Why Blog? Why Pray?

I just moved to California exactly a year ago. I had heard a lot about the Arabic protestant churches in California... not really good things to be honest. I had heard the infamous quote "whoever wakes up on the wrong side of the bed starts a church" or "li kouli mowaTin aseess (to every citizen, there's a pastor)". I figured that I'd find churches that were empty with no one really caring about them.

I had heard great things about the Coptic church (from people in London!), and how they reach out to the community around them and go on mission trips to help others.

When I got here and tried to get involved in protestant churches, I didn't see churches with no people in them. I found that there were a bunch of people who were working hard at trying to make their churches work. I also found lots of people who used to go to churches and gave up going to Arabic churches altogether.

I also noticed that a lot of the youth were lost... their leaders had given up on Arabic churches years ago and gone to English-speaking churches. The youth themselves tried to go to English-speaking churches or (every once in a while) go to Arabic churches or retreats, while others went to Coptic churches, but some still don't fit in anywhere. There are some youth that fit into Arabic churches and are growing and being a huge benefit.

I noticed that there were some leaders in the churches who felt like the church belonged to them and need to control it. There were a few that just worked hard, were humble, wanted others to help, trained others, and wanted God's work to continue.

Distance is also a big factor. The whole region is so big and even though there are churches everywhere, people still drove at least 45 minutes to an hour to go to their church. People and churches are spread so far out that it's hard to be involved for an extended amount of time.

These are the issues and the state I found things in and it's just my point of view too. I could not be getting the whole picture. It seems gloomy, but I see that there are a lot of people who are willing to work hard and have not given up on the Arabic churches. They work humbly and try to work with others in unity. I see that there are people who've been praying for the youth, for the churches, etc. I want to be one of those people. I'll show you the questions I'm asking and the prayers I'm praying. I know this is not a short-term thing. I know God can change the hearts of the people here and can bring unity through His spirit. Please join me in this prayer journey.
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