Hearts

Monday continues….

As Billye wrote earlier, our day began with much blessing with the AWT Staff. After lunch together and more intense, eye-opening discussion with different members of the team (we can’t wait to get home and share with you our new-found understanding of these precious people) we set out to the East side of the city. This part of the city houses the less-privileged, with houses literally built into the hills side by side with no space in between. The children play in dirt or dusty roads, the traffic is crazy (lots of cars in very small streets with everyone honking at once), and the streets are lined with small markets & shops.  

We set out to teach at a church that ministers to Iraqi refugees, Egyptian refugees, women that have fled from Syria…both Muslims & Christians alike. When we arrived, we help set the church up for both the service and the craft that we had planned for the women after the teaching. We had an opportunity to pray over the room before the women arrived which truly set the tone for each of us. It was so great to get to welcome these women…each so very different from us & each other, but yet each so incredibly special to God!!! We saw burden in each of their eyes...we think we live stress filled lives….we have no IDEA!!! A lady named Rayna led worship (she is a precious young woman that leads this church that has such a passion to lead these women to a life-giving relationship with Christ.) Well, needless to say….CHARLOTTE ROCKED!!! God spoke very clearly through Charlotte tonight as she used the story of Esther to show them how entirely possible it was for them to enter into the presence of the Almighty King of Kings & Lord of Lords. I got chills as I sat and listened to Charlotte pour her God-heart into these womens’ hungry hearts! Charlotte gave our translator quite the ride tonight as she was all over the place with her awesome visual style!!! It was so great!

Sharon then got up and presented the gospel as she explained to these women how to make the beaded heart craft. The heart was centered around a clear bead at the top representing God. All of the other beads were placed on the same wire that held the center piece…in other words all beads connected through the center stone…God. Then each bead had a completely different look to it representing all of our differences as the body of Christ, but yet they were all connected together through that center stone. The women loved it. They worked long and hard and were each so proud to show us their finished product! We told them over and over how beautiful their hearts were and they would just light up!  We couldn’t help but wonder if anyone was ever kind to them and said how beautiful something that they had made was.  The most amazing thing about these hearts was the diversity…it was such a cool picture of how the body of Christ looks centered on God’s love. How boring it would be if all those beads were identical…but instead it was a masterpiece of diversity!!!!

At the end of the evening several of these women asked us to pray for them. Their  prayer requests were heart wrenching…things that we could never imagine…what  a privilege to be able to ask God for a miracle!!!

Okay, so I know you guys are tired of reading such long posts, but we say TOO BAD SO SAD!!!! (J) We are writing to preserve these precious, life-changing moments that God has been so faithful to give us and to allow us to be a part of, so thanks for bearing with us!!!

We miss you & love you all so much!!!!

PS…all of our cell phones are turned off because we are getting messages from our phone companies that they are charging us roaming even when we are not using them!

Sherri J Special hugs & kisses to my family tonight!!!

The Conversation

Morning dawned with great anticipation for our meeting at AWT ministries. This group of great people train women, produce radio programs and create and maintain websites in English and Arabic that reach Arab women.

We met with women and men who are truly dedicated to serving the Arab women in this country.  Sandi and Sherri taught material that had been used at McKinney titled Crucial Conversations.  Never having seen the material myself, I learned so much.  Learning how to resolve differences with coworkers, family members and friends was satisfying and learning with our new Arab friends was exciting.  Being sisters in Christ gives us an immediate bond that transcends nationality and cultures.

Before arriving at the training center we obviously had to leave our hotel.  We had transported several suitcases from the states with supplies and gifts for the people in this ministry.  The concierge at the hotel was understandably chagrined seeing six guests leaving the hotel with suitcases without checking out.  After trying to understand my explanation to no avail, he goose-stepped me to the front desk to fully explain what we were doing.  They are probably watching the front door for our return deciding whether they should call the police. 

Later we are going to a church where Charlotte will be teaching on Esther.  Please pray for her as she glorifies God through her teaching.

The day is only half over and we have been blessed beyond our hopes.  God is thrilling us with surprises with every thing we do and every person we meet.

Billye

Listening

As our day ends, we have a new theme… something else that binds our team together… WORDS.  Yes, we as women have words in common!  Although we have loved our conversations, the primary part of our conversations today where we have seen God work has been in the listening part.  If I have ever seen a verse lived out, it was seeing God’s will be done in the lives of our team as we learned to be quick to listen, slow to speak and [slow to become angry]… Wow, do we have some listening stories for you!

After a bit of freshening up after a salty step in the Dead Sea, we attended an Arabic Baptist Church.  Oh what sweet sounds we heard!  Such a blessing to sing with our Arabic and other nationalities friends the hymn “How Great Thou Art”.  We opened the service praying for brothers and sisters in Christ in Egypt.  The news had not yet reached us of the church fire(s).  The pastor of the church where we were thanked God that even though we do not know the future, just knowing God- that is enough!  We listened to a sermon preached in Arabic on Romans 3:21-31.  We are appropriately reminded that none of us is righteous according to our own efforts.  You might ask if we stood out- a bit, considering that we wore headsets so that we could hear the translation. 

Following the service, we visited with several people.  One young man with whom we visited is here in this country attending university.  He has been seeking fellowship with other believers, and has asked for prayer.  He is concerned about his family, much of whom is still in his home country where it is not safe for followers of Jesus.  Please join us in praying for this young man!

After church,  we went to the home of R and N.  What beautiful people!  They opened their home and served us yet another amazing meal.   We learned that R had been cooking for at least two days, and had not gone to Costco for anything (haha).  We were joined for dinner by K and his wife R, and another R and C.  OK, so the code initials just isn’t going to work… almost forgot- T and C (who are visiting here after reading the book Radical by David Platt.  They have been so challenged by the book that they are investigating several avenues here where God might be moving them .  we prayed for them after dinner as they seek God’s plan- so difficult to leave ALL that is familiar, secure and comfortable…)  So, that was our group… plus the 6 of us.  

At our table, T (who is from the US) said that we MUST ask K about his testimony.  After quite a bit of prodding, K told us a different testimony… what he shared was shockingly extraordinary (thank you to my personal thesaurus who gave me another word besides amazing).  As it turns out- a woman and a man (her father) were visiting their church tonight (the Arabic Baptist Church).   The two of them are new to their faith in Jesus Christ.  The father had put his faith in Christ after his brother had pursued his son-in- law and daughter  in an honor-killing type situation.  The son/ brother had been a member of an extreme Muslim group, and had himself put his faith in Christ.  We listened in utter fascination as his story unraveled.  Sitting at the table with us was a man who has witnessed to a multitude of people and faced security issues we could only dream of… more like a nightmare to us…

To the people we were with, they have truly found that to follow Jesus is the only thing worth living for.

For dessert, we gathered in their guest/ dining room (did I mention how hospitable they have been???), drinking Turkish coffee, and again, captivated by more testimonies.  K finally shared with us how he came to know Jesus Christ: He grew up in a family in which the grandmother was the first generation of believers.  She brought her husband and siblings to the Lord.  And her children.  And then her grandchildren began to follow Jesus.  But K, he wasn’t sure he wanted to follow Jesus.  He wanted to pursue happiness.  So he did.  He tried converting to Islam.  He tried drugs, drinking and money.  He worked in the biggest nightclub in the city.  Then, through a multitude of witnesses for Jesus, He came face to face with God, had a vision (after the death of a man who had months earlier witnessed and challenged him about where he would go when he died), and put his faith in Jesus Christ.  One one condition- that God would bring his five friends who had sold him drugs to the Lord as well.  God did- all five.  (Side note: women- take note!  K attributes his coming to Christ to his praying mother, who apparently prayed for 4 hours/ day for 23 years- God moves when we pray!!! Happy Mother’s Day)

Whew!  Tired of our listening stories yet?  One more- K told personal testimony of Arab leaders and millions of Arab Muslims coming to Christ.  We were enthralled.  Stunned.  Tearful even. 

Did I mention that he prefaced much of what he said by saying that we must change our frequency of listening from CNN to the news of what Christ is doing in the Middle East?  Can someone please give me another word besides amazing???

Maybe tomorrow we will have more about what we say.  For today, it has been about listening.  Good night friends. 

Charlotte

p.s. We added some pictures to our previous blog entry... fyi. =)

Food... =)

What could possibly unite 6 women, varied in ages, experience, season of life, etc.?  Oh sure- the Bible, our sisterhood in Christ, our fellowship in the Spirit… that’s all true, but those are the Sunday School answers… there’s something else that has united this team for the past few days, and that is FOOD.

So, I’ll run with that and by telling you about our food, you’ll hear about our trip so far.  You already know that our travels have been super smooth and the airplane food was no exception. It was in a word, uneventful. 

Moving on, our first meal here, again as you also know, was amazing. Delicious.  Bountiful.  Varied.  Abundant.  Colorful.  To give you an idea of the varied part, it was bread, hummus, tabouli, another salad (fateoush- don’t know how to spell that), olives, pickles, peppers, meat, meat and more meat-  Texas de Middle East (not Brazil)… bread- a flat bread, really good… very filling, and then what did we do?  Nothing spiritual- went to bed… maybe you just thought a mission trip of women would fast and pray all night…

This morning, we had breakfast in the hotel- not in bed, we aren’t that lazy… the Middle Eastern culture has lived up to its reputation of fantastic hospitality-  The breakfast buffet was huge and filled with authentic dishes…

We truly have been blessed and amazed by God’s total provision for us each step of the way.  Not only has He filled our stomachs and cared for us physically (none of us has been the least bit sick with all of this new food), but He has revealed more of Himself than we could have ever asked or imagined.  Namely, none of us thought we would experience what we did today.

Our host, Colleen, picked us up today- greeting us with Mother’s Day flowers. and asked whether we’d rather go to Downtown or go to the site of Jesus’ baptismal.  Not a tough choice.  We picked the baptismal site- and got the Dead Sea thrown in with it.  We were stunned and elated to say the least. 

So, here’s where we have to leave our food theme and just tell you about our day. 

As we drove out of the city, out host commented casually that, oh, yeah, that’s Mt. Nebo.  We freaked out.  MT. NEBO- as in, we looked out the other side of the van and saw the view that Moses had when he came down off the mountain and saw the Promised Land.  Wow.  After a drive of several minutes, we took an Arabic bus to the area known as Bethany Beyond the Jordan.  Whoever can say all that, let’s call it BBTJ.  At BBTJ, we saw several churches built in the more recent centuries by various denominations.  We walked several paths guided by an Arab (Muslim?) guide, and finally arrived at a site where Jesus was baptized.  Interestingly, the Jordan River no longer flows directly through this spot because it has changed its course over the centuries.  When we arrived down by the river, we were in for a real treat.  Sharon told us the story of Jesus being baptized, while she stood in front of the Jordan River!!! Incredible to think of!  We each took turns standing in the water of the Jordan River.  Surreal.  Moving.  As amazing as it was, it was another word that comes to mind is- hot.  So, we loaded back into the van and headed to the Dead Sea.

Now, back to the food part.  Colleen took us to an Arabic Restaurant, and we ate more delicious food Bedouin style- as in on comfy couches around a small table… and, the Dead Sea in the background!  As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words.

The Dead Sea lived up to its reputation- it was very salty and not a thing living in it .  except we did get in- our hands and feet were salty and the Sea was beautiful.

Our plans tonight include more food- dinner at Ruba’s house and International church (the food part is just at Ruba’s house- not church).   Hope all is well with all of you- we love and miss our friends and family and pray for each of you often.  We are overwhelmed to be here and are eager to share more of what God is doing. 

Charlotte & Sandi 

p.s. We ran out of time as we were posting this blog, so we promise to upload some pictures when we return to the hotel. Check back later today.

Ahlan wa Sahlan!!

Hello All,

We have arrived at our destination!! We just wanted to post a quick note that we are here and to thank you so much for all your prayers. Our travel went really smoothly and all our luggage arrived when we did. Colleen and Rana picked us up from the airport and took us to our hotel to freshen up a bit from the 17 hours of travel. The hotel is great and we got to see a traditional Muslim wedding party celebration in our hotel lobby. We'll have pics tomorrow, but it was a fun way to get started. We went to a local restaurant for a great Middle Eastern meal. We tried lots of things and I don't think anyone will be losing any weight on this trip. =)

Thanks again for all the prayers. We feel them and are super excited to be here.  Our internet connection looks like it will be stable, so we should be able to post daily.

Ahlan wa Sahlan! (This means "Welcome!" in Arabic)

Kim

Departure Day!!!

Here we are, friends! 2 hours from leaving the MMBC parking lot...together on a shuttle that will hopefully begin our journey of a lifetime with our Mighty God. Just wanted to let you know that we will try to post of our safe arrival as soon as we get internet access! I promise we will make that a huge priority!!!

If we are not delayed, we will land at our destination Saturday evening around 6pm....then we go through customs, etc....then we will have to find internet, so don't be alarmed if it is fairly late Saturday evening before you hear from us (not to mention we will be 8 hours ahead of you...I can't do the math!!!) :-)

Please pray:

• for opportunities in the airport & on the airplane to have meaningful, God-centered conversation
•  travel safety
•  rest on the plane
•  good health
•  patience & calm going through security & customs
• high spirits for the team (considering we are leaving behind the ones we leave for such a long stretch of time.)

We love you....thanks for praying!!!
Sherri :-)

9 days out!

As I sit here in my living room tonight I am ever aware thaty we are 9 days out from our departure to the Middle East. I think it has been a hard few weeks for each of our team members...all struggling with lots of "life"! For me, I have been super heavy-hearted for many reasons, but yesterday God filled my heart with a longing to go serve Him and leave my heavy-heart behind! He reminded me how it felt as our team gathered at church-wide prayer a couple of weeks ago...how amazing it was to be surrounded by people who longed to see us make a difference, who "got it", who have given us their support by praying for us, who took the time to circle up...touch us...and pray in the power of the God of the Universe! And then, he reminded me about our team commissioning in church a couple of weeks ago...what a privilege (that I never want to take for granted, by the way) to be part of a church that places such priority on "launching" people out into the community and the world!!!!!

I have no idea what God has in store for our team...but this I DO know: He has clearly knit this team of 6 women together, He has clearly given us all the same heart to speak into the hearts of women across the world, He has clearly given us a spirit of unity, and He is CLEARLY IN CHARGE!!!

As we go out, please honor us with your comments. Thsoe comments will be our touch with home while we are gone. Above all, PRAY FOR US!!! We ask that you would pray daily that we would stay focused on HIM, follow HIM, glorify HIM, and honor HIM in everything we do!

I feel so blessed tonight to have been given an opportunity to see first hand what God is doing in a place so very far away. Isn't God so good that even though He definately doesn't need us to accomplish His purposes, He allows us to be His hands & feet?

From a plaque in my grandchildren's rooms: Jesus Knows Me, This I Love

In Him,
Sherri :-)