pray for the bedouin

For the next couple of weeks, my family and four others from our church will be traveling to the Middle East for a short term mission trip. We will be hooking up with some of our very good missionary friends there who have focused their life passion on the Bedouin people of North Africa and Middle East.

The Bedouin are desert dwelling Arabic speaking pastoral nomads. They live in tents made of goat hair and live off the land in much the same way as nomadic tribes have lived for thousands of years. The Bedouin are known for their ability to survive the most harsh conditions of the African and near Eastern deserts. In the drier regions, they herd camels, while in the more vegetative areas they tend goats and sheep. From a distance they seem backward and unsophisticated, but they are the only people in the world who know the deserts secrets- how to survive the intense heat and find the water and sustenance to raise animals and to thrive in conditions most people would never survive. Some groups of Bedouin will travel up to 600 miles by foot in a year just to find water sources.

Traditional Bedouin society is organized by a series of overlapping kin groups, making it very difficult to break through with the gospel. The Bedouin people are nearly 100% Muslim, although there is at least one known tribe in the Middle East that is Christian.

In Bedouin culture, the women do a tremendous amount of work in tending animals and raising children, weaving tents and nurturing the elderly. The men manage the farms and socialize with other men and make plans. Bedouin children stay on the woman's side of the tent until about age 7. Older children often tend to the animals and help in the welcoming of guests. It is not unusual for a Bedouin man to have several wives with several children from each one. The typical Bedouin tent is bursting with the lively sounds and activity of lots of children. At the first signs of a visitor, the small children will run quickly to their mother's side of the tent.

Hospitality is a very important feature of this ancient Middle Eastern society. You can not approach a Bedouin tent without quickly being invited to participate in the family meal and drink tea and coffee. In this culture, it is to your great honor to welcome guests. We all have a thing or two to learn from these marvelous people about the importance of hospitality and community.

We will be hiking about 10 miles a day as we seek out new Bedouin friends. Please pray that we will make lots of great connections into a variety of tribes, and that our missionaries there in this part of the world will deepen their influence and relationships among this mostly unreached people group.

As I will not be near a computer or any other communication device for the next 2 1/2 weeks, this will be my last blog for awhile. I am temporarily shutting down the comment section in order to keep spammers and slammers away.