Beirut, Lebanon Nov. 2-5 The flight from Amman to Beirut is only an hour. The last time I came this way we had to fly down to Egypt and over the Mediterranean because of war in Syria, but now the country is sufficiently peaceful we can fly over Syrian airspace. Beirut is one of the most beautiful cities is the world, sitting alongside of the Mediterranean, set among mountains. Because of the mountains, this is a very green country. It is the only one in the Middle East with no deserts. Lebanon went through 25 years of civil war, beginning in the 1970s, between the Sunni and Shia Muslims as well as the large Maronite Christian group here, with Syria and Iran constantly meddling in the country. The politics here are very complicated with the political parties divided along ethnic lines. The Christian party allies itself with the Shia Hezbollah group which is why there is such deep enmity with Israel. Let s just say it is complicated. Beirut from the mountains On the other hand, Lebanon is the most democratic country in the region with the most openness toward Western ideas and relatively liberal attitudes toward religious freedom. This is a small country of only five million people. It is shocking to learn that nearly half the population is refugees from Syria. Just try to imagine two hundred and fifty million refugees coming into the US or seventy million refugees coming into the UK. The impact of the refugees on the economy is massive, of course. We are met by Moufid Tohme. He and his wife, Jesse lead this church. This is a very young church of 60 members, with many teens, campus and young singles. On Friday evening I give a lesson, The Bible, From God or Man? There are about eighty in attendance, including at least twenty visitors. The questions are very lively. Afterward, we go out for a late dinner of local food. The food here is absolutely fantastic. Moufid and Jesse moved about a year ago with their two children to lead the church in Cairo. After a few months Moufid was deported. Jesse
and the children stayed behind for five months. Moufid got very sick in Egypt, nearly dying from heart troubles, in part because of poor health care in the country. This was a very turbulent time for their family. Such is the way in the Middle East. On Saturday, we spend time with Allah and Daniella, a young couple who are leading the teen group. Both were raised in very turbulent situations. Allah is Syrian by birth, although he came to Lebanon as a very young child 24 years ago to escape a father became violent when he converted to radical Islam. Allah is treated as a person without a country, which makes it impossible for him to travel and very difficult to get a job. In the evening, I teach at Middle East University on the Christian worldview with about 60 in attendance, including a professor, a pastor and many other guests. Sunday, I give a class on evidence for Jesus. There are about 90 in church, with many guests, including a few Muslims. Some of them are now studying the Bible. One tells me that he now believes in Jesus. What encouragement! After, we travel about 25 miles north to the ancient city of Byblos. This city has been settled for more than 7,000 years. It has beautiful ruins which have been converted into a place to have dinner by the sea or to shop. We visit the Church of John Mark from about the fifth century. The construction is amazing. From there, we travel back to Beirut for a two and one-half hour session of questions and answers. This is an optional meeting, yet more than two-thirds of the church is there, despite having three prior meetings in the last three days. The desire to learn here is truly inspiring. Monday, we spent with Moufid and Jesse visiting Beirut and dreaming of ways to help build up the church here and make inroads into the Muslim Middle East. This is a difficult task, but it is a necessary one. Church in Beirut
Luxor and Cairo, Egypt Nov 6-12 We travel next to Egypt, where we will be teaching in Cairo. First, because part of this trip is a celebration of our 35 th anniversary, we are spending three days visiting Luxor in upper Egypt. This is the area with the greatest concentration of ancient Egyptian sites. Wednesday we visit the Valley of the Kings, which is the burial place of the kings from the 18 th through the 20 th dynasties (about 1600-1200 BC). One of these is the tomb of the Pharaoh of the Exodus, although no one is certain which. The decoration of the tombs is spectacular. We also visited the temple of Queen Hatshepsut, as well as the massive temples of Karnak and Luxor. The columns and engravings are like nothing else in the world. The color of the painting is still vivid after 3,500 hundred years. Thursday we visit temples in Abydos and Dendera, from the eighteenth dynasty and from the Ptolemaic periods. We drive for several hours through the countryside, seeing amazing scenes of everyday life. The people here are generally very poor. They still use donkeys to bring their produce to market. They are so friendly, as the children wave to us in greeting, saying welcome wherever we go. Dendera Temple ceiling drawings On Friday, we travel back to Cairo. This is a massive city of just over 20 million. It is the largest city in Africa. It is a very crowded city. The traffic is legendary. Actually, it is not legendary because everything they say about it is true! This is a Muslim country, of course, but there is actually a fairly large minority around 15%--of Coptic Christians here which has been tolerated despite 1300 years of Muslim rule. The politics of the country have been tumultuous. First, there was the Arab Spring in 2011, which brought on a revolution that ousted the dictator Muvarek. Then, two years later there was a second revolution which ousted the democratically elected Morsi from the Muslim Brotherhood. The two intervening years brought on a lot of
persecution for Christians. Now, a new dictator Al Sisi is in power and things seem to be stabilizing, although the economy is in bad shape. The people are really suffering here. Yet, they are so gracious and always have a smile, especially for guests. Church in Cairo The church we are visiting has about 70 members. They have gone through a fair amount of turbulence lately, with leadership changes and with the political and religious turmoil here in Egypt. Maged and Nissa Tadros lead the group, but there is no full-time leadership since Moufid and Jesse Tohme were deported earlier this year. Not having legal status is also a difficulty. Their greatest needed is a mature couple to consider coming here for an extended stay to stabilize the church. The members are so welcoming and warm it is really something. Will one of you reading this journal consider coming here to help with issues such as parenting, marriage as well as basic Bible teaching? Please pray about visiting the church in Cairo.
On Friday, I speak on Galatians: Living by Law or by the Spirit. In this very religious country, the tendency is to look for rules and requirements and to rely on the leaders to do the work of the ministry. The church is very receptive to this message. Worship here is on Friday, not Sunday, as this is the closest thing to a Sabbath in this Muslim country and Sunday is a normal day of work. Friday worship is very different for us, but it makes sense given the culture. On Saturday, Jan and I get to visit the Pyramids of Giza with Wagdy and his wife Shiren. This is one of those bucket list moments. In the evening I have the privilege of teaching the teens and campus on God and Science. It is hard to explain how encouraging it is to see twenty young people who are so eager to learn about God. The questions could have gone on for many hours. We are so blessed to be able to encourage the faith of the youth in Egypt. Almost everyone we talk to here sees the future of the church in the youth. They have asked for a campus or single person to come here to take the one-year challenge to help the church. The need is still out there. Please consider coming here to help build a foundation for Christ in this wonderful country. It will change your life forever. On Sunday, Jan gave a class at the home of Abeer and Ramez for the women on having a heart for God based on the cross of Christ. Even though this is a workday, over half the women in the church came to the lesson. We get to experience real Egyptian home cooking which is wonderful, including Alexandrian style fava beans and a dish of feta cheese, tomato and green pepper, and, as always, Egyptian bread. We leave Egypt on Monday, exhausted but encouraged so much to be able to meet so many devoted disciples of Jesus from the most ancient culture in the world. John Oakes