Brush with "celebrity"

I know he would by no means consider himself a celebrity, but we had the privilege of meeting Carl Medearis (celebrity to me!) and his wife Chris this week.  They were traveling/touring in the area and stopped here in Muscat for a little over a week.  I happen to be on Carl's newsletter list which is how I learned about his travel plans.

If you don't know who Carl is, he has written a few books, his most notable ones being "Muslims, Christians, and Jesus" and "Speaking of Jesus, the Art of Non-Evangelism".  They are both excellent, easy to read, and to the point books that impacted both me and Colin as we moved here to the middle east.  They also impacted us in how we related to non-Christians and persons from any background, religion, or mindset.  You can check out Carl's website here:  http://www.carlmedearis.com/

I would highly encourage any Christian to read both these books as we live in a changing time where the typical approaches of mission and evangelism don't really work anymore as our country, and world, become more and more wary of Christianity.  It is also a time where there is great misunderstanding between Americans and Arabs, and Christians and Muslims.

Carl and his family lived in Lebanon for 12 years, and during that time, learned Arabic in order to reach out to those around him.  As his bio says, "Through their unique and strategic approach around the Arab world, they encouraged university students, business professionals and political leaders to live their lives by the principles and teachings of Jesus in order to change their societies and nations.  Today Carl spends much of his time working with leaders both in the West and in the Arab world with the hope of seeing the Arab Middle East and the West experience full and fruitful relationships through the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth."

We truly enjoyed talking to Carl and Chris, hearing about their tours so far, and sharing our experiences living in Oman.  They are lovely, caring, and kind people, and it was a true joy spending an evening with them.   

 

Thanks to Aberly for taking this shot of us!