Which None Can Shut by Reema Goode

Author:Reema Goode
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: RELIGION / Christian Ministry / Evangelism, RELIGION / Missions & Missionary Work, RELIGION / Christianity / Evangelism
ISBN: 9781414346922
Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers
Published: 2010-09-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 5

Family Matters

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.

Joshua 1:9

“What about your children?”

That is probably the question Mike and I are most frequently asked when people learn that we live inside the Arab Muslim World. Our Western friends back home wonder how we can safely raise our children in a place where Islamic fundamentalists also reside. On the other hand, our Eastern neighbors wonder why we didn’t move here sooner. When the residents of Little Town discovered that Mike was born and raised in New York, they nodded and smiled knowingly—that’s why the American had come to Arabia. He had to get his family away from all those drugs, gangs, prostitutes, mobsters, and muggers!

Of course, there is no place on earth that is truly “safe” from all evil. There are good and bad people everywhere, as well as pros and cons for every living situation. One of the advantages of living here is the minimal exposure our children have had to pornographic images. Male and female bodies that we pass on the street are thoroughly clothed, the advertisements are “clean,” and until recently there was even censorship of imported reading materials and movies. After purchasing a foreign magazine or newspaper, it would not be unusual to find that suggestive photos and ads had been blacked out with heavy ink. No doubt sexual sin is as rampant here as it is anywhere, but it is kept hidden rather than enticingly flaunted “in your face.”

As most of our Western friends imagine, one disadvantage to living here has been the unavailability of so many things that can make life “nicer” and more like home. This was much more true during our first few years in Arabia than it is now. Oh, to have had an ant trap that actually killed ants. A household cleanser that actually smelled clean. Or shoes that fit our supersized American feet. Paper towels, ice cube trays, a whistling teakettle. Vicks VapoRub, ChapStick, Nestlé chocolate chips. The pain, of course, is in knowing that exactly what you want is, at this very moment, sitting on the third shelf from the bottom in aisle 5 of your hometown’s Walmart superstore. It could be yours for less than five bucks if it weren’t on the other side of Earth. Though unworthy to be mentioned alongside greater concerns such as religious oppression or the trampling of human rights, these things, small as they are, somehow matter in the day-to-day business of living.

In any location, whatever the pros and cons may be, one thing is for sure. Our kids have to learn to know and trust God, just like your kids do. Just like you and I do too. No matter where families may live, parents will be praying for their children’s safety, for their character development, and for their future. In this chapter, I’d like to shift gears for a

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