| Nineveh You know the place & you've probably heard the story. The book of Jonah tell us the story about the first foreign missionary. The Lord told him to go to this city and tell the people about His love for them. He was supposed to tell them that God loved them and would spare them if they would only change their ways, but because he was afraid of the people, he didn't go; instead he caught a boat to a city in the opposite direction. Going to Nineveh represented obedience to God's direction as well as a display of His love and an outpouring of His mercy. You see, when Jonah finally did make it to Nineveh to share Gods plan, the Ninevites repented of their sin and turned to God. God decided to spare the city. God used a broken, fearful, disobedient man to demonstrate His Power and Glory. What we know about the city is that it was founded by Nimrod, who was one of Noah's grandsons. It was possibly the largest city of it's time. God says that there were 120,000 folks who "don't know their right arm from their left". If there were that many children, you can imagine how many people were in this city. Also, Nineveh was known for it's cruelty and was a very violent place. What you may not know is that Nineveh was the cultural melting pot of the time. Since it was located on the Tigris River, which is now in Iraq, it was the gateway between the east and western cultures and thus had influence from both. This city was key because lots of trade and travel routes passed through the city. God knew that if folks in Nineveh were to believe in Him, many other people would learn about His power. Rachel and I feel that God has led us to the Balkans; specifically the border of Bosnia & Croatia. This area has much in common with the place called Nineveh from the Bible. It is also a gateway connecting the East & West. There are remaining influences from the Ottoman empire, the Turkish, Hungarian,the Romans, Germans, Russians, and Slavs. It is a cultural melting pot that is mostly closed to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is currently estimated that evangelical Christians make up less than 1/10th of 1% of the population. This figure is startling! More than that though, it represents obedience for us. When I was in Bosnia with the military in 2001, I vowed I would NEVER return to this part of the world again. God apparently had other plans! We believe it to be where God has called us to serve Him, no matter the cost or sacrifice required to do so. We are no better than Jonah, but we know that God can use anyone who is willing to obey. We are now in the stages of obeying this call. We are truly blessed to see God's hands moving here. Please feel free to browse around our site, check out our blog, read our mission statement and sign up for our prayer letter. |
