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Pod #103 The Power of Enduring Hope

If you’ve ever wrestled with calling versus comfort, or wondered what “counting the cost” looks like, this episode is for you.

Safety feels like the obvious goal until you hear what it can quietly replace. Today on the Pod, I sit down with a long-term Middle East worker and mother who has lived through war, economic collapse, and years of instability and still chooses to stay, not out of recklessness, but out of discernment, community responsibility, and a deep confidence that God’s presence is worth following as a family.

We talk honestly about what daily life is like in the Arab world: the joy, the hospitality, the “vibe”, and also the grinding stress of lawlessness and unreliable systems. My guest shares how learning Arabic and reading cultural cues changes everything for a Western woman, from being heard in a room to navigating respect, boundaries, and leadership. We talk about what it’s like confronting polygamy and the stories of jealousy and pain that make working with women in the Arab World so unique. Throughout, we keep coming back to a core idea for cross-cultural workers: discipleship is not separate from family systems, it collides with them and transforms them from the inside out.

If you care about parenting overseas, third culture kids, and raising resilient children in cross-cultural ministry, this conversation gets specific. My guest’s kids attend a school that is 95% Muslim, which creates daily opportunities and daily friction, especially around forgiveness, humility, conflict, and the normalization of yelling and threats. My guest explains how her family makes stay-or-go decisions during wartime, what their safety “red lines” are, and why they pursue outside help, like TCK counseling when needed. We also explore why crisis often produces unprecedented spiritual hunger, why many women respond powerfully to Jesus, and how simple tools like audio Scripture in spoken Arabic can unlock discipleship for women facing illiteracy and dialect barriers.

If you’ve ever wrestled with calling versus comfort, or wondered what “counting the cost” looks like with kids in the picture, this episode is for you.

“I get the question all the time from well-meaning people. But I like to turn the question on its head. I think in the West our kids have become our idols. I think in the West we over-protect our kids. My kids live in a country torn apart by sectarianism and war, but they get to see miracles. They get to live in the book Acts.”

Listen on: Apple Podcast | Spotify

Timeline

• 00:00 Intro
• 01:00 First Impressions and Real Arab Women
• 02:52 The Joy and Stress of Lawlessness
• 04:53 Language, Culture, And Earned Respect
• 06:16 Marriage, Kids, And Social Authority
• 08:32 Polygamy and the Real Struggles of Women
• 11:27 Women’s Power Inside Family Systems
• 14:34 Discipleship That Changes Social Patterns
• 16:56 Teaching Forgiveness In A No-Forgiveness Culture
• 19:27 Figuring out Education on the Field
• 27:44 Raising Third Culture Kids
• 32:35 Deciding Whether To Stay During War
• 39:48 Crisis Creates Hunger And Open Doors
• 42:15 Why Women Respond Powerfully To Jesus
• 47:59 Discipling Illiterate Women
• 52:28 Barriers In Discipling Women Long Term
• 56:45 The Power of Endurance