Pastor John, you have been busy traveling the second half of 2013. You traveled from Knoxville to Minneapolis for the DG National Conference on C.S. Lewis, of course, and then on to Ohio, Atlanta, Idaho, Texas, and now you're out of the country altogether, and will be spending just about all of November in the Middle East.

I guess the place to begin is to ask if you've traveled to the UAE before. I have never been to the United Arab Emirates. I've never been to the Middle East at all. In fact, it might help people to know where is that place. My guess is lots of people couldn't put their finger on it.

The major cities in the UAE, the United Arab Emirates, are Dubai and Abu Dhabi. There are, of course, others, but those are the two where I'll be. The UAE is on the southern part of the Persian Gulf, borders on the west on Saudi Arabia, and then across the Gulf is Iran.

So that gives you a perspective on where it is. On this same trip, I'm going to Ethiopia to Addis Ababa with Jason Meyer, my replacement at Bethlehem. This is really exciting to me. We're going to do a pastor's conference in Ethiopia. He's not part of the event in the UAE, so we'll be working through the first five chapters of 2 Corinthians there in Ethiopia, just try to encourage pastors.

My sense is what I want to happen there is that pastors not only get encouraged to keep looking at the book and digging, but to be confident they can find meaning for themselves. We want to, Jason and I both, want to help them see what is there so that they can see how they can get it without dependence on us.

But in the UAE, I'll visit two Christian churches, one in Dubai, one in Abu Dhabi, and the political leaders in Dubai and Abu Dhabi have been very generous to Christians to approve the building of these churches, even to help in the land, I believe. And Muslims, of course, do not believe it is right for any Muslim to convert to Christianity.

It's forbidden there. But they know that there are thousands of expatriates in the UAE who are not Muslim, and they have been willing, and it seems eager and supportive for these Christians to have a place of worship in both of those cities. So I'll be ministering in part, part of the time, along with Mark Dever there to these churches, or to one of the churches with Mark, and I don't think with the other, in doing a conference there.

And our hope is that we would encourage them, strengthen their faith, show them the greatness of God, stir them up for the kinds of love and good works that Jesus commands of them there in the UAE, and it's just a huge privilege to be called to do this. Traveling, Tony, is not my forte.

I do not like to get on planes and stand in customs lines, and, oh, I get so uptight about these things, and don't sleep all that well on long flights. And so I would just love for the folks to pray for us in this, for strength and health and the fullness of the Holy Spirit, and for ripple effects for the glory of Jesus in ways that only He can dream of.

The dates of the trip are November 3 through 25 for the totality of it, so if the folks, any time during that, find it in their heart to pray, that would be great. Yes, we do appreciate your prayers for Pastor John and for Jason Meyer as well, in their time away, for travel and safety and health, and for the effectiveness of their teaching and preaching there.

I'm your host, Tony Ranke. Thanks for listening, and thanks for praying. 1. What is the Holy Spirit's purpose in the world? 2. What is the Holy Spirit's purpose in the world? 3. What is the Holy Spirit's purpose in the world? 4. What is the Holy Spirit's purpose in the world?

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