When we left Iran we were told we could have news about our new 30 day visas in 7-10 days.   Despite the fact that we’ve been down this road numerous times before and we know to take these time estimates very loosely, I still find myself counting the days.   Our time in Bahrain really has been a blessing though.  The day after we arrived our church held a share and prayer session for us, our friends are incredibly encouraging and uplifting, our pastor is leading us in a day of prayer and fasting and inviting others in the church to join us this coming Tues, and it just really feels that God is pouring out His love on us through the community here.   In addition we continue to receive so much support and prayer from our friends at home.  The emails that have been coming in over the last week have been of great encouragement and have helped me to process all that is going on.

On Friday at church the sermon involved a look at what hope is and what hope is not.  After we arrived in Bahrain I told Jeff that I just wasn’t sure what to hope for.  And over the last few weeks God has been challenging me to put my hope in Him (His character, His love for me, His saving grace, His plan for my life, etc.) instead of hoping to get visas, hoping to go to Iran, or hoping to return to America.  So this sermon was right on target with all that God had already been working out in me.  And the message was the same.  Hope is based on what Jesus did in the past and what God is going to do in the future. 

We are staying in a beautiful home with wonderful hosts/friends/mentors.  Yesterday they sat Jeff and I down to encourage us and help us process all that we’re going through and what the future may hold.   They asked excellent questions and offerred encouragement from scripture.   Another example of God pouring out his love.   What a blessing. This morning I looked up one of the passages they referred to about Gideon laying out fleece as He was trying to receive confirmation from God about what was coming.  Judges 6 holds the details if you’re interested.  I found myself really encouraged to see the efforts God went through to communicate with Gideon and God’s patience when Gideon needed extra assurance, clarity and confirmation.  These are things we are definitely looking for in our current situation so I’m encouraged to have a clearer picture of God’s character and His love and patience with us as we seek direction from Him. 

We failed to send a blog about one of our last experiences in Iran that is now a warm memory.   So I’ll include it here.  It’s similar to other stories we’ve shared but it kept amazing us.   We went to a nearby park that had a beautiful rose garden.  

Tad loves flowers, and Iran has a lot of them, so we frequently had to literally stop and smell the roses.  

We then proceeded to the playground.  We began pushing him in this group swing all by himself

 and within minutes he had company. 

Three young women joined him trying to get him to smile and giggle.  We then sat him down on a bench for a snack and gradually the Iranians started congregating.

At one point I counted 10 of them standing around Tad, just watching him eat and drink, videotaping him on their cell phones and occassionally reaching out to touch his blond hair. 

How I have come to love the Iranian culture.  In America people just do not have the love for children that Iranians do.  I can’t imagine a group of 20 year old American guys gooing and gahing over a child in the way that the guys in these pictures did.   Now you could definitley say his blond hair and white skin contributes to this attention, but we did see them interact with Iranian children in a similar fashion (well minus the crowds…but still much more attentive than in America).  They simply love children and love family and it’s beautiful.  

With sad but hopeful hearts we are getting ready to leave Iran and fly to Bahrain to wait for new visas. The good part is that we will get to see our Bahraini friends and catch up with their lives.

Last night Debra noted that each time we have come to Iran, the duration has doubled. I guess this means our next stay should be 90 days.

Looking back to when we were still in Arizona planning for all of this and even more recently in Bahrain, I remember some of the assumptions I had about how life and faith would have to look in Iran. I thought we would have to huddle around a candle and whisper “Amazing Grace”, then listen to teaching with headphones as our worship time. I’m not sure why a candle was involved….actually, as it turns out, a candle is probably the only part that might actually be reality since there are at-least-weekly power outages in Tehran.

Last night the Steeles came over for dinner and a time of worship. We sang along to several worship songs, listened to some teaching from our home church pastor, and prayed together. Our street-side window was open most of the time and nobody came crashing through the door to haul us in. I was actually hoping that maybe someone walking down the street would hear us singing and ask about what we were doing. No one asked so maybe I need to sing louder next time.

I have enjoyed our worship times together and am thankful that we don’t have to huddle or whisper. It makes me look forward to our Bahrain visit for another reason, the ability to fellowship in community with a hall full of other believers every week. Let’s not take for granted the opportunities we have to worship freely together.

This morning I went with Ali to resend all of our air-freighted suitcases that he helped me retrieve mere weeks ago. He was probably thinking “What’s the point?”. I am starting to think that too. The clothes and computer stuff is nice to have but it’s a royal pain to keep shipping it around the gulf. I want to spend more time with Ali when we return, he is a neat guy and fun to hang out with. He is anxious to find work also and we have some ideas that might include him.

Tad is sitting across from me enjoying a bit of ice cream after dinner. He has finished up the part that can be easily eaten with a utensil and has started rubbing his hand in the bowl and then licking his hand. I guess he likes ice cream….

We are getting ready to meet up with the Alijani family and most of the staff from the office for one last dinner before we fly. We are going to a place called Bagh-e Gilas, the Cherry Garden. It sounds like a nicer traditional kebab restaurant on the northern edge of the city.

I’ll stop here for now, I hope you are all doing well. Keep lifting up our visa situation in prayer, I look forward to what God has in store for us in the next few weeks.

Jeff

This last week has been a bit confining as Tad came down with a serious cold that I then caught and am still struggling to overcome.  Tad had a high fever for 3 days.  So we’ve been very homebound this week.  I thought I’d try to give you a few random glimpses of life in our neighborhood though.  Skip to the next paragraph if you’re not interested.   

• A few minutes ago Tad and I watched an accordion player walk up and down our street performing. 
• A few days ago a drummer and a trumpet player performed outside our window. 
• We can hear the call to prayer from a nearby mosque at the appropriate times throughout the day.  
• A few weeks ago on a Friday morning we saw a procession involving chanting on the street behind our apartment.  It involved both men and women (separated) and we believe it was part of their “worship” time.  
• We live on a pretty conservative street where at least 90% of the women wear the more conservative chador (black cloak that covers entire body). 
• We hear our downstairs neighbors arguing from time to time. 
• I’m grateful for our large outdoor balcony where Tad can run around outside without having to always hike to the park. 
• We’ve blocked off every entrance to our apartment that we can think of but somehow our mosquito friends keep making their way into our apartment.  Our fireplace is sealed off with a sheet and all our air ducts are blocked with newspaper or cardboard.  It doesn’t make for a pretty sight, but we’re desperate.  Tad has been protected with mosquito netting at night and during his daytime naps so he is no longer getting bitten, but Jeff and I have a battle with the mosquitoes in our living room every night.  Jeff has become quite skilled and passionate about catching them in his hand and giving them a good squish.  One night we think he killed over 10 of them in the span of two hours.

Last Friday we dragged Tad out, despite his fever, to my favorite park…Parke Mellat.  He wasn’t sleeping well at home, despite his tiredness, so we thought the stroller ride might put him out (it did for part of our walk anyway).  It was a beautiful day and I was reminded of my favorite aspect of Persian culture: The love of the outdoors.  We couldn’t believe how many people were out at the park having picnics, playing bad mitten, hitting volleyballs back and forth, kicking soccer balls around or exercising on the exercise equipment they have in the park.   If Tad had been feeling better I’m sure it would have been easy to meet some new friends, but we didn’t stay long. 

I’m eager to get back out to the parks and playgrounds with Tad so that I can resume some of the relationships I had started.  Our future is uncertain here in Iran.  At present we are here on expired visas.  They expired 8 days ago.  We have been waiting for approval for a 30 day extension and were just denied yesterday.  Our business partner Rahim is making one last attempt today to get us sponsored on business visas for 30 days.  It’s all in God’s hands.  So we try to live for today having no idea what tomorrow might bring.   I suppose that’s how it should always be? 

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own.    -  Jesus  (Matthew 6:34)

Give us today our daily bread. – Jesus  (Matthew 6:11) 

Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”   James 4:12-14