What Should I Do?

[Barney2.0]

I have a number of a Syriac priest that I once met personally, but I’ve been contemplating for a long time whether I should call or send a message, since I could go through many risks if I did call mainly from my family, who obviously aren’t ok with it. My family don’t even know about what I do on this forum. So I’m worried about the risks of communicating with him, but at the same time I feel regret if I don’t. I’ve been like this for months on end tormenting over what I should do, my evangelical fundamentalist friend doesn’t think I should (since Catholics and Orthodox aren’t Christians, sarcasm intended). So I’m caught between the the Mohammedans and the fundamentalist evangelical Christians, my friend is trying very hard to make me evangelical and to convince me to give up trying to call a priest, but I’ve explained many times that his Church doctrines make no sense to me, I even tried very hard to try to all sense of of it, but really couldn’t. He’s the only Christian that supports me in person despite the obviously huge theological gap between us, from icons to the role of the Saints and Mary and how the Bible should be interpreted. My family have no idea what’s going on and they’d pretty much outright go berserk on me if they find out, and my only Christian friend that I know in person doesn’t want me to contact a priest. So I’m stuck and in depression, if I don’t risk it I’ll regret it, but should I risk everything and do it? I just really need some support right now.

 

[Tolworth John]

May I suggest getting a pay as you go mobile and several pay as you go cards, pay only cash, and use that to contact this priest. Use one card to contact him and a different card to contact friends.
Save his details to the card and not to the phone. Swop the cards after every call and hide the card.

If your family do npt know you are Christian you run very real risks, so the measures I've suggested should protect you.

 

[Barney2.0]

May I suggest getting a pay as you go mobile and several pay as you go cards, pay only cash, and use that to contact this priest. Use one card to contact him and a different card to contact friends.
Save his details to the card and not to the phone. Swop the cards after every call and hide the card.

If your family do npt know you are Christian you run very real risks, so the measures I've suggested should protect you.

They know I’m a Christian, they just don’t want it made official.

 

[Tolworth John]

They know I’m a Christian, they just don’t want it made official.

You either ring him openly using the family phone and risk the call being detected or do as I suggested to keep it secret and as undetectable as you can make it.

 

[Barney2.0]

You either ring him openly using the family phone and risk the call being detected or do as I suggested to keep it secret and as undetectable as you can make it.

I have my own phone, but I can still risk being caught since my mother uses it a lot since I get all messages from the bank and all my bank statements on it, plus any messages from which court so she has to constantly check it every now and then.

 

[HTacianas]

I have a number of a Syriac priest that I once met personally, but I’ve been contemplating for a long time whether I should call or send a message, since I could go through many risks if I did call mainly from my family, who obviously aren’t ok with it. My family don’t even know about what I do on this forum. So I’m worried about the risks of communicating with him, but at the same time I feel regret if I don’t. I’ve been like this for months on end tormenting over what I should do, my evangelical fundamentalist friend doesn’t think I should (since Catholics and Orthodox aren’t Christians, sarcasm intended). So I’m caught between the the Mohammedans and the fundamentalist evangelical Christians, my friend is trying very hard to make me evangelical and to convince me to give up trying to call a priest, but I’ve explained many times that his Church doctrines make no sense to me, I even tried very hard to try to all sense of of it, but really couldn’t. He’s the only Christian that supports me in person despite the obviously huge theological gap between us, from icons to the role of the Saints and Mary and how the Bible should be interpreted. My family have no idea what’s going on and they’d pretty much outright go berserk on me if they find out, and my only Christian friend that I know in person doesn’t want me to contact a priest. So I’m stuck and in depression, if I don’t risk it I’ll regret it, but should I risk everything and do it? I just really need some support right now.

Send a message to the priest. Tell him everything you just told us.

 

[Barney2.0]

Send a message to the priest. Tell him everything you just told us.

I’m not sure if I should risk t though, that’s what I’m worried about. Plus is it fine to communicate with someone you only met once? I’m really contemplating on these things.

 

[HTacianas]

I’m not sure if I should risk t though, that’s what I’m worried about. Plus is it fine to communicate with someone you only met once? I’m really contemplating on these things.

It is likely that the priest has had to do this before. Try to contact him anonymously if you can.

 

[public hermit]

Would your evangelical friend be willing to make the contact in spite of their misgivings? If so, that might be a safe way to establish contact.

 

[Barney2.0]

It’s done I took the risk of calling him, we spoke a lot and we'll start talking once a week. I’m glad I managed to speak to him, but I’m worried of my family finding out and I a bit uncomfortable of keeping such a big secret from them.

 

[dzheremi]

May God grant you safety, Al Masihi.

I'm still trying to find a way to get a Syriac Orthodox priest to contact you through this website, just by the way. I haven't found a way to do that yet (I don't know any Syriac priest personally, only Copts), but I will keep looking until I get a good reply. It is wonderful that you have contacted this priest, but if there is also another way to help you connect with the Syriac Orthodox that is safer than calling on the phone, you should be able to do that as well. May God grant it.

 

[archer75]

May the Lord bless your search, @Al Masihi.

 

[Tolworth John]

I have my own phone, but I can still risk being caught since my mother uses it a lot since I get all messages from the bank and all my bank statements on it, plus any messages from which court so she has to constantly check it every now and then.

Which is why I suggested getting a pay as you go phone and a couple of spare cards, so you could keep any conversations totaly private/secret.

Well done for making contact.

 

[Barney2.0]

May God grant you safety, Al Masihi.

I'm still trying to find a way to get a Syriac Orthodox priest to contact you through this website, just by the way. I haven't found a way to do that yet (I don't know any Syriac priest personally, only Copts), but I will keep looking until I get a good reply. It is wonderful that you have contacted this priest, but if there is also another way to help you connect with the Syriac Orthodox that is safer than calling on the phone, you should be able to do that as well. May God grant it.

Thank you so much Dzheremi, it means so much to me, please keep trying if there is a safer way. Hopefully I will keep speaking to him every week or so. So I guess I’m on my way to the Oriental Orthodox Church, who would have thought.

 

[Barney2.0]

Which is why I suggested getting a pay as you go phone and a couple of spare cards, so you could keep any conversations totaly private/secret.

Well done for making contact.

I communicate through what’s app and then I delete everything so nothing is saved.

 

[AMM]

Lord have mercy! I can’t imagine what it must be like in your shoes - I had enough worries telling my Lutheran parents about my conversion to Orthodoxy, so all that you go through is rather inspiring to me. May God guide you and protect you.

 

[dzheremi]

Thank you so much Dzheremi, it means so much to me, please keep trying if there is a safer way. Hopefully I will keep speaking to him every week or so. So I guess I’m on my way to the Oriental Orthodox Church, who would have thought.

May the prayers of St. Behnam and his sister St. Sarah and the forty martyrs be with you. Their father was the Assyrian king Sinharib in Mesopotamia, and they faced his anger at their conversion to Christianity with grace and power from God. I pray that you should have the same grace and power. May God protect you and strengthen you.

 

[Barney2.0]

May the prayers of St. Behnam and his sister St. Sarah and the forty martyrs be with you. Their father was the Assyrian king Sinharib in Mesopotamia, and they faced his anger at their conversion to Christianity with grace and power from God. I pray that you should have the same grace and power. May God protect you and strengthen you.

The ironic thing is that king Sinharib himself converted afterwards.

 

[dzheremi]

Yes he did. And I have heard more than once from people at church of a family in this or that village in Egypt or in Sudan where similar things happened. We cannot parade our Muslim-background converts around publicly for obvious reasons (nor does anyone really want to), but we rejoiced to receive a Saudi woman in my old parish. I cannot imagine the conflict that must be endured to get there, but with God all things are possible, and there is nothing in the world more important than following Him and worshiping Him in spirit and in truth.

 

[Lukaris]

Prayers that you are doing well.