There is a great deal to think about after spending nine days in Turkey for the Eurasia Regional Conference.
Already, we are part of an international community in Büsingen. The people we live, work, and worship with come from all over Europe and places as distant as the U.S. and parts of Africa. At the conference, pastors, leaders, and lay people from all across Eurasia - from the Northern Europe and the UK clear to Southeast Asia - came together for the first time in four years. Our international community was magnified to amazing proportions. So many cultures, languages, and experiences of being Nazarenes gathered in a single room, worshiping the Lord we have in common in spite of our many other differences!
Reports from the fields across the region all agreed that the challenges are great, but that God is building his church. Economic instability, poverty, anti-Christian hostility, or widespread secularism - none of these serious challenges can stop the Lord from doing his work. Christians are being faithful in the face of persecution, obediently generous despite financial difficulty, and people across the region respond to the Spirit's call in societies where religious faith is derided and treated with suspicion. Whatever the difficulties, obstacles, challenges, and reasons why it is impossible or ill-advised, if God is working and his people are faithful then who or what can stand in the way?
Even while Christians were gathering, the Spirit did not limit His presence and work to the worship services and workshops alone. Outside the conference itself, I enjoyed the opportunity to meet two Muslim men - one a hotel guest, the other an employee - and trade perspectives and experiences of our different faiths. In a place where hundreds of years ago Christians and Muslims would have been killing each other, we sat down, and talked, and - most importantly - listened to each other. It was my hope that both men perceived something different about this Christian than they might have expected. Somewhere farther along in their journey, I pray they will remember having experienced and heard the Lord speaking to them through our conversation and the peaceful way it was carried on.
Following the end of the conference, Gina and I paid a brief visit to the city of Istanbul. A man selling wares at one of the markets spoke briefly with us, attempting to explain why Gina and I ought to convert to Islam. He was plainly spoken and quite direct in his approach, yet we could both sense the genuineness of his concern and compassion for our spiritual well-being from his point of view. In the other two instances, I took the opportunity to speak as well as listen, sharing a Christian perspective. There was no such opportunity here as I discerned the conversation might unintentionally degenerate into an argument, or a spirited debate at the very least. We listened, thanked him for his kindness in speaking with us, and left his store.
Now that we have returned, the pastor of a new church plant in Bulgaria will do a directed study in church history with me over the next ten weeks. I will also have the opportunity to preach at our local church at the beginning of November. Just before Thanksgiving, Gina and I will go to Geneva, Switzerland where I will take the GRE test at the university.
We're grateful the opportunities we've had not only to serve our local church, EuNC, and the Eurasia region on a daily basis. But we always want to be prepared for every opportunity outside the Christian community to share Christ, whether through the words we speak, the way we listen, or the way we live. Whether or not those we encounter are prepared to receive Christ, it is our hope and prayer to lead others a little closer to Him. This is true wherever we find ourselves, whether volunteering in Germany, attending a conference in Turkey, or back home in the United States.
