Lynn Green

Category: Current Events

  • Guidance, Suffering and Death

    Guidance, Suffering and Death

     

    **This is a personal website and reflects my thoughts and convictions. It does not represent any official position held by Youth With A Mission.**

    A good friend of mine died yesterday. Cancer cut his life short though he was praying and believing for healing right up to the last day.  I will miss him a lot, but the hole left by his departure is much greater for his wife and four children. Both yesterday and today I have been coming to grips with this unwelcome event and, in the process, I came across this article that I wrote a few years ago.  It seems odd that something I wrote many years ago could minister to my hurting soul today, but it’s true, so here it is:

    On a recent global day of prayer, I had to get a visa from the Consulate for India in London.  I was so sorry to miss prayer with our community at Highfield Oval, but found a quiet garden along the bank of the River Thames in central London.

    As I walked and prayed, I thought about those YWAMers who have died over the years and the fact that more will lay down their lives in days to come.  I also began to grapple with thoughts that are hard to put into words, but I suspect others have similar thoughts;

    How should we view suffering and death in YWAM?  Is there a basis for thinking this is the price we pay for taking the gospel to the nations?  Are those who have died martyrs for the gospel?  Or are some of them just tragic accidents?

     

    Many of our deaths have been due to traffic accidents and others have been from the most common fatal illnesses.  As I walked and prayed in the garden, I came upon a memorial to William Tyndale and this is what it says:

    WILLIAM TYNDALE
    FIRST TRANSLATER OF THE NEW TESTAMENT INTO ENGLISH FROM THE GREEK.  BORN A.D. 1484, DIED A MARTYR AT VILVORDE IN BELGIUM A.D. 1536.
    “THY WORD IS A LAMP UNTO MY FEET AND A LIGHT TO MY PATH” – “THE ENTRANCE OF THY WORDS GIVETH LIFE”   PSALM CXIX 105,130
    “AND THIS IS THE REWARD THAT GOD HATH GIVEN TO US, ETERNAL LIFE.”  I JOHN V  11.
    THE LAST WORDS OF WILLIAM TYNDALE WERE, “LORD OPEN THE KING OF ENGLAND’S EYES.”   WITHIN A YEAR AFTERWARDS A BIBLE WAS PLACED IN EVERY PARISH CHURCH BY THE KING’S COMMAND.

     

    Tyndale is reconised as one of the great martyrs in Christian history, but I wondered if his contemporaries thought that way?  How did his family feel?  The idea of having the scriptures available in the common language was scandalous at that time and heavily apposed by the clergy throughout Europe.  In 1536 he was convicted of heresy, strangled and his body burned.

    With 500 years of hindsight, we have no doubt that he was a martyr.  But what about the so-called accident or the fatal illness contracted on the mission field?  After grappling with this in prayer and thought, I am convinced that all whose lives comes to a premature end while they are in the course of obeying Jesus as missionaries can be considered to have given their lives for the sake of the gospel.

    As YWAM leaders we need to dig into this question still further.  What do we think about those who might have taken unnecessary risks?  For example, the person who ventures into the surf knowing they can’t swim very well, or the one who takes a mode of transportation that is known to be extremely dangerous, or the one who is habitually a dangerous driver.  When a YWAMer or any Christian worker loses their life under that sort of circumstance it is particularly difficult.  We have a responsibility to do all we can to protect our workers from unnecessary risk and yet it is so easy to become fearful and over controlling in our efforts to protect our staff and especially our students.

    Many years ago, I was in Cyprus when I received a phone call saying that a newly married Swedish couple who were students on our DTS had been kidnapped in Dagestan.  When I heard that news I was both fearful and angry.  To me, it was indefensible that any YWAM leader would allow DTS students to go on outreach in a country about which it was said;

    “the largest single source of foreign currency is ransoms from kidnappings”. 

    When I phoned leaders who were nearer the situation I began to learn a remarkable story about a young couple who had been interceding for Dagestan for many years, and whose parents and home Church had sent them to the DTS with the expectation that they would go to Dagestan, and were themselves convinced that whatever happened to them in that country, they had gone there in direct obedience to God.  As it turned out they spent several months in captivity, but were remarkably strengthen by the power of the Holy Spirit and have a powerful testimony to tell.  What I felt was an unacceptable risk was actually detailed obedience to God’s leading.

    That story illustrates the only solution to our dilemma.  We must be obedient servants.  As we go into all the world to preach the gospel there will be more illness and more lives will be laid down.  We are praying for more protective cover from heaven and we are not encouraging anyone to take risks just for the sake of adventure.  But we will not shrink back from the challenging parts of the world.  Those who are walking in obedience and lay down their lives are following in the steps of the generations of martyrs.

    As we consider this subject it provokes us not only to pray for more protective cover from heaven, but also that we might become more sensitive to God’s voice.  One of YWAM’s cornerstone teachings is that God speaks and His people hear His voice.  It was no accident that the Lord led Loren to write the first YWAM book on that subject, “Is that really you, God?”. Sometimes, though, we get so focused on strategies, travel advisories from various embassies and foreign offices, the cost of tickets and other practical issues that we squeeze out God’s voice and replace it with our own thinking.  God has deeply convicted me of that over the past couple of years and I am on a journey to increase my sensitivity to the leading of the Holy Spirit.

    It has been like retracing my first couple of years with YWAM except I have to do it at a deeper level with more repentance and brokenness.  I realize that I have let my experience and wisdom replace God’s voice in far too many of my decisions.  Of course, it is obvious that no matter how much I learn or how much I study the word of God and understand His ways I will never have a fraction of God’s insight and knowledge.  So it always makes sense to listen to Him and “lean not to my own understanding”.

    I was much more determined to hear from God when I was just starting in service overseas because I constantly felt out of my depth, had no experience and often no one else to turn to for counsel, but with experienced wise counselors and an increasing knowledge of God’s word I became more self-reliant.  Now I have to repent of that pride very regularly and break old habits that are deeply entrenched.

    My sheep hear my voice and they follow me

    There is another reason why I have strayed away from the simple path of hearing and obeying.  All of us know that the word of the Lord is not nearly as clear to us as it seems to be to some of the Biblical characters, who recorded extensive dialog with God.  It is easy to make mistakes about what God is saying and that forces us to walk in deep humility.  Of course, our pride doesn’t like that, so soon we stop asking God and begin to believe that He does not speak as clearly as He used to speak to His people.  Or perhaps we think for some reason that He doesn’t speak clearly to me.  I used to have all kinds of reasons why I thought God did not speak as clearly to me as He does to some people.  In the end I see all those as a system of unbelief, so I have found myself repenting almost daily of unbelief as well as pride.

    I am happy to report that I am hearing God more clearly then I’ve heard for many years and our various leadership gathering are increasingly dependent upon listening to God together and taking seriously each person’s understanding of what God is saying.

    I am convinced that throughout YWAM we need to return to this cornerstone of God’s ways.  Jesus said “My sheep hear my voice and they follow me”

    So to sum up I believe we will see more protection and authority in the battle to take the gospel to the ends of the earth.  As we have prayed and continue to increase our prayer cover, we will become more effective and less vulnerable.  But there will still be suffering and there will still be martyrs in the course of the gospel.  However, as we return to our deep commitment to listen and obey, we can share in the comfort as the apostle Peter wrote to the early Church in the midst of its suffering;

    “Therefore, let those also who suffer according to the will of God entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right”.    1 Peter 4:19 (NASB)

    Lynn Green.

  • Leadership X Eldership in YWAM – Part 2

    Leadership X Eldership in YWAM – Part 2

     

    **This is a personal website and reflects my thoughts and convictions. It does not represent any official position held by Youth With A Mission.**

  • Will We miss the harvest?

    Will We miss the harvest?

     

    **This is a personal website and reflects my thoughts and convictions. It does not represent any official position held by Youth With A Mission.**

    That is a quote from my friend who works with Syrian refugees in Northern Iraq.  Here is the rest of it.

    “Working with refugees near Erbil: Went to a neighborhood today where Syrian refugees live, not in a camp. First got to go to a school some of the refugee believers have started for the kids because they’re not allowed in school locally. Did some distribution toys and warm winter hats for them. After that we did house visits.

    “One guy had had a dream of jesus and we got to pray for him and he felt heat through his body. 

    Another guy at the second house visit was super open, asked us why we came from so far, was super hungry, shared the whole gospel with him. He was so fed up with Islam. Also, he had had a dream last night of a white dove coming down (!!!!). He asked us why our faces were shining so bright. We prayed for him three times healing. First time he straightened up and his back popped in place and his back was healed. Second time was for his knee but didn’t fully heal. I felt to go over and kneel before him and pray for his knee laying on hands and blowing on his knees “the breathe of god, the life of god” and as a I prayed I felt something move in his knee and he was healed on the spot and the translator was super surprised. I was able to tell him how jesus was affirmed by the father as a son when he was baptized and I spoke over him how the father also speaks words of adoption and sonship over him.

    “I think God is saying that the prayers for openness in the Muslim world are being answered, but if nobody goes, we will miss the harvest.”

    Our teams and many others are still working to serve refugees, but there in Northern Iraq there is both a great need and opportunity for people to work on development.  It seems people are accepting that they will not go home in the foreseeable future, so they are starting their own schools, trying to develop businesses or find jobs and find houses rather than tents.  While there is still a need for hundreds or even thousands of short-term workers, they cannot be effective unless there are scores of longer-term workers who will plug into the daily organisational responsibilities.

    Some of those workers need to have training and wisdom in community development.  But the opportunities are unprecedented.   For example, “one guy had a dream about Jesus, so we got to explain and pray for him.  When we did, he felt heat through his whole body.  At the very next house, a man was clearly fed up with Islam, and wide open to know about Jesus.

    “He was so hungry;  we shared the whole Gospel with him.  He had a dream last night of a white dove coming down.  Then he asked us why our faces were shining so bright.   We prayed for him three different times for healing.  The first time he straightened up and his back (which was out of alignment and very sore) popped and was healed.  The second time was for his knee.  It was not completely better, so I felt to go over, kneel before him, lay hands on his knee and pray again.  Then I felt to proclaim over his knee the breath of God, the life of God, and I breathed on his knee.  As I did so I felt something move and he was healed on the spot.”

    One further testimony.  “In both of those houses families had beautiful birds as pets, but the birds don’t sing that much.  However, they said that when we walked in, the birds started singing beautifully, more than usual.  That happened in both homes and the people noted it.”

    I noted that amongst many young people today there is a great hunger to see the power of God in signs and wonders.  There is no doubt that the Holy Spirit works signs and wonders in places where the Gospel is first being proclaimed.

    If you want to see more of God’s power, there is room for you in Northern Iraq.  Our teams there report that it is safe, and long-term work is possible.

     

  • Nobody is illegal – Mahmood Najjar storie

    Nobody is illegal – Mahmood Najjar storie

     

    **This is a personal website and reflects my thoughts and convictions. It does not represent any official position held by Youth With A Mission.**

    My name is Mahmood Najjar, I was born and lived in Racca, Syria in 1993, I am 24 years old. There are seven children in my family, my father has died. My passion and love since a child has been to be a world champion break dancer! Yes, I had very big dreams when very small. I used to watch break dancing on American films and shows I copied what I saw in my garden. Slowly I developed my own moves and started to get some recognition for my skills. Dancing has always brought a lot of joy to my heart. The more I danced the happier I was.

    “we were all filled with hope”

     

    Then when just about to enter some serious competitions in Syria the civil war started. In fact it was quite good at first because the free Syrian army took over Racca. It was a very big change for us, more freedom to do what we wanted and an excitement that Syria was going to change and catch up with the rest of the world. Girls could wear what they wanted which was very beautiful, I could dance as much as wanted, we were all filled with hope.

    Then the blackness came, with bullets and bombs and cruelty. Isis took over our town with better weapons and trained foreigners. Everything changed very quickly. Woman wore black, men and boys were forced to fight. My family and I packed up and fled to Latakia, a government held town in Allawite territory by the Mediterranean. More troubles came because at every check point along the road we were stopped. My two older brothers were always asked “Why have you not joined the army, why are you not fighting for your country?”

    “Dear God, please help me. I do not want kill, I just want to dance and bring joy to people.”

    As soon as possible they borrowed some money from a friend and bought a ride to the Turkish boarder about 25kms away. My oldest brother made it all the way to Germany very quickly, he was the smart one in the family. My next brother made it as far as Athens.

    For myself I was close to 18. One day some soldiers stopped me and said I must join the army, they also said only girls dance. This made me very angry. They took me by force to the army base. I was taken underground for interrogation. While sitting in a room waiting I closed my eyes, bowed my head and said a prayer from my heart. “Dear God, please help me. I do not want kill, I just want to dance and bring joy to people.”

    I was taken down a corridor by two soldiers. Just then a door opened and a man wearing pyjamas stepped out. He was only in pyjamas with slippers on his feet. He told the soldiers to stop. I realised he was an officer. He said, “Where are you taking this boy?” They replied, “To interrogation, he is from Racca, he is selling weapons to Isis!”

    The officer then said: “Can’t you see he is only a boy? His mother will be looking for him, he is not selling weapons to anybody, let him go.”

    The soldier’s then left me standing in front of this strange man in pyjamas. He asked me “Are you all right my boy, can I help you.” I said: “Please let me return home to my mother in Latakia.” He said: “Go quickly.”

    I ran all the way home and my mother said:

    “Mahmood, it is time for you to go west, leave here before they make you fight.”

    My mother gave me some money which she borrowed and my younger brother and I travelled to the Turkey . On the way we were stopped by Russian soldiers, then more Syrian troops, finally we passed into free Syrian army territory. They were kind to us, good people, fighting for freedom and a new life. They helped us across the border into Turkey.

    From there we caught a coach to Istanbul. We spent two years in Istanbul looking for work. We were lucky and got work, I sent money back to my mother and she repaid our loan. It was not easy in Istanbul, so when I had enough money my brother and I travelled to Avalick on the Turkish coast. Here we paid to join a rubber boat with 40 others and crossed the sea last August. Thank God the crossing was smooth and the weather warm.

    One day all will be good, I know because God heard and answered the cry of my heart. “Let me dance and not kill.”

    Since then we have lived in Moira camp. To stop me getting bored and depressed I have found a place outside the camp where I can teach other boys how to dance. This has given them joy and a smile on their faces. I like to teach dancing and it is good to have the freedom here in Greece to do so. It is normal here which is good, the Greeks like to dance.

    I hope my brother and I can travel on to Berlin where my smart older brother lives. I want to break dance on the streets of Berlin. Then maybe live in Austria, I have seen pictures of Austria, it is a very beautiful country and they like dancing. I want to enter competitions and become a world champion. Even amongst all the difficulties I hold on to my dream. One day all will be good, I know because God heard and answered the cry of my heart. “Let me dance and not kill.”

    I know there is a God who hears and answer’s prayers. I do not know if he is Muslim or Jew or Christian, I just know he is there and he hears. I don’t want to say I believe in one or the other, this seems to only bring pain and suffering and war.

    I am so happy that I can come to Next Wave on Wednesday night. I see so many joyful people and smiling faces. The music and singing are very good. If there was room I would dance! So many nationalities helping and being helped. There is goodness in the world, there is hope, there is freedom.

    Thank you.

    Mahmood Najjar.