Tea with Hezbollah: Sitting at the Enemies Table Our Journey Through the Middle East [Hardcover]

I had mixed emotions about this book upon completing it, because I really, really wanted it to be good. The idea of discussing Jesus' most important teaching with Middle-Eastern Muslims is ground-breaking, and the idea was ripe with possibilities. I truly hoped the book would live up to my expectations. But in the end, I left a bit disappointed, having felt that it fell short of its goal, and even got way off track at times. The authors explain the purpose and goal of the book, and I had hoped that the bulk of the book would be the interviews with the mullahs, muftis and members of "terrorist" organizations. For reasons that never really became apparent, they chose instead to weave a fictional story into their non-fiction narrative.

The fictional part of the book, which I won't give away, was certainly interesting, and would have made a great novel. As I read it, and not knowing that it was fiction, I kept wondering why this story hadn't already been made into a movie. I also smelled a rat...I follow the news from this region very closely, and had never heard about this person, even though the story leads the reader to believe it had been covered by all the major news outlets. Upon finally discovering it was fictional, I was disappointed and even a bit angry, as it took up space in a book that could have been better used to address the stated purpose of the book.

In the end, I simply felt that the authors should have spent much more of the book dealing with the primary subjects. That's why I wanted to read it, and I was disappointed that they had to share billing with a fictional character. While the fictional tale was gripping, it really seemed out of place in this book and would have been better served by putting it into a book of its own. I was also surprised with some of the questions they asked their subjects. I understand that the authors wanted to show the similarities westerners share with these people, but I felt the questions could have been much more probing, and should have been asked in a manner that would reveal more about their character and motivating beliefs. The uneven nature of this book was my only real complaint, but it is a big one. I will say that I still enjoyed the book, but not nearly as much as I wanted to. The idea was rich with potential, but I felt that the execution of the idea was mediocre.

When I first heard the basic concept for this book, I was curious and excited to read it...

Take two American evangelicals and send them to visit the Middle East. Provide them access to a truly remarkable network of contacts and give them a simple set of questions to ask. Stand back and watch the worldviews shift and rearrange.

Which is apparently what happened, and I'm glad. There are a number of ways it could have gone much worse.

Maybe I should just stop there, but having just finished the book, some things are fresh in my mind:

- The amped-up, "high-energy" writing style is inappropriate to the subject matter. This is a complicated topic and an incredible opportunity. But instead of getting to the point, the author spends much too much time talking about himself and his fears. Here's a sample:

"I am a writer cursed with powers of observation and even greater powers of imagination, and by this point a hundred or so scenarios were now so real to me that our driver became the kidnapper, whisking us away to a compound where we would spend the next ten years until the United States finally broke down and sent Rambo to free us."

Maybe he's trying to get me to identify with his feelings, but I just wanted him to get out of the way so I could listen to the people he was talking to. I felt like I was reading all the outtakes and missing the real story.

- In chapter 4 and woven throughout the rest of the book, a side story about a woman named Nicole is introduced, which quickly becomes the most interesting part of the narrative. We are supplied with names, dates, places, and events, and given to believe that she is a real person with an extraordinary story. Her life becomes a powerful example of the story of the Good Samaritan. Except that it's not true. In fact, she's entirely made up. On the second to the last page of the book, Dekker writes, "Along the way I'd reached into my most reliable source, my own imagination, to relive the parable of the Samaritan...or as you've come to know it, Nicole's story."

At this point, I almost threw the book across the room. Wasn't there one, true story to be found among all the conversations that could have served the purpose? And if it is truly impossible to find a Good Samaritan in the real world, why didn't we spend some time talking about that, instead of making up a complicated fiction to fill the space?

- I had other disagreements with the structure and style, but maybe I should just make my point: I have traveled in some of the same parts of the world and have had similar conversations. I have seen the complexity of the problems and felt some of the frustration that comes from trying to find answers. But I have also seen grace at work in some of these same dark places. I believe there is hope, but it only comes with great sacrifice and great love. And I believe that Dekker actually stumbled into it again and again throughout his journey.

But instead of realizing this, the book ended with a shrug, "Love is the only solution, and nobody does it well. Not Christians, not Muslims, not Jews, not me." It made me sad because it seemed to me that the author had, in fact, found what he was looking for and then tossed it away. The fact that he sat down face to face with people that our government calls terrorists and was treated with respect and hospitality is astounding and beautiful. I just wish that, after all that, we could have really listened to what they had to say.

[Note: This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.]

The book, Tea With Hezbollah, was quite interesting and different than I thought. I wasn't sure really what to expect, and what I found was both very well done and disappointing as well. The reason I say disappointing is that I thought the book was written by both Ted Dekker and Carl Medearis, when in reality, it was only written by Dekker. This was both informative and lacking. Here is what I mean.

The book is set up as the story of the journey of New York Times best selling author Ted Dekker and the most official title you'll ever get out of Carl Medearis, which is "Mr. Carl." Carl is actually the most prominant Western White "Christian" (better referenced as a follower of Jesus) to ever build bridges and share the life and ministry of Jesus to the insides of the most dangerous places on earth for most Christians to go. The journey for these two is to go to those that are considered the enemies of the United States and sit down and try and show their humanity through "People Magazine" type questions and then ask them on their thoughts on Jesus' command for us to love our enemies. The idea was for them to see if they could find "the Good Samaritan" living today. The list of who they actually sit down with is quite astonishing (some names so high up that they had to be changed for safety reasons):

Abdul Fadeel Al Kusi (head of Al Azhar University in Egypt)
A colonel in the Saudi Arabian army
Hussein Shobokshi (an influential media personality Saudi Arabia)
Two of Osama bin Laden's brothers
Sheik Muhammad Yamani (minister of information in Saudi Arabia and in charge of making Islamic law)
Sheik Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah (regarded by many to be Hezbollah's spiritual leader)
A Bedouin Prince
Two Lebanese Hezbollah Fighters
Hezbollah Sheik Nabil Qaouk
Mufti Abdul Fattah Al Bizem (Damascus Mufti who significantly influences the interpretation of Islamic law throughout entire region)
Sheik Ekrima Sa'id Sabri (Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, appointed by Yasser Arafat)
Sami Awad (to most a modern day "Christian" Gandhi in Bethlehem)
A top leader in the Hamas.

The questions that were shown in the book were things like:

What makes you laugh?
What is your favorite joke?
When was the last time you cried?
What are Americans wrong perceptions of Muslims?
What are Muslims wrong perceptions of Americans?
What do you think of Jesus' teaching of loving our enemies?
and more, depending on the interview

Now, the reason I say that I was disappointed that much of the perspective of Carl Medearis wasn't given is that the depth of the conversation just wasn't there. The purpose of the book, however, was to put a face and personality with these people we call our enemies. For the most part, they are our enemies as a country and politics, but for my personal convictions, they are not my personal enemies in any way.

I believe if Medearis co-authored the book, we might have received more in depth information on the spiritual insights that were discussed. But, this doesn't mean the book was a wash, it just wasn't completely what I was expecting. Ted Dekker is a great author and this book was one that I read in three days as Dekker made it easy to connect to as he referenced his fears and troubling thoughts as he was embarking on these journeys to places where literally no Christian had been in years. Not only is the reader given insight to the conversations that took place, but Dekker puts together mini history lessons for each place and person that they are going to interview, which was very helpful in putting more than merely a name and "pin in a map" before going into the interview.

Overall I liked the book. I think it will be very helpful in breaking down some walls with those we consider our enemies. Our enemies' personalities are brought out so that we can grow to understand and love them and try to carry out the most rebellious command ever given to us: love, bless and pray for our enemies.

If one is hoping to get more in depth understanding of Islam, this book isn't for you. If one is hoping to see Muslims and Christians speak about Jesus, this book has very little to offer. For both of those I would highly recommend Medearis' book, "Muslims, Christians and Jesus" or Siljander's book, "A Deadly Misunderstanding." But, if you desire to learn more about those that the United States has on terrorist lists and you desire to love and pray for them, this is a great book to start with.

Also, the follow up event to this book called, "Why Do You Fear Me?" has their video up from the event, which I highly recommend to hear some amazing stories on what is happening around the Muslim world.

I highly Recommend this book.

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