To Go or Not To Go

Written by: the Go Team

We live in an insecure world. By multiple metrics, that is an understatement. While the US endures the political chaos of an election year, global hot spots threaten to unravel world stability. Unfortunately, many of those locations are where Jesus is most needed. A quick look at the Global Conflict Tracker and you will see the spread of threats to peace across the world. Obviously, certain areas of tension have greater global ramifications than others. Lebanon, via the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, is one of them.

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Each year, Gateway Church sends a team to Lebanon to help Resurrection Church of Beirut (RCB) with their annual Children's Summer Camp program. For several years running, Gateway Church has been assigned one of their 12 weeks of camp to program and implement so that the RCB staff can have a break. In the process, team members are able to initiate long term relationships with RCB staff and begin a journey of learning a new culture. Members are privileged to see first hand how God is transforming hearts previously unreachable in the Middle East. Gateway Church is making an impact for God’s kingdom via its partnership with RCB - those who go, see it in action.

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Gateway Church’s Go Team has a core value that guides much of our interaction with partners. We are “field-driven.” That is a simple way to indicate that we do what is best for our partners, not what is best for us. Once we select a partner, this principle guides much of what we decide and do. In regard to a question of whether or not to proceed with a mission trip plan, we always ask the partner. RCB and other Gateway Church partners there in Lebanon are now living under what they call a “new normal.” Conflict in the south of the country has gone on for decades. The conflict we see today is just a new level of conflict and life goes on. As such, RCB is still fine with us visiting and helping with camp. 

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We however have to take other eventualities into consideration. Primarily, we are concerned that if an invasion were to occur in the south, the potential for the Beirut airport to be shut down would be very high. The airport is the only current commercial means of transportation for international travel. Were the airport to close, we would become a liability to RCB and they would feel responsible for taking care of us. Because of the high potential of that happening, we decided to cancel the trip for this year. The benefit just did not warrant the risk. This leaves our partner with the challenge to fill that week with stories and activities for the children. We deeply regret their extra burden and will do whatever we can to assist from here. 

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Thank you to those who were willing to go and to those of you who supported their trip financially. We are grateful for your desire to invest in Resurrection Church with us so that others might know the love of Jesus.

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