"Come and help us"

Warm greetings in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ!  This past week, Bekass brought a friend (since this is a public site I won't mention his name with Bekass) from his country.  He too expressed faith in Christ and the church is following up with him.  

I also met with another pastor whom I will not name since he is in the heart of a Majority area.  This particular church is in a very strategic area for the gospel.  The people of the church were amazingly sacrificial--and bold--to build the church here.   This pastor had a remarkable encounter with a family in an area quite some distance from the church where there is no evangelical church at all.  Some members of the family were moved by the Spirit to call on the pastor and to hear him speak.  They appointed a day, this past weekend, and gathered the rest of their family - nearly forty people! - to have the pastor come and preach to them all the words of this life (Acts 5:20).  I'm as eager as you are to hear the results of this meeting!  

For those of you who were concerned about me, I want to say thanks.  I'm fine, the internet was down for several days here.  Like just about everything else here, you can't really rely on it so please keep that in mind if you try to contact me but I don't seem very responsive.  Blessings to all the saints and thanks for your encouragement!

Appointed to eternal life

Last night I taught again at CEBC on lessons on shepherding from the life of Moses in Deuteronomy.  By the grace of God, this message was also well received and it's exciting to see how people are responding to the exhortation of the Word.

A young man named Bakass from the Kurdish area of Turkey is working in Lebanon and was drawn by God to the fellowship last night.  "Ente MeseHieh? (Are you a Christian?)," I asked him.  "La, lakin biddi! (No, but I would like to be)" was his response.  Unfortunately, his Arabic was not much better than mine!  Elder Salim stayed after the meeting with the young man and explained the Way to him.  "I have read about Isa (Jesus)" in the book used by the Majority, Bakass said.  "His name in the Bible is Yesua," responded Salim, who explained to him more accurately the things concerning Jesus to him from the Scriptures.  "I would like to give all my heart and life to this Savior."  Salim prayed with the young man and then encouraged him to persevere in the faith.

Yesterday I also met with a pastor of large evangelical church.  He is an expositor and churchman who is likeminded in theology and ministry.  He discovered the ministry of John MacArthur by accident while he was working in the country of Bahrain.  We talked about a vision of training up Arab pastors and church planters in the Middle East.  Unfortunately, it appears churches here suffer from division and discord, often not strictly speaking on theological issues.  For the church to be most effective in winning the Majority, we must pray for true unity, based on personal humility and sound doctrine.

I was reflecting on this for a while and it occurred to me that much of Paul's ministry involved helping to resolve disputes and strengthen churches, even as he prepared for new ministries.   Please pray that the Spirit will move to heal divisions in the church! 

Putting my hand to the plowshare

Another man from the Majority, who lost almost his entire family during the Israeli war in 2006, has come to blessed faith in Christ!  He shared with great gratitude to God how the family of God here has embraced him, and become his new family. 

On Sunday, I taught at Christ Evangelical Baptist Church here in Beirut.  By the grace of God, the reception was extremely positive.  I'm beginning to sense an opening to the need for in depth expository teaching in the churches.

The past few days have been spent meeting with ministry leaders and members of various Lebanese churches.  Two days ago I met with Michel Bassous, the head of the Bible Society in Lebanon.  Later I met with the pastor of a church in the Bekaa valley, in a town called Zahle.  

Yesterday I met with the official governmental head of the Evangelical churches for the countries of Syria and Lebanon.  He is a Spirit-filled man by the name of Salim Sahyune who served for many years as a pastor of a Presbyterian church.  Unfortunately, because of the confessional political system in Lebanon, political responsibilities are essentially 'enforced' upon leaders of ministries, and Rev. Sahyune helped me to understand how this impacts ministry here.  I then met with the head of the Baptist convention in Lebanon, Samuel Kharrat.  Both of these men provided insights into the dynamics of ministry in Lebanon, as well as for preparing visas and other details of long-term ministry.

Building relationships with these leaders and others has proven to be an extremely delicate process.  Christianity began in the Middle East but unfortunately some workers have come here from the States with a rather high-minded attitude toward ministry, leaving a perception of Westerners that must be overcome.  Please pray that the Lord will continue to open doors and give me the right words to say, in the right way (Col 4:6).  

Blessings - Bent

Firstfruits for Christ

Ministry is taking off - We prayed with one from the Majority who came to Christ last night and tonight one came saying he desperately wanted to seek Christ.  The first was from a Majority stronghold.  The Lord is starting to work! 

Great inroads for the gospel are opening up.  Christ Evangelical Baptist Church has shown me some unreal hospitality - this may be the closest thing to Acts church I've ever seen!  People come together pretty much daily to pray, study the word, and encourage one another.  

I guess I'll let the cat out of the bag -  I'm thinking about staying here through mid-July.  I'm going to find out next week for sure whether I can work it out but it's pretty much a done deal.   Hope all's well - I'm praying for you all!   Bent

Lebanon trip set - June 2nd - 12th!

Hi everyone.  I just got a ticket booked for Beirut.  Unfortunately, for this trip John won't be able to make it, as Elias' high school graduation is looming.  Christ Evangelical Baptist Church (CEBC) is expecting my arrival and I can't wait to see them!  Please be in prayer for the trip!

Rescheduling flight

Our initial flights to Lebanon were cancelled due to the recent violence and unrest in the region.  This news is crazy to us but everyone knew this could happen and the fighting did not reach the Christian sections of East Beirut.  The church is weathering this storm as they have all civil conflicts in Lebanon's turbulent history.

We are still set on going and trying to reschedule our flights for the end of May!  The Lord will make a way! 

One week to Lebanon!

John Azar and I are traveling to Lebanon in one week!  Pastor Michel Abbas (left), elder Salim Kharrat (right) and the rest of Christ Evangelical Baptist Church in Beirut, Lebanon, have graciously extended the invitation to explore a long-term partnership of church strengthening and leadership development.  We will be meeting with other Lebanese pastors and ministry leaders as well during this time.  Please pray the Lord would open a mighty door for ministry!  Many blessings - Bent.