“And let us be concerned about one another in order to promote love and good works, not staying away from our meetings, as some habitually do, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day drawing near. ” Hebrews 10:23, 24
Now that we have been in Cyprus for over a whole month, it is time to give some perspective on our church life so far. One is tempted to allow church attendance to drift when you are in such a new setting - no one knows you and why put forth the effort to get to know a new group of friends. But that is easily put aside as we realize that our presence here is of divine moving. It would be unthinkable not to go to church, but the bigger question is, which one?
We have previously noted the extremely international nature of this island and each church group has reasons for their invitation, all sincere and genuine, we believe. Marian has had cross church exposure more than I have because of the Bible studies to which Donna introduced her before repatriating to the US. We are so thankful for Joe and Donna’s bridging the gap of coming here so well for us!
We have attended the Greek Evangelical Church which is adjacent to the Academy, just around the corner and that service was most welcoming. The pastor is the husband of the Primary Principal and so there was that contact. In addition, there are some staff from the Academy who attend as well as parents of some our students and one Board member as well. The difficulty for us is that this service is entirely in Greek and so we get little from it even if someone translates for us.
We have attended the New Life Community Church twice and there is such a strong invitation to attend here because the service is in English and very much parallel to what we are accustomed to with the proviso that it is somewhat more charismatic. Several teachers attend here with many students and their parents as well. Many here want us to make this our church home. We are tempted!
Then we have attended a couple of Sundays at the Anglican church - smaller in size and more attached to the historical church in England. That has both positive and negative considerations. On the one hand the people are very warm and inviting and particularly like Marian’s attendance at a mid week BIble Study. This form of worship is interesting in its formality. I find it quite interesting and though provoking to read ‘collects’, prayers, Scripture, confessions, creeds … but all are done with thought and sincerity. There is something attractive about the ancient liturgy resonating with the worship of previous generations. The hymns, some new and some very familiar, are sung with some of the newer church music in a blend of ancient and modern expressions of faith. The English service has its appeal as well, but I sense that for some the ritual has become just that - detached from day to day living, but I could be mistaken. We have met some very wonderful people here and hope to make them friends! We worshiped here this morning and then stayed on for anther service later in the same church.
Nicosia International Church holds its services in St. Paul’s Anglican Church after the Anglicans have their service and leave for coffee in the nearby church hall - in a detached building. The children of the pastor attend the Academy and so we had a personal invitation. This is, as its name suggests, a very international church catering to the transient population of international students who attend local colleges and the university. Today I met people from Kenya, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Latvia, Lebanon, Ethiopia and we were new from Canada. The singing, although all choruses, some of which I had never heard, reminded me of the singing from our mission days in Nigeria some five decades ago! It was a taste of heaven in a sense because there will be those who join throughout eternity praising God from every tribe and nation! What a wonder that the Gospel is able to rise above ethnic diversity, political systems and racial prejudice to join us all in the bond of love in Christ.
Rick, the pastor, who has been through a divorce is preaching through the book of Mark and today came to chapter 10 with the issue of marriage, divorce and remarriage. I have to say that of all the church services we have attended since coming, this was the most biblical and insightful, caring and yet challenging! I had the real sense that this man had dug to the depths of this topic and shared his discoveries with a love and vulnerability seldom seen in the pulpit these days on any side of the ocean! Unfortunately, Rick is off to the States to attend a seminar for the next month and so we will not hear him preach until he returns.
As we exited the church Marian and I were separated and I found her talking with a man, George from Lebanon - a journalist, and a Christian who had lived in southern Lebanon near the Israeli border and when fighting irrupted left for Cyprus. How soon the news events which enter our lives through the media come to acquire a totally different sense when you talk with someone who was ‘there’! He has many relatives in Canada and has been denied a visa because Canada is being very careful in not allowing people to come to Canada and then claim refugee status. He was encouraged to apply as an immigrant so wants to learn more about Canada and asked if we could meet.
George and I had converged as we exited the church just as Rick was coming to the back. I guess George had been absent for some weeks and he made this comment to Rick, “When you preach my heart just …” and then he motioned with his hand over his heart as if it were jumping! The power of God through the spoken Word! Hallelujah!
Now I have been saving something for the end. Rick is one of the World Partner missionaries from the US! So, I was proud of the way in which he had handled the Word in this context! His father-in-law is Jim Rousso who has been a WEP missionary here in Cyprus for many years.
So, where will we attend? I sensed that this small group 60-100 mostly students is the place I have felt most at home and will seek God’s direction. We do feel the need as a result of my position to attend several of these churches just so that we are seen and they know we share with them.
Pray for the week ahead as I have a Board meeting as well as the seemingly endless demands of the day to day work. Pray for staff who are under a great deal of stress in trying to meet their job responsibilities. Twice this week I had to deal with staff who ended up in tears because of things that others had done to them! That is a sign of stress to me - dedication running into frustrating circumstances and feeling the inability to cope. I also had to deal with the first fight between students - young, yes, but one was a rather new student who has come out of the war situation in Lebanon and one can only imagine the scars which are imprinted in this young man’s mind. He has been unable to gain friends and so this altercation is not the basis of discipline primarily, but an opportunity to teach others about acceptance and to see if we can get him some degree of integration. Another case which ended sadly was the older student who had been here at the Academy last year and was here in Cyprus to register but was unable to stay because the father has lost so much in business that he cannot afford the tuition. Last year he had been sponsored by an Armenian group out of New York, but someone had passed along a false report of his involvement in some altercation so he was refused funding. If only the Academy had the resources on which to draw to give such students a scholarship it would be wonderful!
He has returned to Iran where someone, presumably a family member has paid for his tuition at a school of 3,000 where he will be taught in Arabic. As he left he said, “I am afraid. I do not know Arabic very well and so wonder how much I will be able to learn. Besides, I am a Christian and that makes me more afraid in that setting.” Tears come to our eyes over the helpless situations which face so many in this region. May God grant us the resources to be able to meet the needs which are so prevalent.
I want to end on a positive note and thank all those who have contributed to Baraka International Ministries. I have used some of the funds to meet some very basic needs at the Academy. So far I have purchased the following:
2 DVD’s of King Lear for English classes
2 Literary Kits to help students retain their detailed grammar knowledge
a set of 7 DVD’s for our Bible classes from Focus on the Family
a new printer and Wifi connection so staff have a computer system to access the internet and do some lesson preparation
2 DVD players and a new projector so that the DVD’s can be shown to classes.
There will be more in the days ahead as I try to ascertain the most critical areas which need support. So, we thank God for YOUR partnership in the Gospel as it manifests itself in this very practical way. I could not believe the appreciation of staff when they saw that they could now use a computer and a reliable printer and access the internet from the staff room! Such small advances are gratifying personally but it is only as you have shared your resources! Thank you, may you experience His blessing!
David - The BOSS (see Marian’s next Cyprus letter!)
posted by David & Marian Sloss @ 5:04 AM
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