A bright light in a dark place

My wife and I are sitting in a cafe in Zagreb, Croatia, waiting for our next flight. It's been delayed, so I thought I'd share this story.

It's about a preacher friend of mine in Kosova. I have many preacher friends, so it's easy to keep this anonymous. While Kosova is a free republic, societal and family pressures are still very strong. If the identity of the person in this story became public, it might be disastrous. The details are tantalizingly sketchy.

My friend got a call from an Albanian in Germany. We don't know how, but somehow he got this preacher's phone number. His family still lives in the remote village where he was raised. He had become a believer while living abroad, and he somehow got a Bible to his younger sister. He called my preacher friend, asking if he could somehow meet with the young lady who now wanted to know more about Jesus in Whom she now believed!

This young lady's situation is filled with drama. When I say the village is remote, I mean she had to walk to the next village to catch a bus that could take her to a small town on a highway that leads to Prishtina. Her village has no church or Christian living nearby to whom she could turn. Villages like this are usually very traditional, and turning to Jesus can bring tremendous family and peer pressure. Yet she was willing to make the walk, take the bus, and meet this preacher and his wife just so that she could find out more about her Savior.

I wish I could have been there. The whole conversation was a gushing of questions and answers. It was like a whole new world was opening for her. I've been in a few situations like this, and it's always almost as wonderful for the person teaching the Gospel as it is for the one who's listening. Frankly, I'm a little jealous.

Another notable aspect of all this is that this girl learned about Jesus from just reading the Bible story. There was no radio preacher; there was no powerful sermon delivered; there was no Gospel tract to help her along. She just had a Bible, but the Bible was enough.

We really don't know how to proceed. You really can't just drive out to her home on Tuesday calling night and drop in for a Bible study in the living room. We're pretty sure she must keep this confidential. Right now, she's just a mobile phone number. We will keep you informed, but pray for this bright light that shines in a small village in Kosovo.

Home for the summer!

Well I asked everyone if they'll be able to make it without me for two months, and they assured me that they'll be just fine. Enise and I will have a busy summer, and we're almost desperate to see our children and grandchildren. I'll get to speak at a bunch of places, and the NACC will be an exciting convention (but the hours will be long).

Prishtina High School has made it through the first year, and the future looks bright. We return in August for Enise to begin teaching. She loves the students, and I think the effect she's had on some has been profound. She thinks she's right where God wants her to be.

The church in Prizren is at a point of transition and growth. The group as done as fine a job as anyone here, and they are eager to develop. We all know it's difficult for churches in America to grow, and the additional obstacles here make it more challenging. Several things are cooking, and either Wes or I will be writing of these in the coming weeks.

From mid-June till mid-August, I'll be reporting from the States. Wes and the gang will hold down the fort in Kosova as our future continues to form. Please keep our people in your prayers.

The advantage to marrying "ethnic."

You marry an Arab; you get good food (even in Kosova!). We hosted a dinner party for mostly church folks, and my wife outdid herself. It was delicious! My personal favorite is the raw kibbe.

Homeward Bound

Our friend from Pakistan has returned home. He had planned to stay till July (six months more than originally expected), but pressing family business forced his departure.

While he was with us, this brave, young man was tutored by Don, Wes, and I. Our goal was to give him the elementary tools needed to start ministering in his hometown. While he is a relatively new disciple, he's very bright. He possesses advanced degrees in two disciplines, and he was willing to learn. He was able to teach me a thing or two!

Again we don't wish to be melodramatic, but publishing names can cause problems. Pakistan is our ally; its government is secular. It is not against the law to be a Christian there. Still, it is an ancient nation with very strong traditions. Our friend will find strong opposition and he will have to be careful. He is not without friends. There is a circle of believers in his town, and he'll have the best advice and prayer support we can offer. May God bless him.

I also want to thank his sponsor. There is a generous doctor in America that met our Pakistani friend via the internet. They wrote back and forth for a long time. This faithful believer saw a need for further training, and he sponsored his entire stay with us. I want to thank him publicly, howbeit anonymously.

"And the Lord added..."

We are happy to report that a wonderful lady and wife of one of our members was baptized. This decision was months in the making, but as soon as she was convinced, she obeyed. Her husband didn't even know it was going to happen till she started filling the bathtub! Here's a picture of Don doing the honors. We’re not trying to be melodramatic, but giving details like a name causes some security concerns.

Tony & Sarah

Let me tell you of our good friends. Tony and Sarah live in Cincinnati. Enise and I have known them for a long time; I did their wedding in Skagway, Alaska six years ago. Next Satuday, I'll do Tony's funeral.

I baptized Tony last year while he was in the hospital just before his first brain cancer surgury. It wasn't a rash decision. Tony had been thinking about it for quite some time. Then, suddenly, the awful headaches started, the scans were done, and the tumor was found. Tony finally decided it was time to act.

As frustrating as it was to see Tony delay this act of faith, it was just as rewarding to see how strong his faith was really was after he found out about his illness. How can relatively new Christians find such strenght in God? For the whole time he knew he was sick, Tony's courage did not waver (at least not outwardly). His thinking was like this; that if he was able to defeat his cancer, he wins. But even if he dies from his cancer, he still wins. Tony wanted to live. He loved his wife very much, and he wanted a longer life with her. He also wanted to do more for God's Kingdom.

But he also realized, like Paul, that "to live is Christ, and to die is gain."

Frankly, I would expect such strong resolve from Sarah. She's been a Christian her whole life; she is rock-solid in the Faith. I've met most of her family, and they're all this way. I think she's one of God's favorites. When trouble comes my way, she'd be a good example to follow.

But how about Tony? Who would have thought that a brand-new believer like him could inspire an old-timer like me? I just finished writing Tony's funeral message while sitting here at a Starbucks in Istanbul. One of his requests was that I come back to do his service. Enise and I are sorry that Tony is dead. We feel so badly for Sarah, but we know her faith is strong. We rejoice in knowing that Tony is with God.

Tony and Sarah have taught us a lot.

Expelled, no intelligence allowed

I found watching Ben Stein's "Expelled" to be a bitter-sweet experience. I had to catch it on opening night, since I was leaving the country the following Sunday, and I had to go to the late-night show because of grandparent duties. In spite of the late hour, the theater was half-full. It was the "rowdy-Christian" bunch, if you know what I mean.

I'm a Ben Stein fan, and I'm pretty sure this movie is a labor of love. Ben wants to defend God, and he wants to make a statement about academia. While I think he did a great job, I had a nagging, uncomfortable feeling all the way through.

The movie's strength is its narrow aim. Ben doesn't take on all that is wrong with the world. He just wants to show that scientists who believe in Intelligent Design experience professional persecution in an arena that claims to be open-minded and free. He hints and tantalizes about the inevitable conclusions such thinking has (like the inescapable denial of free-will), but these are only side-lines. He concentrates on how our scientific institutions are filled with as much prejudice as any other segment of society.

This is where the uncomfortable feeling arose in my mind. As I sat there watching sincere men and women tell of the abuse they suffered for trying to be honest and fair, I kept thinking of parallels I've seen in churches. For every example in the movie, I could think of several examples in church life. What made me sad is that the "bad guys" in science are not that much different from the "bad guys" in local congregations. It's even worse with Christian bad guys, because they do their dirty work while using the name of God.

I guess the lesson is that wherever there are people, there will be crummy people.

The movie ended to a round of applause from the rowdy church crowd (even though Stein is Jewish, I assume). I'm pretty sure that most of the people that will see this movie will be Christians. It's a good documentary, and I recommend it. I am hoping hope there will be a beneficial, unintended consequence. Maybe the Christians will see themselves as they boo the bad guys. Perhaps it will make them think.