Tread Lightly....

The past few days I have had the honor of listening to the Vicar of Baghdad, Andrew White.
I don't think I expected much when I heard he was coming,
simply because I had no idea who he was.

But, oh boy. Was I surprised!
His stories, the places he has been, and if you simply saw him you would think he would be the unlikeliest person.
I am telling you people, greatness is all about the inside. ;)

He has had so much favor to bring Jesus into the country of Iraq...
he definitely personifies an agent of change.
There is something about his stories that really caught my attention,
I don't know if its because I have a lot of Egyptian family whom are Muslims...
or the fact my eldest sister is going to end up bringing change to the middle east,(making it a much talked about thing in my home)
nonetheless, it really struck my heart.

I remember being younger and reading a book called Red Moon Rising,
in the book the author, while in Iraq tells this story that to this day has stuck with me. He talks about while driving through Iraq he made eye contact with a woman on the street and instantly he heard God say, "tread lightly for this is holy ground." That statement struck me so profoundly and has always stayed with me.
I think that having family members that have originated from that part of the world, has probably placed a sensitivity and love for the culture on the inside of me.

Andrew White shared a story today that I probably will never forget either,
actually two... ha :)
The first one was about a little boy, who when soldiers bombarded into the church, killing people left and right walked around behind them saying, "please don't kill anymore people, we just want peace." Eventually they turned around and shot the little boy, but there is something so profound about that to me. Nothing inside of him screamed fear, instead it screamed love, thus promoting a message of peace. He knew who his God was, and he was fighting for the love that was manifest on the inside of him, coming alive in the soldiers and the atmosphere around him. He died fighting for that very thing, and something on the inside of me tells me that his cause was one worth fighting for. He is a hero.

White told another story about three little boys being kidnapped from their church, they found them the next day, dead, having been cooked in an oven and placed over rice. That made my heart stop. To imagine that is horror. But, alas it happened. Not hundreds of years ago..but mearly months ago. I can only think how happy those three little boys are right now in Heaven with their Abba! :-) They too are heroes of our day.

Something on the inside of me made me realize that I know nothing of persecution in my world. I let stupid things trip me up, I allow the pettiest of things to entertain my mind,I can become so fearful in an instant. Yet, across the world there are people, every minute facing the constant reality of being slaughtered in some form or fashion, and yet they live in perfect peace.
It tells me one thing, they've experienced love.
And, there is no fear in love.
It tells me something else, I clearly haven't experienced enough love.
So my hearts cry?
"God, I need more of your love!"

There is this incredible passage in Isaiah 19 that White consistently referred too,
"In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria (present day Iraq). The Assyrians will go to Egypt and Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrian's will worship together. In that day Israel will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing on the earth. The Lord Almighty will bless them, saying, "Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance."

Assyria, present day Iraq, those people, that nation is God's handiwork.
And, that is the promise that keeps them fighting onward.

Peace. Love. Joy.