Over and over I have talked to the Arabic church about the importance of family. God created marriage in the beginning, not the church. Out of a marriage came children, which became family. Out of the family came the church. If the foundational relationships of the church crumble, so does the church.
Much of the time in our churches, the adults learn about Jesus and expect their children will become these lovely God fearing adults one day, in spite of the fact that no one really told them about Jesus in the home when they were small. They were born in a “christian” family and therefore it is automatic that they would also grow up to be Christian. This thought actually comes from the Muslim neighbors surrounding Christian families in the Middle East. Muslims believe that you are born Muslim. There isn’t such a thing as “becoming” Muslim unless you are converting from a different tradition. And like much of Christian Middle Eastern society, this concept was adopted from Islam.
Covid has also done a number on families. This last year has been hard on marriage and hard on children. The tension has risen and many are coming out on the other side Covid, separated and broken. Hary and I have taught a lot of Bible studies and group counseling sessions about marriage and family.
We are on round 2 of talking about the importance of marriage and giving practical help during difficult seasons. Every Sunday morning Hary translates for me as I teach about 8 Syrian women who are living in Syria, Turkey, the Netherlands, Sweden and Belgium. I have narrowed the teaching down to 15-20 minute bite size sessions. Then these women ask questions. Hard questions. They don’t just contend with Covid, many are living in abusive, unbalanced, broken relationships. Many of them found Jesus long after they married. They are still waiting for their husbands to find Him. They pray, they wait, they struggle.
Last Sunday I taught and the one woman who really needed to be there didn’t show up. So we recorded the session and sent it to her. She has been separated from her husband. I can’t remember how many months they have been apart. But she listened to the recording. Later she left a message to tell Hary that every word I spoke was for her. God was speaking to her directly. That day she went back to her husband to reconcile the relationship she once thought was forever broken.
Even yesterday I was just telling a young woman that God is the God of so many chances. He loves changing things. He is changing families. He’s restoring marriages. The key? Turning our eyes back on Him and letting His will be done in our lives. When we want what He wants for us, we can’t go wrong. And the hope is that for every marriage restored, every family healed, the church will begin to be repaired and grow to look more and more like Jesus.
Seasoned with Spice 