Newsletter
by Camille Melki
In times of crisis, the church, Heart for Lebanon, and the body of Christ at large, should stick to its God given mission.
So what is our God given mission? I see it in two parts: 1) to edify, pray for, encourage, and strengthen the believers and 2) to share the Gospel with the masses, starting with those nearest to us. I got this two part-mission focus from the Book of Acts where we see the church then, the body of Christ in those days, dealing with crises. In chapter 12 we see Peter thrown in jail and in chapter 16 we see the same happening with Paul and Silas. In both instances the evil one thinks he can defeat the church by creating a sense of despair; putting the leadership in jail and spreading fear within the body of Christ.
In both instances the evil one has failed – and the evil one will fail today as well!
In Peter’s story we see him deep asleep, confident of the peace Jesus has given him. When the angel visits him, scriptures tell us that the angel needed to strike Peter to wake him up. Once freed, Peter went straight to his brothers and sisters to encourage and strengthen them too. The earnest prayers of the believers have been answered.
In Paul and Silas’ story we see that they were “praying and singing hymns to God”. Wow, what a sense of peace they had! They knew that the one in them is greater than the one who is in the world (1 John 4:4). Then came the earthquake and the prison doors flew open. We read in Acts chapter 16 that the jailer wanted to take his own life but Paul’s words to him stopped him and then the jailer asked: sir, what must I do to be saved? vs 30. The same is true today. Many are afraid and many are living in despair. There is only comfort and only hope in the Gospel. Many are asking what shall they do to be saved? Are we ready to respond to such a question? Or are we too busy with our own worries and with our own fears?
Simply said, the church’s mission was and will always be to strengthen, encourage, and edify the believers. Its mission is also to share the Gospel; making disciples, followers of Jesus Christ, the prince of peace.
This is the Heart for Lebanon mandate: to lead people from despair to hope in Christ. It is, and it will always be our mission: to make disciples.
