WHAT DO YOU ‘SEE’?

Dearest friends…the story is told of a blind believer who met the old saint who had been on the road for a long time (Gal.5: 16). Seeing the old saint, and not having the sunniest of days, thought to ply him with a question. “Is there anything worse than being born blind?” “Yes”, replied the old saint who certainly was not mealy-mouthed – “there is - having no vision!” When you hear or see Iraq on the news, what do you ‘see’? Is it the vast numbers of unemployed, who despite being in one of the richest oil nations of the world, cannot find work? Do you ‘see’ such large scale corruption that ranks Iraq as one of the most corrupt countries in the world? Do you see ISIL or ISIS battling the inefficient Iraqi army? Our vision is that we ‘see’ God building His Kingdom. God is on the move - He is working (John 5. 17). Here in one of the hardest places in the world where the evilness of men’s hearts is not in any way restrained by the rule of law; an opportunity has been created by The Kingdom for Kingdom work. Let me put this another way - the kingdom of darkness has created an opening for the kingdom of light and life and love. You see, had Iraq enjoyed peace and prosperity, then the Church would have been attacked. Had Iraq been a nation at ease, the Church would have been oppressed, but evil has provided a distraction that allows His work to continue among poor women who simply need to hear and see THAT JESUS LOVES THEM. The Lord said that the thief comes to steal and kill and destroy (John.10:10). These realities, certainly true in Iraq, generate enough sadness, so there is little attention focused on the few serving Christians