Chris Naylor - Postcards from the Middle East: How Our Family Fell in Love with the Arab World

For Susanna, Sam, Chloe, and Josh

Text copyright 2015 Chris Naylor

This edition copyright 2015 Lion Hudson

The right of Chris Naylor to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Published by Lion Books
an imprint of
Lion Hudson plc
Wilkinson House, Jordan Hill Road,
Oxford OX2 8DR, England
www.lionhudson.com/lion

ISBN 978 0 7459 5649 7
e-ISBN 978 0 7459 5650 3

First edition 2015

Acknowledgments
Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version Anglicised. Copyright 1979, 1984, 2011 Biblica, formerly International Bible Society. Used by permission of Hodder & Stoughton Ltd, an Hachette UK company. All rights reserved.
NIV is a registered trademark of Biblica. UK trademark number 1448790.

Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Extract p. 85 taken from Lawrence of Arabia . Courtesy of Columbia Pictures.

p. 8 Map of Lebanon Samuel Naylor.

Plate section: photographs of the White Stork, Short-toed Eagle, and the Honey Buzzard Peter Harris

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Cover image: dkaranouh/iStock

Postcards from the Middle East is inspiring, challenging, and valuable. Its not easy to pigeon-hole as its autobiography combined with a hugely helpful and well-told narrative about the politics, ecology, cultures, and religions of the region at the crossroads of the world. If youre puzzled by whats on the news concerning Iraq, Syria, Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, and the rest of the Middle East, this is a great place to start. Its told with humour and empathy, and most of all with deep love for the people and the places where many of todays global tensions focus. Read it soon and youll not only be better informed, youll see the people and region quite differently.

Reverend Dave Bookless, Director of Theology, A Rocha International

This is Christianity bringing real hope to the wildlife, wild places, and the people of Lebanons Bekaa Valley and beyond. It is an extraordinary tale of faith in action with cultural and historical insights sandwiched in regional turmoil.

David Chandler, co-author of RSPB Guide to Birdwatching

This is a very readable and compelling account of a family living through tumultuous events in the Middle East. I cant think of a better way of getting beneath the surface and understanding something of the culture, religion, and politics of the region than through the very varied experiences of Chris and Susanna and their family. Having lived through some of these same events and seen their creative conservation work in Lebanon, I can vouch for the fact that it made a very significant contribution in a troubled country.

Reverend Colin Chapman, formerly lecturer in Islamic Studies, Near East School of Theology, Beirut, Lebanon

The environmental condition of the Middle East is easily forgotten amidst the maelstrom of politics and conflict. This rich and inspiring account of the Naylor familys adventures in Lebanon, and the setting up of A Rochas project to help protect the priceless Aammiq wetlands in the Bekaa Valley, will help put many a conservation battle into perspective. It is thoughtful, wise, and compelling reading, with enough name-dropping of exciting fauna to make you thirst to go there yourself.

Dominic Couzens, bestselling natural history writer and author of Secret Lives of Garden Birds

More than the story of a remarkable and pioneering family and the conservation organization they led, Postcards from the Middle East gives a hard-won and deeply grounded perspective on a beautiful and troubled country whose history has come to affect us all. Chris Naylors knowledgeable affection for the landscapes and cultures he gave so much to understand, and for the Lebanese people whose current diaspora are found all around the world, shines through every page. With every chapter, we become the beneficiaries of his many years in the region; the extraordinary legacy of his working years there give him a wise and moderate voice that deserves to be widely heard.

Peter Harris, President and co-founder of A Rocha

Chris Naylor has reminded me of a carpet weaver in Medhat Bacha market in old Damascus. He was able to skilfully weave in various threads of culture, family, history, religion, mythology, and politics to produce a colourful carpet. Naylors lucid and conversational style makes the book an enjoyable reading. I appreciated his cultural sensitivity and authentic sincerity as he shares his and his familys experiences and adventures. This book deserves to be placed next to Edward Saids Orientalism , but I assure you that you will read it with lots of smiles and laughter!

Dr Riad Kassis, Director, Langham Scholars Ministry, Langham Partnership

Weaving together colourful anecdotes and astute observations, Chris Naylor explores themes of faith, community, and nature conservation in the beautifully written and evocative story of one British familys life in Kuwait, Jordan, and Lebanon. This warm-hearted and honest book is a must-read for anyone who wants to better understand the cultural, political, and religious complexities of the Middle East.

Dr Hilary Marlow, Faraday Institute for Science and Religion

This well written book is an inspiring story of life in the Middle East with many interesting details about the people, the natural history, and the religions of the region.

Professor Sir Ghillean Prance, FRS, Former Director, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

Like the best tapestry, this book has so many beautiful elements weaving through it. It is a colourful description of an amazing time spent in the Middle East, blended wonderfully with an exploration of the history and culture of that significant part of the world. His love for, and care of, the people who live there, the land they live on, and the other creatures they share that land with, shines through in everything he writes. As the troubles in that part of the world just keep escalating, this is a book we all should read.

Dr Ruth Valerio, author of L is for Lifestyle: Christian living that doesnt cost the earth

Acknowledgments

This book covers a period of two decades and so implicates many family and friends. My greatest thanks go to my wife Susanna and children Samuel, Chloe, and Joshua for allowing our family story to be told and for their advice, recollections and arguments that helped shape the book. I am also grateful to Barbara Mearns, George and Mary Kopti, Tom Rowley, Stephen and Marianne Raikes, Colin Chapman, Michel Skaff, Richard Storey, Chris Walley, Peter Harris, Andy and Laurel Sprenger, Joy Mallouh, Colin Conroy and Jennie Evans who read either parts or all of the text to check that my memories werent too far from the truth.

The fact that our family musings have progressed to a book is thanks to Lion Hudson, and particularly to Tony Collins for believing in the project and to my commissioning editor Ali Hull for the Herculean task of sharpening the text and straightening out my idiosyncratic grammar.