See, the Sovereign Lord come with power and his arm rules for him.
See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him. Isaiah 40:10
April 27, 2011
Late in the afternoon we arrived at Istanbul airport. The disorientation and adjustments have already begun. The flight to Chicago O’Hare had been short and uneventful although we were treated to spectacular views of the downtown area as we flew in and the clouds opened up and poured late day sunlight across the cityscape. Moving through security and into the international terminal the environment began to already pick up a Middle Eastern flair, from the dress of many people, to the languages spoken to the baggage handler saying his evening prayers on his prayer rug in the corner of the corridor.
Our flight to Istanbul was long (over ten hours) but was manageable, no small part due to the ability to spread out because of low occupancy, at least in the back of the plane where we were seated. First I enjoyed probably the best airline meal I have ever had (not that I travel that much) of fish and fresh veggies and fruit, followed it up with a light comedy of “Get Smart” and then thanks to a couple of Advil PM caplets I managed six hours of very deep solid sleep. After waking up I did a bit of Bible study on Isaiah which brought about a conversation with the lady seated behind me. Turns out she works for Samaritan’s Purse as a comptroller and was headed to Khartoum, Sudan for a four week rotation. I was impressed with her courage to travel into such a troubled area. My Texas Longhorn hat also initiated a conversation with a man from Austin who works security/logistics for a construction firm in Iraq.
After purchasing a $6 cup of plain coffee I began to realize how expensive food is at the airport in Istanbul. Being my first time to Turkey, I was a bit surprised by how modern the people dressed and acted; but of course, Istanbul is half in Europe. Fortunately I had packed a fair amount of food and so avoid the $16 chicken nugget dinners although I did mooch quite a few French fries from my companions.
Our team is certainly an odd collection for the Lord to use. Half of us came to believe in Christ later in life, myself seventeen and half years ago when I was 43. Some of us have been in jail; more of us had done things for which we should have done jail time. Only two of us have worked in ministry as a living; one of those is our team leader and recovery pastor, Rodney, and that is a recent development in the past five years. As a group we are extremely ordinary in a lot of ways. While we all have our own individual gifts, there is little that jumps out as outstanding. Rodney has a strong baritone voice he has developed well, that is about the only remarkable attribute to our group. Otherwise we are a housewife/farm girl, a coffee barista who is in grad school, a commercial real estate agent, a small town photographer and a recently retired pharmacist.
There are two common themes among us. One is that in one way or another, God has helped us face areas of personal weakness and in facing them have experience His healing in strong and dramatic ways. The other is a level of obedience to the Lord.
A great example of that obedience is how we got to be here at all. About three years ago one of our team, Larry, had responded to a call to go to Cairo to introduce a group of business men to the curriculum of the Influencers with whom he worked. In that he met Wahid and Laila who have a long established ministry based in Cairo organizing Walk Through the Bible seminars, ministering to teens through a TV program and working with Saddleback Church in translating and distributing Purpose Driven materials. Larry shared his involvement with our ministry, Celebrate Recovery, which struck a chord in their hearts. In 2009 John Baker, founder of CR, wrote his book Life’s Healing Choices along with a church curriculum, which Wahid then translated and asked for a team to come to the Middle East to teach it. Due to the Larry connection, Rodney was asked to put together a team to go to Syria in August of 2010. Five of the six of us were on that team. The reception of that conference was so positive that Wahid had put together two more for us to do, one near Cairo and one in Amman Jordan.
Back in January before we were to go initially, I had struggled with what I, just a nobody from Arkansas, would have to offer to people who experience persecution and violence as a reality of their faith in Christ and where women have been disenfranchised and abused systematically for generations. In that struggle God was faithful to give me a verse from the book of Isaiah which a bible study I was involved in was currently studying,
You who bring good tidings to Zion, go up on the high mountain.
You who bring good tidings to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with a shout,’
Lift it up, do not be afraid, say to the towns of Judah,
“Here is your God!” Isaiah 40:9
All I had to offer the people I would meet is the story of how God has worked in my life: Here is your God. I prayed that God would give me the strength to be faithful to that purpose.
Just two verses later underscored my need to trust the Lord, that He is the good shepherd who will not harm his flock. Instead
He tends his flock like a shepherd:
He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart;
He gently leads those that have young. Isaiah 40:11
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