“Now the men of the city said to Elisha, ‘Behold, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord sees, but the water is bad, and the land is unfruitful.’ He said, ‘Bring me a new bowl, and put salt in it.’ So they brought it to him. Then he went to the spring of water and threw salt in it and said, ‘Thus says the Lord, I have healed this water; from now on neither death nor miscarriage shall come from it.’ So the water has been healed to this day, according to the word that Elisha spoke.” 2 Kings 2:19-22
During my quiet time, I came across this well-known story. Elisha had just become the new prophet after “chariots of fire and horses of fire separated Elisha from Elijah, and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven” 2 Kings 2:11.
Meditating on the practical application of this story in our day and age, it dawned on me that this narrative recounts the 4G3 story.
We are living in an era where “the water is bad.” We are ministering to a world contaminated by wickedness, by religions that drive people away from the One True God, an era tainted with generational sins and with moral decay.
Yet, God allowed 4G3 to be the “new bowl.” This bowl contains salt: 4G3 trainers, facilitators and ministers who humbly and willingly minister all over the Middle East and North Africa, undeterred by the risks they encounter and the cost they pay.
Those servants of Jesus, the salt, are thrown and dispersed into all these contaminated and dark infested regions. When the saltiness of those servants is dispersed in the contaminated water of the world, the water becomes purified.
Only then will that water become effective in quenching people’s soul thirst and their quest for salvation. This salt will renew the land, converting the soil to a fruitful field that brings forth fruit thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.
4G3’s sole goal is for God to use that new bowl for His glory. We intend to fill that bowl with the salt of amazingly gifted, obedient, and humble servants of the Lord. These servants, in turn, will carry the salt to every nation. When you and I dissolve in the land, the land will definitely change its spiritual environment and bring forth the fruit of the salvation of many. We as salt need to dissolve in the world, without being corrupted by the world. To do so, we need to stay close to Jesus day in and day out.
This is the reason for 4G3’s motto: “Investing in hundreds to reach millions.”
You are the salt of the earth. Even if you cannot physically go to those places with 4G3, you can be present through praying or giving your expertise and resources to the ministry.
I pray that God uses each one of us as a conduit of His love.
Pastor Abdallah Homsy
The Syrian who decided to stay in war-torn Syria
Pastor Abdallah Homsi, 46, is the pastor of the Evangelical Christian Alliance Church of Aleppo, Syria. He is married to Aghna and has three children.
Pastor Abdallah accepted Christ as his Savior while studying at Cairo University in Egypt.
“I thought I had to go in search of God while He was seeking me all along. The Cross is proof enough that God loves me.”
Abdallah studied theology and became a pastor in one of the biggest Alliance churches in Aleppo. When the war started on March 15, 2011, many leaders and pastors fled the country, leaving a colossal leadership void that needed to be filled.
Listen to what Pastor Abdallah has to say about those events, “Six months after the war started, I went out in the morning with my family. We returned three hours later to find the third floor of our apartment building, where we resided totally demolished by bombing. We lost everything.
I praised God that none of my family were killed as we have seen numerous of our friends and family there one day and gone the next.
We went to live with my father-in-law, who lived in the same apartment building on the first floor. People from all over the world were calling us to leave Syria and be safe, yet, when I prayed about it with my wife, the Lord told us, ‘If you all go, who will strengthen the believers? Who will be my witness in these dark times? How will the people who cannot leave Syria hear the gospel?’
My wife and I decided to stay in spite of all terror, believing that the same God who protects people elsewhere can and will protect us in war-torn Syria.”
Ministering through power cuts, lack of food, and sleeping through the sounds of bombings, Abdallah and his wife won many people to Christ.
“I thanked God that my youngest daughter is deaf-mute and could not hear the bombings. She slept peacefully through the night.”
Many believers who had grown cold in their faith or who had doubted God’s goodness because of the war, recommitted their lives and became disciples.
Abdallah reminisced, “I remember Dr. Wahid and his wife, Dr. Laila, coming every year to Syria with their mission team to hold a conference, training Syrians on standing firm in the faith. However, it was just one weekend a year.
Now, I am visualizing the younger generation arising, getting their training to stand firm in their faith, and what better training than 4G3 leadership institutes!
I’m convinced the teaching will benefit millennials in their personal walk with God as well as in their ministry. Right now, we have a spiritual drought, and we are in dire need of training, such as ‘Purpose Driven Life’ and ‘Purpose Driven Church.’
Many of us tend to blame God under pressure, doubting His goodness. Now, after attending 4G3 training through its Middle East North Africa partner, MELTI, I am focusing on the fact that faith-based prayers are more effective.”
Concerning the recent Turkish attack on the Kurds, Pastor Abdallah comments: “We condemn the unjustified Turkish aggression against our Syrian citizens from the Kurdish background, who were safely and peacefully living in Syria.
We plea all humanitarian and international organizations to exercise maximum pressure to stop this criminal act.
This brutal bombardment and assault of the civilian population will inevitably lead to a tragedy, a new humanitarian catastrophe, and a wave of displacement and suffering that will deepen the wounds of our wounded Syrian homeland.”
Abdallah yearns to host more leadership institutes in Syria in the near future.
Financial Needs
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