The Loss of a Leader and Friend

UPDATE November 20, 2011
With great sadness I share with you that Pastor Samaan passed away on November 13, 2011 due to complications with his liver transplant. The surgery took place in July, and Samaan has been in the hospital just about every day since.

The Church of the Nazarene has lost a talented minister, and many people from the Middle East Nazarene family have written emails to express their appreciation for Samaan as a brother, colleague and friend. He will be remembered for his fun spirit, beautiful smile, and compassion for the people in Egypt.

We are asking people to join us in prayer for his wife, Margaret, three-month old son, Evan, and his extended family.

UPDATE July 25, 2011

On March 16, 2011 I sent out an urgent appeal for people to help a young Egyptian Pastor by the name of Samaan who desperately needed a liver transplant. Samaan had his surgery on July 19th (last Tuesday), and we give thanks to God that all went well. He should be out of ICU in a day or two, and he should be able to leave the hospital between August 1st-5th.

I want to thank everyone who gave towards this need. The surgery cost over $70,000. We still need $7,000 to come in before August 1st... but we know God will provide.

Samaan's 25 year old nephew, Tamar, donated half of his liver, which is expected to grow inside of Samaan into a full, healthy liver. Tamar's liver is also expected to grow back to a normal size. I told Tamar he is a hero for what he did for his uncle.

Of course we were praying to God for a miracle so that we could avoid paying so much money for an operation, but perhaps the miracle was that people responded with such generosity and love.

I want to thank NCM International for providing a large amount to help Samaan as well as anonymous donors all over the world. A lawyer from Iraq gave $5,000 when he heard about this pastor in need.

So... I just wanted to share the good news. It took four months to happen...lots of tests and screenings...but it all worked out for the good.

To God be the glory.

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This is an urgent appeal. A young Nazarene pastor in Egypt needs a liver transplant, and we are asking everyone we know to help us raise $30,000.

You can help us by giving generously to our Middle East Crisis fund. Simon has no medical insurance, and his extended family will rally around to give all they can.

Now here is the story (Simon is pictured with his wife, Miriam. She is now pregnant with their first child)... Liver problems are, tragically, common in Egypt. Simon probably acquired his blood disorder at a young age during group vaccinations performed by health professionals reusing needles.

Simon has been in the US since January of this year. He collapsed at a terminal in North Carolina and was rushed to a hospital for surgeries to stop bleeding in his esophagus. His doctors told us that Simon was just hours away from death before this intervention. A generous family in North Carolina and their church community have nursed him back to health and paid $75,000 for these surgeries, and the doctors are saying Simon has about three months to live unless he receives a liver transplant.

The kind of transplant he needs is for a person to donate half of their liver, which will grow inside Simon into a full, functioning liver. The cost of the surgery would be $350,000 in the US, and it will cost around $70,000 in Egypt. We are talking with one of the best hospitals in Egypt for Simon to receive the best possible care.

Will you help us? Anything you can give will be greatly appreciated....BIG or Small. Would you ask others to help? Do you think your church would take a special offering?

Thanks so much for your help to this young family. Your prayers are also appreciated.

Email your thoughts or pledges to reugreen@gmail.com

Blessings Past and Future

January 2011

I admit I have Eor tendencies. Eor, Pooh's friend and pessimistic stuffed donkey, doesn't ever expect anything fantastic to happen in his life. He accepts the mundane and steadily works through the difficult times. I can be hopeful and optimistic, but I lean towards Eor and find him to be a kindred spirit.

Last summer in a Jordan School Board meeting, I happened to voice a possible scenario that ended up scaring me and some of the board members. I asked out loud, "With economic uncertainty as it is in Jordan and prices for basic amenities increasing...would this be the year that parents would stop sending their children to our schools and opt to utilize the free public schools?" These are the facts:our enrollment two years ago was 235, enrollment last year was 189, and in order for our 2010-11 budget to break even we would need 196 students.

It does not make much business sense to operate private schools in poor neighborhoods. It makes perfect kingdom sense, but terrible business sense.

I left Jordan 5 days before the start of the 2010-11 school year for a four-month sabbatical. Knowing I did all I could, my inner Eor placed this particular worry and the Nazarene schools in God's hands and asked my close friends to pray. Two weeks after the school started, an email arrived saying our enrollment was 214 students...18 students more than we need.

That's a blessing from 2010 along with a new science lab at the Amman Nazarene School(see the "before" pic on the left and the "after" pic on the right). Nazarene Churches in Owosso, MI and Anderson, IN helped us accomplish this beautiful facility to teach science at a higher level than we have ever before been able to teach.

Now we have a challenge to build a third floor onto the Zarqa Nazarene School (in Jordan)...a place for a library, science lab, computer lab, and additional classrooms (including one for Christian Education). Challenges and Eor do not mix well, and I mimicked him as I said quietly to a close friend, "We'll never get enough work and witness teams to come and help us do this." But once again, Eor was wrong. In the final three months of 2010... four teams signed up. They include:

* Central Church of the Nazarene, Lenexa Kansas (June 2011)
* Richland Center Church of the Nazarene, Wisconsin (July 2011)
* Kansas City First Church of the Nazarene (Summer 2012)
* Northwest Ohio District (Summer 2012)

There are other churches that are considering. We probably need about 3 more. If you are interested and curious about the project, try going here.

At this point, the Eor inside me is baffled. He is quite amazed and thankful, in his own cautious, laid-back fashion.