I recently had a chance to take two friends with me to visit Blake (Impact Middle East) and the work we are partnering with in the Middle East and North Africa. As many of you know, we at NewPointe sent Blake and his family out from our church in 2001 and have been partnering with them in prayer, finances, and personnel ever since.
It is encouraging to see firsthand what the Lord has been doing. We spent a few days “walking where Jesus walked” in Jerusalem and Galilee. We then crossed over into Jordan for a few days and then on to Iraq and finally finished our trip in Egypt. We not only saw where Jesus walked, but where “he is walking” today through our Jordanian, Iraqi and Egyptian ministry partners. I saw a lot of stuff, learned a lot, grew in my own understanding of who the Lord wants me to become (The ME I Want to Be), but there is one scene that will stay with me for a long, long time.
On our last day in Iraq, we went to a village near the Syrian and Turkish border to visit a family where we are hoping to see a House Church develop. A man, who is sort of the chief of that village and is of another religion, heard that we were coming and asked if he and his wife could come. They wanted to meet us, hear about our faith, and see how we prayed. We sat in that home, laughed each time the ears of a lonely donkey passed by the front window during our conversation, and spoke openly about who Jesus was and is. Then we prayed for the needy in that home, including the chief's wife who was sick. It had a sort of “book of Acts” feel to it.
Blake told me that it is easier for him to do this sort of ministry in Iraq or Egypt than it was when he lived in the States, because every day, as a 'worker' there, he knows why he is there. I was thinking how important it is for each of us, whether in Iraq or Millersburg, whether Jordan or Dover, whether Egypt or Louisville – to know why we are here.
Check out www.impactmiddleeast.org
