Writing from Jordan, where he is on his oversea tour, the Moderator, Dr Charles McMullen, reflects on a ‘gruelling day’ and his visit to three homes and the three amazing families that he met. He writes about their generous hospitality, even though they had nothing to give, and the hope that they had.

I spent a gruelling day visiting three Christian families who had fled for their lives from Iraq. A mother and three children. A mother so traumatised after a bruising encounter with ISIS that she still cannot talk about the experience, and that lively youngest child in particular so full of life.

I read Isaiah 61 and prayed as we prepared to leave - the Lord bestowing on his loved ones a crown of beauty instead of ashes and the oil of gladness instead of mourning. Later we found ourselves in a rooftop ‘apartment’, so spartan with faulty electrics and a leaking roof.

A teacher of English literature laughed as she shared her love of Jane Austen and Agatha Christie. It would have been good if she had been able to lose herself in Jane Eyre rather than telling us about escaping from her homeland. Again there was trauma counselling from the Bible Society, but also food parcels. I read from Ephesians 3 about being rooted and established in love.

At our third house, a family whose loved ones were scattered across Europe while they were stranded here because of passport fraudsters. There was no mistaking their faith as I read Psalm 139, a picture of God’s complete care even in the darkest places.

Did I take in the enormity of each story? There was such brokenness, but also forgiveness: laughter through the tears; hope in the midst of despair; generous hospitality, although they had nothing to give. My own faith seemed so shallow as I read, and yet God’s Word is always relevant and powerful. As I left these three homes, another Scripture, 2 Corinthians 6 came to mind: having nothing and yet possessing everything.

---

Dr McMullen is minister of West Church Bangor and was selected as moderator-designate in February 2018 and officially elected and installed as Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland at the General Assembly on 4 June.

You can read his other 'postcards' from Jordan here, and news about his overseas visit to Jordan here. You can also follow his travels on Twitter at @pcimoderator or using hashtag #pcioverseastour.