Diane joined 52 others on the Steps of the Apostles Tour a few weeks ago. As an LA high school teacher who has been a disciple for 19 years, Diane shares unexpected messages and comfort from a visit with a small church on historic Cyprus in the Mediterranean.

Before the Steps of the Apostles Tour, I spent several years working through some of my loss issues through a course called Grief Recovery. I found the process so effective in learning to forgive, resolving my own past, and helping others, that I became certified in grief recovery in order to help others.

But I believe that when we set out to do some great work for the Lord, to help others, the devil is right there scheming. Although I helped 9 people through the process of resolving things like loss of loved ones, divorce, childhood hurts, etc., there was some fallout that I had to endure. I had to work through conflicts with some of the course members and with a woman in my own discipleship group, with whom I resolved things only a week before the Steps trip. So I went on this trip kind of emotionally exhausted, licking my wounds.

I was looking back at the message I heard in a church service before I left. It was about the Passover meal being a yearly celebration of the Jews in honor of the release from slavery in Egypt. In reviewing my notes, I decided, “This trip is going to be my celebration of deliverance honoring 19 years of walking with the Lord and for teaching my first Grief Recovery class.” In my notes, it says, “the church is not the Promised Land; it’s God’s people trying to live righteous lives, but still a bunch of sinners. We’re all pilgrims, going to the Promised Land and, like the Jews, right now we’re wandering in the
desert.”

One of the memorable moments of the Steps trip for me was another message about wandering in the desert. When we got together with the disciples in the Limossol, Cyprus church, we learned that Cyprus was actually the location of the first missionary planting of Paul in Acts 13.

At Paphos, as he and Barnabas are preaching to the powerful leader of the country, Simon the sorcerer tries to talk him Sergius Paulus out of it and Paul strikes Simon temporarily blind proving God's power. So Cyprus has some great biblical history. We actually gathered in the courtyard where that happened, read the Scriptures and sang praises to God.

Cyprus is an island off the coast of Turkey that today is inhabited by both Greeks and Turks who are warring countries. A boundary through the island separates the two cultures. Jordan, McLeod who became a disciple in New York and then led the Jerusalem Church for several years, moved to Cyprus as their evangelist 5 years ago. He lost his support in the crisis in our churches and he and his wife had to find a way to support themselves.

After a wonderful lunch, Jordan preached to us about his desert on a windy hill overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, He said there are three phases you go through in the desert: times of testing, times of wandering, and times of refreshment. In our walks as disciples, we will find ourselves in one of these states most of the time.

Our times of testing can come from hurts we’ve experienced from our brothers and sisters within God's kingdom. And yet, how can we expect these warring countries who’ve had brothers, sisters, mothers and fathers killed by their enemies to forgive them and turn to Christ if we can’t even forgive our brothers and sisters in the church who’ve hurt us? In Isaiah 43 it says, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?”

I thank God that it was such a windy day that day, so that people didn’t see the tears welling up in my eyes as I was listening to that message. “God understands! He knows what I’m going through! He sees my hurts!” He sent me a message of comfort on that windy day in Limossol, Cyprus.

God has healed me, and given me a message of forgiveness and reconciliation. He used me to help this sister in my group heal, though I had to suffer a little in the process. For,
Philippians 1:29 (NLT) says, “you have been given the privilege not only of trusting in Christ but also the privilege of suffering for him. We are in this fight together.”