The Arabian Peninsula Partnership

The Gospel for every person and a church for every people in the Arabian Peninsula amongst indigenous peoples

25 January, 2010

Honour vs. Shame

Praise

Thank you for praying during Ramadan. Through the "iftars" (breaking of the fast in Ramadan) many relationships were deepened. In a few of these gatherings, God allowed spiritual dialogue to happen. Praise the Lord for opening of hearts.

Prayer

Continue to pray for the fighting in the north of the country, as well as for the search for terrorists that authorities are conducting. Ask that those who seek to create conflict will fail. Thank the Lord for peace in many areas of the country and ask that it will spread to the unsafe places.

Pray for more workers to be called and to be able to get jobs/visas here. Pray for those who have trained and prepared - that God would guide them to the right positions.

Tentmakers from the same organizational sending base are few in the Gulf. Pray that being from different organizations, tentmakers will find the courage to pursue the independent roles God may intend them to have, and at the same time the wisdom and love to see how they may best work together.

Please pray for wisdom and peace among the workers here as the government now seems to know more about our activities.

Pray for M. a person who has gone the extra mile to seek Christians and has been upfront with his desire to get to know the faith. He is a young guy, a foreign worker coming from a country that is in war. Pray that the right person might be found to contact him and explain to him the gospel. Pray that there will be no second motives with M., or that these motives will not limit him in discovering Christ.

Testimony

A woman will not take out the trash, for that would be dishonorable.

To honor her family, a young girl must wear a veil when she leaves her house.

She must eat in the room for women at the university because it would be shameful to eat in public.

Her brother must pass his final exam in school, so as not to bring shame on the family.

Do you notice a re-occurring theme in the previous statements? Honor vs. shame dictates the lives of the people here. Their social conduct, their schooling and business dealings, even their dress, is determined by this concept. Ask that the gospel will be represented in a way that addresses honor and shame, not in terms of right and wrong (the way the West represents it).

Ask that people will see that Jesus was not weak (in his death on the cross) but that He is worthy of the highest honor. Ask that the people will acknowledge that repentance can take away their shame and that God wants to lift them to honor through Jesus, who brought the message of reconciliation and hope.