Bringing God on Vacation: Georgia

About two weeks ago, I had the unique opportunity to travel to Georgia with my wife for a week. This is not the Georgia where peaches, Coke and Chick-fil-a come from, but Georgia the ex-Soviet Union country that is famous for churches, wine, and monasteries. I was very grateful for the opportunity to go there, and it was both relaxing to enjoy the city, physically demanding with quite a bit of hiking, and educational as we learned about the history of the country and also it's Christian history. Here are some ways I encountered and worshiped God on my vacation.

Encountering different Christians

My wife and I went to the Holy Trinity Cathedral on our first day in the country. It was a massive church that overlooks the entire city.  The cathedral had a very large area around it for gardens, fountains, and other aesthetically pleasing structures.  It was interesting to note that nearly all the women who went inside the church wore a head scarf, which is not too different from the hijab, which is a head scarf that covers the hair of Muslim women in Kuwait and the Middle East.  There was no requirement that women had to wear a head covering to enter the church, but I think most women did this as a sign of respect.  My wife left her scarf at home, so she decided not to enter and waited outside.

As I entered the church, it was a very different experience for me.  As a man who has grown up in the evangelical tradition, I find the beauty and intricacies of orthodox Christianity very different.  The inside of this building was as beautiful as the outside.  There were paintings and icons everywhere, and incense burning in several places.  There were candles set up in a few locations, and even the inside of the building was symmetrical and made the shape of the cross, where the top of the cross is where the priest would give his sermon.  It was extremely fascinating.  Even though I don't believe in the spiritual value of icons and burning candles as prayers for loved ones, it is nice to see that there is care taken to the beauty of the church, both inside and out.  Most evangelical churches are not nearly as ornate, and the churches I've often attended have been in re-purposed warehouses or school gymnasiums. 

Another thing I noticed was the quiet and reverence that people had in the church.  Even though there were well over 100 people walking around, lighting candles, reading the Bible, and praying, it was very quiet.  Most people didn't talk to each other, and when they did, it was a whisper.  It really felt like you were in a holy and unique place.  This is also very different from the evangelical tradition.  We are quite loud, and for good reason.  Every week, people are happy and excited to see each other, so there is a lot of socialization before and after each service.  There is also a time of greeting during the service, and I try to talk to as many people as I can.  I think this is a good thing.  However, I do think there is value in reverence and respect in church. 

The other thing I noticed was some of the sincerity that people had towards praying and reading.  There were a lot of people who were praying, and, at least, looked earnest in their prayers.  Many people were praying in front of icons, and I wasn't sure what to think of that.  However, it could be that some of the images in the cathedral, such as Jesus on the cross, were just a reminder to these people to encourage them to pray and give thanks.  There were also a handful of people who were standing up and reading the Bible quietly to themselves.  It was in Georgian, so I didn't know what they were reading or praying, but there certainly was a level of devotion in the people.  In a very different way, I believe that many of them were truly expressing themselves to God and loving Jesus for saving them from their sins by His death on the cross. 

Do I believe that all of the people in the church were Christians?  No.  Do I believe that all of their practices, such as candle lighting and praying to icons, are biblical?  No.  However, even in the evangelical tradition and at the church I attend there are plenty of people who are not Christians, but attend because they are culturally connected or are socially interested.  And I am sure that when I get to heaven, I will discover there are things that we have done wrong as well.  Through that experience in Georgia, God taught me that there are Christians who look very different from the style of Christianity that I like and that I am used to.  However, it doesn't mean that their faith is necessarily different from what I believe.  I pray for the Christians in Georgia, that God would be with them and show Himself to them in a very real and authentic way, and that the Holy Spirit would empower them to not only look inward to the Georgian orthodox church, but would reach out to other religions and those who are not religious and share the gospel with them.  

Bringing God on Vacation: Maldives

My wife and I went to the Maldives several months ago on an amazing vacation.  It's hard to describe the beauty and the majesty of this place because each of the more than 2000 islands that make up this archipelago are right out of a movie.  The tiny islands have beautiful white sand beaches, trees and palms growing and producing fruit right off the shore, and water that is as clear as glass.  We were so grateful for the opportunity to go.

While we were staying on one of the particular islands, we met another couple who was also staying at the same guesthouse as us.  They both lived in Germany, and we decided to spend some time with them on the same excursions and eating some meals together.  I thought it would be a good opportunity to build a relationship with them.  The man even spoke Arabic, and it was a great chance to practice with him.

One night we had dinner together, and the woman asked about my wife's tattoo which she had on her wrist.  Stephanie shared that it meant hope, and even though she has gone through some struggles in her life, she trusted in Jesus who would carry her through whatever the trials she was going through. 

Did the couple come to faith in Christ right then and there?  No.  However, what my wife did was plant a seed of the gospel through her testimony.  She also was honest and authentic with them about some of her struggles and trials, which I think allows that seed to go deeper than just an explanation of the gospel without how it affects us personally.

We will invariably meet other people on our holidays or travels, whether it's a European vacation or to the state park right next door.  Of course, one of the expectations of a vacation is to spend time with family and unwind, which is reasonable. 

However, we will naturally and normally find ourselves interacting with other people, whether they are staying near or hotel or campsite or a clerk at a grocery store, or just meeting people in passing.  So, all these interactions are opportunities to build people into your lives, even if it's just for a few days.  As Christians, we know that only God and people will be forever, so investing in other people is guaranteed to be one of the best returns on our time on this Earth, even if it's short-lived.  After the week was over, we haven't talked to that couple since, but we were glad for the memories we created with them, and we may end up seeing them again. 

Second, we need to be ready to share the hope that is within us, as the Bible says.  We weren't expected to share the gospel the night the woman asked about my wife's tattoo.  However, she didn't shrink back from sharing her story of how Jesus loves her enough to carry her through all the trials she faces in this life. 

Finally, we need to try to be authentic with people.  I believe that sharing the gospel and the four spiritual laws is great, and the more we do that the better.  At the same time, we need to inject how Jesus has personally affected and has changed US.  The world is watching to see if there is anything different about us.  Do we just seek the same pleasures of money, power and pleasure and just use Jesus as our ticket, like another person may use social skills to get the same things?  Do we self-medicate or pretend like everything is fine when we are suffering, or do we acknowledge the truth of our difficulties, shattered dreams, and pain while leaning on Jesus?  If the world sees that we are different as Christians, they will respond.  If we are just using Christianity as the thing to get what we want, then they will think it as one of the many options people use.  Let's use the opportunities we have to share the joy and hope of God's Kingdom here on Earth.  

God is a Life-sustaining Scorching Fire

A few months ago I went to the Maldives with my wife for a week.  Needless to say, it was everything we could imagine; azure waters, amazing snorkeling and underwater life, palm trees swaying a few meters away from the shore and clear skies.  I never really saw anything like it and was so happy with the memories we made while there.

One event that was interesting was during our second day of the trip.  We decided to take a boat out to another local island and spend the day snorkeling and soaking up the sun.  It was a clear day and not too hot, allowing for a lot of fun playing in the water and relaxing. 

We lathered up sun-screen in order to keep our white, European skin from being burned.  We also went back a couple times throughout the day to reapply.  However, after snorkeling and enjoying the sun for several hours, we were unable to escape the power of the sun.  We didn't realize it at the time, but we were both significantly burnt by the end of the trip.  I did more snorkeling, so most of my backside was burned, along with my receding hairline.  My wife was more generally burned all over.  It was bad enough that we had to spend most of that evening and the next day inside or out of the sun because we didn't want to do any further damage to ourselves. 

I think this is so fascinating because the sun gives life to our planet.  It's rays warm the Earth, provides fuel for plants, allows for the water cycle and has many other life-giving usages.  Without the sun, no life could exist, and if the sun disappeared tomorrow, we would not be able to survive long.  Beyond that, the sun gives a lot of emotional life and health.  If my wife or I are out of the sun for too long, she can become sad and despondent.  Many people go through winter depression where the climate gets extremely cold because they are not getting enough sun.  The sun is absolutely essential to our life and happiness.

At the same time, the sun is so powerful that it can do damage to our bodies and cause at least temporary pain.  We loved being out in the sun, but there are consequences, like getting sunburned.  After the sunburn, we either begin to peel of our outer layers of skin, or become tan. 

I think this is a good illustration of our walk with God.  God gives us life and everything we need.  He breathed life into us, and in Him we move and have our being.  Like the sun, He gives us life and sustains life in us.  We are also redeemed by Jesus, who brings us into a right relationship with Him.  He gives us a desire for Him and for walking in His Light.  Similar to the sun, God makes us happy and gives us real joy.  Without Him our lives would be meaningless, and our lives find their true fulfillment in Him.

At the same time, God, like our sun-scorched skin in the Maldives, impacts, changes and even hurts us sometimes.  When God showed up in people's lives in the Bible, the would often fall down on their faces like they were dead.  God's glory is so powerful and penetrating that we would actually die if we beheld Him with our physical eyes.   When Peter saw Jesus and His miracle of Peter catching all the fish on the other side of the boat, he said, "Depart form me, for I am sinful man, O Lord."(Luke 5:8)  As we draw close to God, we see more and more how wonderful He is, and how unworthy we are. 

Being close to God also costs us something.  We need to submit ourselves to the discipline of the Lord.  There is no punishment for the Christian, but we do receive discipline from the Lord in order to grow us to become more like him.  Like the rays of the sun, as we get closer and want to be more near to the Lord, it will hurt us some.  We also need to discipline ourselves and say 'no' to the pleasures of sin in our lives, which does cost us something.  Jacob had a powerful experience with God, but he walked away with a limp, and so it is with us today. 

I would never trade my trip to the Maldives for having the comfort of sun-free skin.  How much more are we willing to behold the glory of God, no matter how much it changes or affects in the short term.  Let's look forward to the Day when we will have new bodies that can handle the beauty, majesty and glory of the Lord and we can see Him with unveiled faces!

You Can't Take it with You

As teachers in Kuwait, we have mixed feelings about our status here. My wife and I are provided with a furnished apartment that is part of a 12 floor apartment complex, which is a great deal for us. There isn't much that we've had to add to it.  Because we can never become citizens of Kuwait, we can also make a reasonable assumption that we will not be here for the rest of our lives, but that is up to the Lord to decide. For this reason, we make do with certain things that are not our preference. Yes, we have spent money to buy things that we need and decorated some to make it feel like a home; we fix things that break, and add items that will make it more comfortable, but we are careful about accumulating too many things.

For example, we have these super ugly gold curtains that Stephanie has never liked but lived with for six years. Our dining table is a little wobbly and our chairs have seen some better days. We have also not bought certain items that would be difficult to bring back.  While it would be nice to have a brand new mixer or a high quality blender, we have lived without such things.  It would be great to buy a new desktop computer with a big screen, but we survive with our outdated laptops.  We would love to have a nice stereo system and a grill where we can enjoy good music and barbeques, but we live without them. I'm not saying that having any of these things is wrong, but that we live this way because we know "we can't take it with us."  Even the things we have bought, we will either sell at a fraction of the price we paid for them or mostly likely give them away. If we did try to keep some things, they would probably be damaged or destroyed in transport, and the cost of shipping would be not worth the stuff we have. 

Our time in Kuwait is a bit analogous to the Christian life.  In the same way that we try not to invest too much in our apartment in Kuwait, we should not invest too much in the things of this Earth.  Ultimately, none of us will be able to leave this life with any of the stuff that we have acquired on this Earth.  We won't be remembered for the quality of our curtains or the amount of toys we've collected over the years.  The Bible says that we've come into this world naked, and that is the way we leave it. If the value of the things we've accumulated in Kuwait will be greatly diminished when we decide to leave, how much less will the value of things on Earth be when we enter into our eternal home?  I think we will look back from heaven and say to one another and to ourselves, "Wow, I can't believe I invested so much of my time and energy in _______!"

Similar to the things we do have to make our lives a little easier or more efficient, there are things on Earth that do add value to our lives or are helpful and useful to us.  What we have to realize though is that we are only stewards and not owners of any of the things we have.  I do not own the furniture or apartment that I live in, but I am able to use it to serve the purposes of my family while I am living here.  I believe that we should be a bit reflective before we just run out and buy the latest gadget or replace our furniture at the first sign of wear.  I try to ask myself, "How will this help me serve the people around me better or grow closer to Christ?" before I make large purchases.  There are many things I have said yes to, because they either blessed my wife or enabled us to serve people more effectively, but there are also things I have said no or not yet to, because I thought our time and money could be better invested elsewhere.  This is where prayer, discernment and wise counsel come in. 

If we look forward to one day returning to a house that will still decay and things that will break down, how much more should we look forward to our eternal home!  We will live in mansions built by Jesus, we will have every desire of our hearts satisfied by Him, we will have bodies that will be literally perfect, and we will be with the people we love for eternity.  My prayer is that we would fix our eyes on that Place and that Person, so we can maximize our faithfulness and fruitfulness while we are on Earth.  

Easter in Kuwait

Easter is the largest holiday on earth, celebrated by a few billion people world-wide. This is the holiday that celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, showing that he conquered sin and death, and that all those who follow Him will also be raised to life again. His resurrection is the proof that Jesus was not just some unlucky Jew who was crucified. After being on Earth and spending time with his disciples for around 40 days, he went up into heaven.

However, Easter is not really celebrated in Kuwait and in most of the Middle East. It is less popular than Christmas. Most schools and some other places of employment give Christmas Day off. I think this is because many locals celebrate Christmas in some way, at least by giving gifts or having a tree. Another possible reason is that Christmas gets more attention through Western media than Easter does. Kuwaitis and Arabs hear Christmas music, movies and concerts for Christmas, but there are not nearly as many for Easter. The final reason is that it would not be necessarily wrong to celebrate the birth of Jesus, because Muslims believe in Jesus. They celebrate the birth of Mohammid, and because they believe that Jesus is another prophet, it's not a problem to celebrate Christmas.

Easter, on the other hand, is completely different. Muslims would not want to celebrate this holiday because it clearly shows that Jesus goes far beyond being a mere prophet who brings the truth. It shows that He is the Truth, and there is something uniquely powerful and amazing about Him. It even shows that he is like God, with the power to raise Himself from the dead, which would be blasphemy. So, this is the reason that most people have to work.

Because of this, the holiday can just become another day of work. I had the idea to let my students out a little early so I could celebrate, but I decided to keep them because we had a lot of work to do. Many people had to work, and had their normal commitments after work like tutoring, putting in extra hours at the office, or just unwinding at home.

However, my life group planned a few weeks prior to have an Easter dinner on that day, which breathed life and meaning back into the holiday. It was at the house of one of the couples in our group, and we made a celebration out of it. People brought deviled eggs, potatoes, green beans, dessert, drinks and even ham. It made the holiday a lot of fun. We were able to eat around the dinner table together and pray like a family. It was very meaningful and powerful to have a Christian family even though we were all away from our biological family.

My wife also wanted to attend an Easter choir that was performing at The Lighthouse Church. There were some other friends of ours that were performing in the choir, and they were playing a lot of worship songs along with choir music. I wasn't really excited about leaving the Easter party and then go back, but I consented to go.

The choir was a lot of fun with a lot of good music. There were worship songs that the audience sang along with, and it was a celebratory atmosphere. I believe that Easter should be a celebration, a party and a feast. When Jesus comes back, it will be the greatest celebration ever, and we will weep for joy and party forever.

After the concert, we hurried back to our life group Easter party and we played some games and looked at some pictures from our friends' travels. We stayed about another hour and we decided to go home.

Easter can be a lot of fun in Kuwait and can really accentuate the meaning of the resurrection, but we have to look for it and fight for it. The culture here does not merely push you along the lazy river of the holidays like it does in the West. If I don't make time to think about and make Easter meaningful, then it will have no value for me. In a way, that's more appropriate, because it pushes Christians in Kuwait to make it meaningful instead of a larger culture celebrating the shell of Easter without understanding its meaning.

Desert Christmas

About a year ago, I was doing some shopping at the grocery store in the Avenues Mall, which is the largest mall in the country. It was December and I was just picking up some food items and looking through the clothing when I heard music. It was the mall background music, but I knew the song. It was a Christmas song! It was not just a generic, non-religious Christmas song, but it was "O Holy Night." I was totally blown away by this. I'm not sure if maybe the manager was a Christian or they just popped in any Christmas album they found for the background music of the mall, but it is interesting to see how Christmas still exists even in Kuwait.

Beyond this, many of the malls, including the Avenues, have some Christmas decorations. They sell fake trees and some ornaments. There will occasionally be Christmas music at malls and restaurants. The English department where I work also put up a large Christmas tree.

However, for the most part, the holidays do feel a bit different here than back home. For one thing, the weather is warmer. While it's not as hot in December as it is in the summer, it's still in the 50's and 60's, and there is certainly no snow on the ground anywhere.  I personally love that it's not cold, but it does take away from the authentic quality of Christmas.  Also, there are no Christmas decorations on houses. Even as I look out the window, I see a towering mosque surrounded by palms trees, a sign for McDonalds, and power lines in the distance. While some schools get two weeks off for Christmas, most educators and employees don't get any extra time off for Christmas. All I get is the day itself off, which is a courtesy to the Western teachers. It doesn't exactly scream Christmas.

Some of my friends here have a tough time being away from family who are back home during the season, and it can be especially painful for them. Please pray that the many Christians here that are away from their families would be comforted by Jesus.

For me, I really enjoy it because it's so different. I have my wife here who is my main family.  I also have my spiritual family, which are my close Christian friends who are together here with me.  My semester ends about a week after Christmas, so it signals a break. It also means that I get to travel. Additionally, there are many Christmas parties--life group Christmas dinner, life group leaders Christmas celebration, worship team Christmas dinner, and many more that will keep me very busy and overweight for the next two weeks.

I will also probably invite the people from my life group who are not traveling to my house on Christmas Eve and possibly have them spend the night (pending wife's approval), which is a Christmas tradition we started last year. We will open presents in the morning and then go to one of the church services at the Lighthouse.

While Christmas is certainly different in Kuwait, I'm grateful to God that the power of the birth of the Savior has reached even to a Muslim country, which is surprisingly close to where the original event happened.

Shisha: Cool or Criminal?

I spent a few weeks last summer in Jordan with a really good friend while I could take some Arabic classes.  He let me stay with him, and his wife was already back home in Canada.  Soon after I arrived, we decided to go out and celebrate.  We had a delicious Arabic dinner and he wanted to smoke some shisha afterwards.  I posted a picture of my friend smoking on Facebook to capture the event.  The next day, one of my Christian Facebook friends posted that it was bad for health and bad for his testimony.  Interesting food for thought. 

One of the most ubiquitous aspects of Kuwait and the Middle East is the smoking of water pipes known as shisha.  It can also be called narghila or hookah.  Whether in an upscale, high-end mall or on a crowded street corner, you will see all kinds of people enjoying this cultural tradition, sometimes as early as 6am. 

For those who are unaware, shisha is flavored tobacco.  Tobacco leaves are mixed with a gooey, molasses-like liquid along with the flavoring, whether it is apple, lemon, mint, grape, strawberry or an endless number of variations.  The tobacco mixture is put into a small, clay bowl with holes in it, and aluminum foil is placed on top with tiny holes punched in the foil.  On top are placed three or four pieces of coal, which heats up and slightly burns the tobacco.  The tobacco smoke then goes through a pipe and into water to cool the smoke, and is finally pulled into the user's mouth through a long plastic hose.

Popular restaurant for shisha outside

Because I have parents who are chronic cigarette-smokers, who have made many unsuccessful attempts at quitting, I am keenly aware of the addicting and enslaving power of tobacco.  I also know that we are not to make others struggle or be tempted by something, so it would not be something I would do around people who have struggled with being addicted to tobacco.

On the other hand, does smoking it on an occasional three or four times a month constitute enslavement to it or something that is wrong? Living in Kuwait, there is not a lot of outside or interesting events outside of eating at restaurants.  Therefore, smoking shisha could be viewed as a way to avoid always eating with people and a way to integrate with the culture. 

Friend smoking shisha while enjoying the weather

For example, I wanted to spend some time with my friends last night, but none of us were particularly hungry.  They didn't want to consume anymore calories for the evening, but they didn't want to just sit inside the apartment because the weather is really beautiful this time of year.  So, they decided to go to a nearby restaurant where some people could smoke shisha on the rooftop patio.  There were many other people there doing the same thing.  We spent a couple hours talking about our lives, the issues we are struggling with, and some of our plans for the future.  They did this while taking turns smoking a double apple and a watermelon and mint shisha.  My friends found it to be a relaxing way to end the evening and enjoy each others' company. 

What are your thoughts?  Should Christians stay away from this as a way to distinguish ourselves from the culture, or should we partake if we are doing it in moderation as a way to enjoy God's creation and integrate with the culture?

Understanding the Church

We had a really good church service on Friday at the Jabriya Life Center. I was hoping to take several pictures during the service, but I felt a little guilty to be taking pictures of people who are devoting their hearts and minds to Jesus while I'm casually taking pictures of those moments. I did manage to take a few, and next week I'll try to get one of the ushers to do it so it's not distracting to myself and to others.

The Lighthouse church has been doing a sermon series about the Apostles Creed and going back to basics in our Christian faith. It has been a powerful series explaining the basic tenets of Christian Life, including the Father, Son, Holy Spirit, Creation and the Virgin Birth. This week Pastor Mark discussed the "Holy Catholic Church."

Worship at Jabriya Life Center on Friday

While it could be easy to recap the entire message because it was really good, I wanted to highlight two things that were interesting to me being in an international church in  with Kuwait. The first was the number of people previous Roman Catholic or Orthodox Christian backgrounds. Pastor Mark asked how many people came from that kind of background and the majority of the congregation answered affirmatively. In an international congregation with people from Asia, North America, Africa, and Oceania, most of them came from this kind of background.

I believe that these backgrounds are legitimately a part of the Christian faith, but from talking to many people from these backgrounds over the years, the majority would say they were not real Christians. Yes, they followed the rules to the letter, but many of them did not have a heart and love for Jesus as our Savior. As a result, many of the temptations and tendencies of people from these backgrounds are to become too entangled in the rules of Christian faith, rather than the heart of faith. Of course, it is important to follow God's commands, but it's equally, if not more important, to have a love and desire for Jesus that generally fuels these commands rather than out of sheer will-power.

The second highlight from the sermon was when Pastor Mark was discussing the importance and value of the church. He mentioned that the church is an imperfect structure because it has sinful people in it, and that people will fail us, including parents, spouses and friends. The church is no exception.

He then asked how many people have been hurt by someone in the church, and I was blown away at the response. Nearly everyone in the church had put their hand up. It was both heartbreaking and unifying to see the overwhelming response of people who had been previously hurt by the church in our congregation.

The previous week, there was an opportunity for prayer after the service, and I prayed for a young woman who was clearly in distress about being hurt by the church. She didn't give me many details, but she was in tears about it. I happily prayed for her healing and I also encouraged her that the resilience to come back to church after something traumatic like that is a sign of genuine faith in Jesus. In my mind, I thought that was a unique experience for someone in our church, but seeing all those hands demonstrated that her experience is tragically common.

Church Picnic at the park

I believe that the Church will fail people, because it is full of people. I also believe that people should not associate a negative experience with the church as a rejection of Jesus and Christianity. At the same time, it is also critical as the church to be sensitive and strive by the power of Jesus to not cause further damage and to bring healing.

I hope that I can encourage, love and support people in the church through my actions and words. We are taught as children that 'sticks and stones my break my bones, but words will never hurt me.' However, the Bible gives much more weight to the power of words and says that 'life and death are in the power of the tongue.'

As a Christian, I want to be on my guard to not tear people down, even if it's for a humorous purpose. We need to be sensitive and have the church be a hospital for healing, not another courtroom of judgment and damnation, especially in the same household of faith.  

Not Your Typical: Part 4

In the last part of the mini-series of my quest to find a church family in Kuwait, I want to discuss what has happened to our service in the Jabriya Life Center. From the Sunday evening service at the main church site to the embassy church to the Jabriya Life Center, it has been quite a journey.

Like I said before, people at the embassy started to slowly slip out from the service.   I found out later that the people from the embassy church found another location where they could have their original pastor. I felt like I needed to stay and be apart of this 'new' church plant and help out the pastor in any way I could.

However, there were many services where there were less than 20 people coming on a Friday morning, including the worship team. I usually sat near the front, and I was scared to turn around because I was afraid no one would be behind me.

It was a difficult in the beginning because there was not a lot of growth. I started a small group with three other people from the church and just prayed that God would bring people to the service. However, it stayed pretty small that year, but a few new people started to come.

My third year, they switched the pastors to have a new pastor come in and take over the service, because

Pastor Mark Ingram

the other pastor, Pastor Dave, was more needed in administrative roles. Pastor Mark was just a few years older than me and had a family, so we got along quite well. He asked me along with a few others to help lead service.

At the same time, a few more teachers started coming. Some came from the building I was living in at my wife's school, and a few more people started through teacher-friends that I have made over the years. The life group really started to expand and grow to the point where we split into two locations for a while. The church grew to around 60 people or so. God was really blessing it, and I was making some really good friends via the life group I led.

The fourth year gave us even more growth. During that year, our church grew in size to nearly 100 people on a given week. It was amazing. Pastor Mark was also drawing a lot of people because of his dynamic preaching and relatively young age, so there were a lot of young adults who started to attend. We started a transportation ministry also that year to help people who didn't have a car, and we did an outreach at the beginning of the year to teacher, which had some success.  Additionally, we did monthly potlucks after the service so people could get to know one another better and to invite newcomers, which was a lot of fun.

One of the sad things is that Kuwait is a transient place, so there are people who have left, including several good friends and life group members. However, last year, we still increased our size to around 120 people, and a few more life groups started in different areas. So, it wasn't just growth in numbers but in spiritual depth and stronger connections. I was given more responsibility in the church as one of the 'elders,' so to speak, and I have really enjoyed being part of this service.

In conclusion, God has been faithful to me and faithful to the Jabriya Life Center over all these years. I can definitely say that Jabriya is my church family, which has made Kuwait more of a home to me each year. Yes, there have been rocky and difficult times, and I'm sure there are more to come, but I also know that God will continue to bless His church in Kuwait.  The Lighthouse Church and specifically the Jabriya Life Center is certainly not your typical American church, but God is working in amazing ways here as well!

Not Your Typical: Part 3

This mini-series has been about my journey to find a Christian oasis in the Kuwaiti desert. I mentioned my attendance at the Lighthouse church Sunday evening service and how it didn't seem to fit, which drew me to the Protestant service at the American embassy where I felt like I was at home.

However, that home was not meant to last. When I came back from the summer into my second school year in Kuwait, the embassy decided to no longer allow religious services to be held on their property. This was a big blow to the people at our church, and also to the people who were attending the Catholic service.

Perhaps the embassy pastor saw the handwriting on the wall before I did, so the embassy church seemed to be ready by providing another venue for the service. It was no longer at the American embassy, but in the district of Jabriya.

Worship Team at Jabriya Life Center

This area has several embassies around it, and it is mostly a commercial area. The place itself is in a Kuwaiti villa, which is a large, three-story house made of stone. Once you park your car across the street, you enter the villa from the back, and you head down a flight of stairs to the basement, which is a large area with enough room for around 180 seats and a stage area for the worship team and pastor. The floor is completely covered with brown, Arabic-designed rugs, and there is an area in the back where people can put their shoes to keep these rugs clean. There are two additional rooms in the back where children's ministry is held. The first floor of the villa had a living-area and a kitchen where people can have tea and coffee afterwards. The upper floors contained apartments for various people, including the pastor.


The name of the extension in this area was called the Jabriya Life Center, and it was rented and controlled by The Lighthouse Church. The embassy church was held at 11:30, so that time slot was held the same when they came to the new location because the Jabriya Life Center did not previously have a service at this time. Additionally, one of the pastors from the Lighthouse were assigned to that service.

So, we had a new pastor, a new location but the same time and many of the same people. However, this didn't last for long. Many of the people who I knew from the embassy started to disappear one-by-one from that service. Also, a few people from the main Lighthouse church location started to attend. It felt pretty disappointing that once we felt like we could finally get comfortable with a service, things were becoming very rocky again. It was as if our desires to find a service that felt like family where we could build close relationships were evaporating in front of us.

However, I felt compelled to stay and help out Pastor Dave with this service, even though the numbers were getting dangerously small. He was the pastor that encouraged me to start a life group when there were none in the service. We appreciated the fact that the service was overseen by the main evangelical church in Kuwait, even though we also were friends with the previous pastor at the embassy. So, with just a few of the original people from our previous service, a new place and a new pastor, we decided to stay and see what would happen.  

Not Your Typical: Part 2

I discussed in my last blog post about the beginning of God's plan to put my wife and I in a church where we fit best, and mentioned briefly about some of the difficulties and novelties of a church in a land like Kuwait.

Once we started attending the service on Sunday night's, we did end up meeting someone who God has definitely used in our lives over the years. Her name is Darlene, and she was a huge help for us in our first couple years in Kuwait. Darlene is a spit-fire, no-nonsense Texas woman who was always on the go. She worked full-time, played on the worship team, attended several church services and did about a dozen other things in her weekly schedule.

She was very kind to us and very generous to immediately start giving us rides to church and back because she wanted to help us out. This was extremely helpful, because getting a taxi in Kuwait can be an exhausting experience. Imagine stepping outside into a giant blow dryer on maximum heat. Being outside for anything more than a minute and your clothes are wet from perspiration, so waiting for a yellow cab to approach can quickly become an exercise in patience and stamina.

Even worse than that was once a taxi approached, we needed to communicate where we wanted to go to a non-native English speaker, which can be a daunting task, especially since we lived near a very loud major highway. Additionally, the fact that we have white skin makes them see dinar(name of Kuwaiti money) when they looked at us, so we had to act like we weren't very interested or desperate even though we were about to melt into the pavement, and we had to haggle hard to get a price that was even remotely fair for a Westerner.

Typical Taxi in Kuwait traffic

The very idea of having to do this every time my wife and I wanted to go somewhere got old and difficult very quickly. Needless to say, some of the very first Arabic words I learned were numbers to negotiate price and directions to wherever I was going, which still serve me to this day.

So, the fact that Darlene was willing to pick us up and drop us off from church on Sunday, even though we had to be there early for her worship team practice, was a wonderful relief and made an indelible mark of gratitude on us.

Even so, I didn't feel like I was really fitting in on the Sunday night service. I was genuinely exhausted from teaching all day, and because people immediately had to leave after the service for the next one, it still felt pretty lonely.

Darlene also invited us to attend another church service that was held at the American Embassy on Friday mornings. After checking it out, my wife and I really liked it because our minds were refreshed from getting some sleep at the end of the week, the traffic was a lot less crowded on Friday, there was a bit more time to linger and chat after the service, and there were a lot of Westerners attending. We began making more friends and getting to know the people from the service pretty well. The service was a lot smaller, more traditional music was sung, and the pastor also had another full time job so he didn't get the same opportunity to prepare as the pastors at the Lighthouse, but we believed that this is where we could find a church family. Or so we thought.

Not Your Typical: Part 1

Even though I've lived in Kuwait for over five years, I still have to field questions in the summer, such as, "Do they have houses over there?" or "Do you have to ride a camel to work?" My wife and I have to be really still in our sand igloo or it all comes crashing down, and my camel needs an oil change and rub-down every two thousand kilometers.

Another question I get asked a lot is about church. People are very surprised when I tell them I go to a thriving church in Kuwait. In fact, the church service I go to is an off-campus site of the main evangelical church in Kuwait, which literally has thousands of people who attend on a weekly basis.

My first year in Kuwait, I had a difficult time finding the church because the phone numbers on the website didn't seem to work, and there is no really functional address system in Kuwait(another story for another time). Because we didn't have a car, we ended up taking a bus and walking around downtown Kuwait City for the church until we stumbled across the main site.

The area itself is this massive site with several buildings where the different church services are held.  There are lights and plants and concrete all over along with several large awnings.  Additionally, there is a book store, library, some offices, a school and a house.

Once we found the church, we started attending a Sunday night service. However, that wasn't really working for me because Sunday is a work day, and because it was my first year teaching in Kuwait, I was super drained after work, and barely had the strength and motivation to worship in spirit and in truth or to listen attentively to the sermon.

Another thing that was hard was the difficulty in connecting with people. Because there are so many people who need to be fed through the church, there are several services that are one after another, so it felt like there was a need to get out and let the next service in.

Finally, we were quite the minority as Americans. While I certainly love people from all languages and cultures, as a first year teacher and going through some major culture shock of my own, I really wanted some sense of familiarity with people from a similar background, profession, language or shared experience.

It was very strange to be sitting in service with a couple hundred people who are mostly from the Indian subcontinent while the worship leader is a Filipino man playing southern gospel songs, followed by a message from an older American gentleman.  After a long day at work, that was definitely sensory overload!

However, we believed that God would be faithful to us and that we were called as Christians to be apart of the Jesus' church, and we definitely grew through that experience.  While that first year wasn't MY ideal church experience, I realized God used it to lead me to the next level of my faith and eventually to where I am today. 

Going Dutch or Arab Hospitality

Traditional Kuwaiti Dish with lamb, rice and saffron

"I got it," I said as the check landed on the table at the restaurant where we were sitting.  I was as surprised as he was to take care of the bill.  It was at that point that I realized that some of the positive aspects of living in Kuwait have rubbed off on me.

I come from the cultural background where most people 'go dutch,' when it comes to going out for a meal or drinks.  It probably has to do with our highly individualistic culture in America that prompts us to think, "It's only fair to pay for what I purchase, and anything else is not my problem."

I myself am a champion of this 'virtue.'  I would often go to restaurants with friends and either order the cheapest thing on the menu, or even worse, eat at home and not eat anything at all except for a drink, which was usually water.

I grew up from a lower middle-class family, and there were times I remember where I stood in bread lines with my mom at charitable organizations that would provide basic food items at a minimal cost.  Because of this, I always understood the value of a dollar.  Even when I graduated from college, and was making a decent living as a teacher, I tried to save every penny to pay off student loans.  However, I retained this mindset even after I paid off my loans, moved to Kuwait, and receive, by God's grace, a good income.

To clarify, I believe that working hard, saving money and planning for the future are good things.  However, I also have come to believe in the value of being generous through living in Kuwait.

I had some Arab friends I worked with for two years, and when we were spending every day together teaching or in the office, there would often be times when we would go out for lunch or dinner.  After eating, instead of splitting the check multiple ways, which is what I'm used to, they would just wait for the check to come and one of them immediately claimed it and said they were happy to pay.

I was shocked, and the next time it happened, one of my other friends would grab the bill.  This happened repeatedly, and I understood that they were just caring and serving each other in this way.  Even though I have the heart of a mooch, I didn't want to be the only one always on the receiving end of their kindness.  I then started to take my share of the bills.  In fact, there was often some typical Arab-style arguing over who got the bill.  We developed into a natural rhythm of paying for each other, and I learned to offer as much as I could.

I also began to export this concept with my American friends.  Instead of squabbling over who paid for what with separate checks, I just began to offer.  Even though it is always a little painful to foot the check for other people, I am learning that money isn't only for hoarding, but also for giving.  I have found this especially important for new people from work or church to show kindness because they usually don't have a lot of extra money.

I am by no means perfect at this, and my selfish heart often doesn't want to pay, but I realize that Arab hospitality is equally Christian hospitality, and I should have that same reputation among the people that I influence.  I am blessed to be a blessing.

Fun, Fellowship, Felafel

    After we started our second school year in Kuwait, my wife and I had relocated to a different church service because the US embassy stopped conducting religious services, which is where we were attending.  The new location for us was a bit of an adjustment, but most of the same people we knew also went to the new service.

One of the things that I knew we were missing out on was more personal and connected times with other Christians.  While church is great, it's not really a time where you can get to know people well because every service has a schedule that only includes only a minute or two of greeting.

It's also especially important in Kuwait, when you are dealing with different cultures, languages, and thinking, to be able to have some friends to connect with on a spiritual level. 

Understanding this, I went to my pastor after one of the services and said I would like be a part of a small group (aka life group, care group, cell group, or anything else that ends in group where Christians get together, pray for one another, discuss a book or sermon, talk, and eat a snack).

He looked at me and said that there were no small groups in our service, but that I should start one.   My heart sank.  I had never led a small group before.  Who was I going to invite?  What was I going to talk about?  Who would want follow me?  What if I vomited in the life group because I was so nervous? 

For some reason beyond me, I agreed that I would try to start one.  I then dutifully went through the process of begging, cajoling, and finally coercing some of my friends from the service to go with me.

There were initially five of us, and yes, it was awkward in the beginning.  We didn't know each other well, I didn't know what I was doing, and everything felt mechanical.

Fast-forward three years and I was sitting in a chair with a room full of about 20 people, none of whom were part of my original group.  I recently passed on the leadership to a friend to allow more people the opportunity to lead.  I consider many the people in my group to be good friends, and we spend a lot of time together outside of the group.  I had tears in my eyes as we prayed for each other. 

We laughed, we cried, and we certainly ate pieces of fried and mashed chickpeas called felafel.  I am grateful that God has provided a community and an oasis for so many of the people who are living here in the desert.

Awkward Situation

I made my way to one of the cross-cultural centers in Kuwait which offers Arabic classes.  It took me a little while because the address wasn't on my GPS, so I had to actually read the road signs.  Upon entering the building, I saw a young Muslim woman who I assumed to be a Kuwaiti or Syrian because of her fair skin, along with her hijab (head covering) and abaya (black outer garment).

She greeted me with "Salam Alaykum", which is the Arabic and Muslim traditional greeting, which means 'peace to you.'  I responded with "Alaykum Salam," which means the same thing.  After this, I spoke to her in Arabic about my interest in taking Arabic classes.  It always takes a little time to communicate in Arabic what I'm saying, and she quickly said I could speak to her in English.  I felt a little foolish because I was sure she thought my Arabic was awful and that it would be less painful for us to speak in English.  I told her I know some Arabic and want to continue learning.

She asked me how much Arabic I knew.  Again, I started speaking in Arabic to show her my range, abilities and limits with the language.  This time she said nothing, which prompted me to ponder why I even try learning Arabic if it's that bad.  She asked me where I learned Arabic, so I told her in mixed English and Arabic that I've taken different classes on and off over the last several years and that I wanted something with more speaking than reading and writing.

When she asked me why I wanted to learn the language, I told her I liked it and that I want to know some since I live in an Arab country.  It was at this point that she responded with, "I want to learn Arabic too."  I was kind of stunned.  I instantly replayed all the scenes of me talking with her in Arabic and realized that she didn't speak it once except for the initial greeting, which also explains why she wanted me to talk to her in English and she didn't respond to my Arabic dialogue.  I was pretty embarrassed, and I felt that I should have known better than to assume. 

This experience reminded me that, while Kuwait is an Arab nation, it is full of people from all kinds of cultures.  In fact, there are more foreign workers than Kuwaitis.  I was also reminded that not all Muslims speak Arabic.  I believe the largest Muslim population on Earth is Indonesia, and where they do not speak Arabic.  At the end of the conversation, I asked her where she was from and she said Pakistan, which has a huge number of non-Arab Muslims, who only know Arabic from the Koran.  I guess my situation would be like hearing a Christian say hallelujah and assume they know Hebrew.

Arrival

Imagine this:  walking off a plane into 120 degree heat at night after traveling over 24 hours including two layovers, a rescheduled flight and several vain attempts to reach your future employer.  Deliriously tired but full of confusion and adrenaline, you aimlessly walk around until you fumble into a line that is supposed to be where you get your entrance visa.  You survey the area, and you hear a lot of a language you don't understand, smell smoke from all the lit cigarettes inside mixed with an unusual perfume, and you see men in white dresses and women in black with their hair covered.

When your number is called, you explain the situation and they give you a piece of paper and unhelpful directions(in a thick accent) to the next place you have to wait in line.  This line takes another 20 minutes, and you begin to reconsider whether looking for a job in the middle east was a wise idea while praying that you will be able to get to some shelter, privacy and rest.  Once you make it through the next line, you find where you collect your bags by watching what other people are doing just to figure it out, but realize that your bag is not on the machine, and you have no idea what to do.  After asking several people, you get some sort of general explanation why your bag isn't on the plane, a phone number to call with an unusual number of digits and a plus sign, along with overconfident reassurances that everything will be okay.  

You make your way through another checkpoint, where all bags and carry-on items need to be scanned for contraband, and then walk through some big doors into the the airport main lobby and arrivals which is full of people waiting for friends and loved ones.  You look around anxiously for someone to have your name on a piece of paper, and you feel as rejected as your were in junior high when you don't see anyone immediately.  Eventually, you talk to someone who refers you to someone else who is waiting for you, and he makes you exchange money to buy a cell phone and then has you get into his van.  

At this point, you begin to realize that you don't have any confirmation that this person is who he says he is, and he could be a con artist or a murderer and dump your bodies in the desert.  However, you have no choice but to trust this man, or get back on a flight home.  

This was exactly the experience that my wife and I had when we first came to Kuwait, and after five years of living there, that initial experience is as vivid now as it was then.  However, I've learned to love that airport and all the sights, smells and experiences that goes with going back to Kuwait as I get ready to launch into another school year.