God is Always at His Work

Even when you cannot understand everything around you, it is always a certainty that God is at work in ways we can see if we just look for it.

MEDICAL MISSIONSHEALTHCAREMIDDLE EAST

David P Smith

5/26/20212 min read

July 8, 2018


I am still trying to get used to this new time schedule here. I got up this morning earlier even though it was hard to get to sleep last night due to not being used to this time. I thought I knew somewhat where I was going this morning, but somehow missed a turn in my walking and ended up walking for one hour before I got to the church to attend today. They started at 10:00 with me arriving at 10:40. That didn’t bother anyone there at all and I opened the front door of the building to some glorious singing that was full of joy. I had just about given up trying to find the church and then it was right before my eyes. It was just about a packed house with around 200 people in the building. The A/C was stressing trying to keep it cool. I was sweating a lot from walking that far and welcomed the rest of stopping. The service lasted until 12 noon. I heard about their 6 hours (wow!) of prayer meeting they had on Saturday that they will be doing for the next several Saturdays through August. I heard about the dreams of people who were being led by God to find faith in Christ and leave Islam. He preached from Genesis 37.

Even though I could not understand the music which was sung in Arabic language, I could understand the Spirit of God in the church through it. One song I could tell they were singing at the end was How Great Thou Art. There was very visible joy expressed in the worship in music and the message. Pastor Nizar Touma at the Church of the Nazarene here preached from the Word with passion and conviction; his message spoke to me in a personal way and I appreciate him following God’s leading in his messages given. You can tell he loves his flock that God has given him.
The people were nice and I wish that I could have understood Arabic language enough to visit with them more. There is an English translator available for everything except for the music; a wireless headset enables that.
Next Sunday I plan on going to a local Southern (yes, can you believe it?) Baptist Church here in Nazareth which has a school (K-12). A friend of the spiritual director, Frank, here will be driving and I will go with him, so I won’t get lost walking this time!
I went to the hospital cafeteria today and got to eat some shredded cabbage, rice, a small piece of chicken breast, and some tomato and peppers (yes!) soup. Upon leaving, the lady sitting there in the cafeteria smiled when I told her, Tov, tov, tov ! Toda raba! (! טוב, טוב, טוב! תודה רבה) which means “Good, good, good! Much thanks!”
This evening will be chapel time at 18:30. I look forward to seeing a good number of folks who know English. My Hebrew skills are limited, but I am getting some practice in with it. Most of the people know Hebrew and Arabic with many also knowing some English.