FAI Central

Funerals and demonstrations were held across Syrian Kurdistan (a.k.a. Rojava) over the weekend after a Turkish drone strike killed four young schoolgirls last Thursday near the town of Haskalah.

"For it is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewoman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and he of the freewoman through promise...."

These are two simple verses, in theory. But we got lost in them—good and deep. Join Jeff & Steph for the latest conversation in THE BETTER FREEDOM: "Isaacs, Ishmaels, & Rabbit Trails (Gal. 4:22-23)," live now in the FAI App.

The region of Syrian Kurdistan (a.k.a. Rojava) endured “unprecedented” artillery shelling last week, as Syrian Arab militias aligned with Turkey struck communities along Rojava’s long border with Turkey.

The One Wherein Jeff & Steph Park in a Singular Seventeen-Word Verse For a Whole Episode

"Tell me, you who desire the law, do you not listen to the law?"

Galatians puts the collision between our desires, identities, and owners (yes, what/who owns you) under a microscope, and even this short little verse sifts the human heart and exposes intentions and aspirations undergirding how we approach a life in God. Perhaps this conversation will help illuminate some of your own.

Or maybe we just got the Backstreet Boys stuck in your head. Either way, listen to the latest THE BETTER FREEDOM episode, "So, Tell Me... (Gal. 4:21)," now in the FAI App.

Israeli citizens in the nation’s south spent the night in bomb shelters on Friday as Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and the Israeli military (IDF) traded rocket fire and airstrikes for hours.

As a father in the faith, Paul was concerned for the Galatians. He was jealous for the Galatians. He was burdened for the Galatians. Yet he was, in his own words, "perplexed" by the Galatians. What can we learn and glean from this man who developed out of his own immaturity to give his life to shepherding others out of theirs?

Listen to "Fatherhood & Full Formation (Gal. 4:17-20)" with Jeff & Steph now here in the FAI App.

Turkish artillery and drone strikes against Kurdish forces are spiking in Syrian Kurdistan after Turkish president Erdogan encountered opposition from Iran and Russia regarding a fourth planned Turkish military offensive.

Paul's tone begins to pivot in Galatians 4:10-16, and we hear him in humility, in his humanity, as he makes a heartfelt plea to the believers in Galatia. Jeff & Steph discuss these verses in this week's episode of THE BETTER FREEDOM, our (long) season exclusively devoted to Paul's letter to the churches of Galatia. Listen now in the FAI App.

Gabe reads the FAI Wire report regarding the Turkish attack on a resort in Iraqi Kurdistan which killed nine civilians last Wednesday. Comments from a member of FAI's field team in the region and a local resident.

An abiding law of the universe is this: You are a slave to that which you obey, and you obey that which you desire. This is why loving Jesus is synonymous with obedience (John 15), and why Paul so often refers to himself as a bondservant. But say you break beyond the fence line of obedience; you are not then "free" from the constraints of His commands—you're enslaved within the territory of disobedience. In this week's passage, Paul addresses one way we jump the fence: by giving our minds back to "weak and worthless elementary principles of the world."

Abiding within the fences of Jesus' commands is THE BETTER FREEDOM. Join Jeff & Steph for a meditative conversation on Galatians 4:8-9 in this week's episode of our long walk through the book of Galatians.