Next week I am going to the Middle East. I will be in Israel and Jordan to be exact. My friend Rod (a Nazarene missionary in Jordan) asked if I would participate in a Middle East Compassionate Ministries Conference. I said “Sure,” and so next week I’m there.
Fellow Centralite and all around great guy, Larry Bollinger is also going to be at the conference. Which made me wonder if this will qualify me for some kind of prize at District Assembly for the “farthest traveled to make a pastoral call”?
It’s kinda weird really. I leave on Monday and get back on Saturday. I won’t even miss a Sunday at Central. So, you’ll see me this week and I’ll preach and pray and do all of those preacherly type of things, and then you’ll see me the next Sunday and I’ll hopefully look pretty much the same, but I will have been to Israel and Jordan and back. Wow, do we live in a small world or what?
Some of the missionaries there have asked for some items that are either impossible to get or more expensive to purchase in the Middle East. So, along with my toothbrush, Bible, and change of clothes, I’m taking a bunch of stuff with me for other people. The list of assorted do-dads includes: a laptop computer, medicine, an MP3 player, shirts, translation equipment, books, and a box of Q-tips.
A box of Q-tips? Don’t they have Q-Tips in the Middle East? How do they not have Q-Tips? Maybe I’ve just stumbled on to the big problem in the Middle East. Maybe all these wars and rumors of wars in the Middle East have occurred because they don’t have Q-tips. Maybe this whole Israeli-Arab conflict began when someone on one side of the conflict said, “Eat cake more!” But someone on the other side of the conflict, because of an excessive amount of ear wax build-up due to the fact that there are no Q-Tips in Palestine, thought they said, “Let’s make war!” And the rest, as they say, is history.
And so, next week, like a white knight (or maybe more like the always loved, brown clad, UPS delivery man) I’ll ride into town carrying all sorts of goodies, including the desperately needed, peace bringing, Q-tips. Could it be that the headlines across the globe will read: “Rob brings Q-Tips and Peace to the Middle East!”? Maybe I should take two boxes just in case. Nobel Peace Prize… here I come!
OK this is just plain silly. I don’t know why they need Q-tips. And please know, I don’t mean to make light of the serious issues that have gripped that corner of the world. It seems like every day we hear about more bloodshed and one group trying to eradicate the other group. It’s very discouraging and heart breaking. I’m not a Middle East expert, not by a long shot. But I do know this: The Middle East needs Jesus. Q-Tips won’t bring peace, but Jesus will. The only hope for the Middle East and for our world is Jesus.
Quite frankly, I don’t think I have a lot to share with the group of Middle Eastern pastors and laymen at a Compassionate Ministries Conference. They are ministering and serving in the most difficult of situations, which is a far cry from my pretty easy life in Johnson County. I’m so glad for dedicated and courageous missionaries and believers in that part of the world that are enduring hardships to make Him known. All this to say, I am looking forward to learning much more from the experience than what I could ever give, and I am thankful for the opportunity to share, offer hope and supply their Q-Tips for a week or two.
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