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Christianity Today, January (Web-only), 2008 |

Speaking Out

The Middle East's Faithful Are Breathing Fine

A response to David Aikman.

Mike Parker | posted 1/16/2008 09:13AM

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Fourth, be aware of the bigger picture. Our friends in the Middle East tell us they think things will go both ways in the future. Harassment will be replaced by real persecution, and we need to find strength to resist it. At the same time, many Muslims look hard at Islam and find it deeply dissatisfying. They are longing for an encounter and a relationship with the living God. A constant stream of vision and dream stories shows us that Jesus is drawing people to himself. Bible Societies, publishers, satellite channels, and Internet conversations are all responding to these seekers and welcome thoughtful investment of both finance and people.

Thank you, David, for the challenge you laid out. We and others whose work focuses on supporting churches in the Middle East would love to help you respond.

Mike Parker is Middle East Director of MECO (Middle East Christian Outreach).

Related Elsewhere:

Botrus Mansour, in Nazareth, also responded to Aikman's column.

MECO has people in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Cyprus, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Sudan, and the Arabian Peninsula. Their site has more about ministry opportunities.

Christianity Today's coverage of the Middle East's traditional Christian communities includes:

Suffocating the Faithful | Will the last Mideast church leader be sure to turn off the lights? (December 17, 2007)

What Iraq's Christians Need | Two strategies to build up the church in the war-weary nation. A Christianity Today editorial. (January 22, 2007)

Fleeing Nineveh | Threatened by persistent violence, Assyrian Christians in Iraq want to govern themselves. (December, 18, 2006)

Daring to Dream Again | Chaldean Christians connect with other believers. (August 1, 2003)

Reflections from a Messianic Jew in Israel | When questions are too hard to answer, we must still be about our Father's business. (August 31, 2006)

The Christian Message in Lebanon | Journalist Rami Khouri on how the church can foster peace in a troubled region. (August 24, 2007)

A Precarious Calm | A year after the July 2006 war, Lebanon's Christians face a murky future. (June 25, 2007)

The Colors of Lebanon | What would real peace mean? (February 7, 2007)

The 'Jesus Manifesto' for Lebanon | Rebuilding the soul of a shattered nation on the brink of civil war. (February 7, 2007)

Orthodox Unity … | Autonomous Orthodoxy isn't an oxymoron. It's the fulfillment of a different kind of American dream. (July 1, 2004)

Q&A: Karekin II | The leader of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Karekin II visited the U.S. in October to support a resolution condemning Turkey's 1915-1917 Armenian genocide. (November 26, 2007)

Death Watch | One of the world's earliest Christian cultures totters on the edge of extinction. (January 1, 2003)

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January (Web-only) 2008, Vol. 52

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Ephrem Hagos

Posted: January 17, 2008 9:38 AM

Probably the best thing one can do for the contemporary churches in the Middle East in persecution is to help them regain their direction to what the real "Church" was meant to be in the first place! The Church, a synonym to the unveiled divine Person of Jesus Christ, as confided to a few in Caesarea Phillipi (Matt. 16: 13-28), very carefully followed up and securely built thereafter at Golgotha where Jesus was crucified, died and simultaneously proved His immortality (all by His own will and power), is the law of God put within us and written permanently on our hearts in the full conviction of who the LORD Jesus is (Jer. 31: 31-34; Matt. 26: 16-29). The greater one's identification is with such a Church, the higher will be the degree of freedom enjoyed, up to and including immortality! The fate of the other apostate church, on the other hand, will continue to deteriorate to the point of death in one's sins (John 8:24). These are the LORD's words not the writers!

clementina micheal

Posted: January 17, 2008 2:12 AM


you dont know how gladened i am with this article.I so happy that the gospel of christ is prevailing and shall prevail in the middle east as it prevailed in ephesus. its my humble and sincere prayer that God continue to bless and strenten his vessles. may God guide, deliver and provide for this christains who are pesecuted and prejudiced because of their faith in christ. Amen!

Bill Bray

Posted: January 16, 2008 12:14 PM

While a bit glib at times, Mike's suggestions sound reasonable. We certainly would like to let our Middle Eastern friends and mission partners speak for themselves more. Perhaps Christianity Today and other media channels could provide more opportunity for indigenous believers to speak for themselves. The silence from Christians in the Arab world and throughout the Middle East in general is profound.

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