For nearly twenty years, my wife and I have been giving to mission contributions. It wasn't until this year though, that I got to see the results of some of our giving.In April, I got the opportunity to go to the Middle East with R.D. Baker. He is a veteran of the mission field, who had lived and worked there for several years. To be honest, I was a little apprehensive at first. You hear nothing but bad news about that region and all these negative thoughts were running through my mind. I was at the same time excited to go to these new places and see the faces of people for whom I had prayed and sent funds to. The day to leave came quickly and we set off to go to Cairo, Egypt.

Because of a mechanical delay, we got to Cairo much later than we expected. However, the brothers still found us and we talked late into the night. It has been challenging for the church in Cairo because their leader, Maher Hinn, had been stopped from coming back into the country the month before we arrived. We were most encouraged by seeing and talking to Nagi, a brother whom we had prayed for some years back. He had been arrested and confined in a small Sudanese prison for baptizing people in that country. He endured 62 days in a tiny, isolated cell and missed the birth of his baby daughter. Seeing him there, healthy and spiritually happy, made me realize how good it is to live and preach in a free country. We visited the Pyramids and the Sphrinx, but the highlight was when R.D. and I were able to speak to the Cairo church. We had an interpreter, but it was great to hear familiar songs sung with unfamiliar words. After the service we went to a brother's home for fellowship, food, and football (their "football"). The Egyptian soccer team was playing Barcelona that night.

Early the next day we flew to Kuwait and later that week to Bahrain and spoke to the churches. It was great that we were able to do both a lesson and the Lord's Supper in those two countries on the same day. We also spent time with many people individually over the next week. I fully expected the Christians there to present a list of needs and requests. Instead, we were bombarded with their desire to spend spiritual time with us and look for Biblical answers to what causes us all to struggle. I was so impressed by the hearts and serving nature of the brothers and sisters. They want to feel a connection to us in the USA and not to be forgotten. Even though they didn't ask for anything tangible, it doesn't mean that they don't have needs. I hope that by sharing this, we will honor God and their sacrifice by meeting the financial needs of the churches in the Middle Eastern region. Finally, I appeal to you to find an opportunity to go to visit the brothers and sisters. My skewed vision of the Middle East has been changed for the better. My wife and I are already making plans to go back and visit!