Syria: In Closing

Fri, May 1, 2009 at 4:29 PM
Subject - Syria: In Closing

Hello dear friends and family,

This marks the last e-mail you will receive from me and the team here in Damascus, Syria. In about 4 hours we will be leaving the hotel for the airport. John Card, Graham, and Carolyn are out doing some last minute shopping while the rest of us pack. (I'm already packed!)

Words simply cannot describe this experience. Tonight in our debrief time, we went around the room discussing the impact of the trip. Each person had a major take-away, and I was truly humbled to be with brothers and sisters in Christ who not only have such an intense desire to grow in Him - but are also capable spiritual leaders as well. Such a sweet moment.

Today we were with the older kids, and we exchanged email addresses with the majority of them - which was awesome. I p that we are able to stay in touch with them and continue to disciple these new brothers and sisters in Christ, as many of them plan on coming to the USA in the future. This evening we went to the young adult bible study which was awesome. The whole group p-ed over us, which was SUCH a cool experience.

All around it was a spiritually growing experience that stretched each of us in some way, and each of us has our own story to tell about being here. These people have treated us like family, taking us in and serving us - even though we came here to serve them. We have now seen the ugly face of real persecution in the name of Christ, and what it means to be diligent in prayer. Each person will leave here impacted, challenged as to what is next and how can we apply what God has shown us here to our daily lives. This trip will not be just another blip on the calendar or vacation time spent, but it will be a pivotal moment in our walk with the Lord. We have bonded as a team, and hope to hold each other accountable to p-ing for these dear people and OUR church here in Damascus. We hope to have meetings with our team as the future rolls on, to get with God about Syria. While we may not see these dear brothers and sisters in Christ again before we leave Damascus, or even ever again on earth - however, we will certainly see them again in heaven.

There is so much more I can say, but perhaps the rest of the stories will come in person as we see you back at Second Baptist, at work, at home, over the phone, at the gym, or in any other capacity. I encourage you to not only p for these dear team members, but please take time to get with them and ask them about their time in Syria. Ask them how God has spoke to them and what they are doing with it. This is not only a blessing to us, but we p it is a blessing to you also.

Again, words cannot express our thanks for your p-ers, notes, poems, encouraging emails, and the like. They have really inspired us, and left us impacted half way around the world as to how we can apply this experience back home. I thank you for taking the time to read these each day, and to take it upon yourself to come on this journey with us. Be blessed and we will see you back home! Signing off one last time......

<><
Kristina