone. I am both excited and nervous, but I know it will be essential in my Arabic progression.

This means the English center has been put on hold. As much as it killed me to do it, I had to remember why I was here. My priority these first 2 years is learning Arabic, and I need to start acting like it.