Hello From Beirut

We are here!

We arrived safely and very tired. I could not sleep on the flight from Atlanta to Paris . So Byron shared his meds with me and I was able to sleep from Paris to Beirut . We are doing pretty with the jet lag so far. They say another day or so and it will set in. Hopefully the Lord will spare us.

This morning we awoke to a beautiful day! The weather here is like a wonderful spring morning. Following a breakfast of pita, olives, apricot preserves and cream cheese we headed out by taxi to the Gateway Bookstore. The store is associated with the seminary here. It was amazing how many books you could recognize from the cover. This small store was your typical small Christian bookstore in the US . We did not have much time to shop but Mark did buy me a beautiful tray with wood inlay for only $16.00! See why I wanted to look around a little more.

We headed out to the Baptist school and go there in time for recess. There were lots of children running and playing within this total concrete play yard. No playground equipment very few balls. Just children running, laughing and playing. It was very difficult to hold back the tears. My heart strings were pulled! I found myself praying silently that the Lord would not only protect their hearts and minds but that they would experience the love of Christ. So many precious little faces to capture and so little time to try and talk. Our time for that will come at camp I guess.

We did get to see part of the children’s Mother’s Day Program at the school. It was so sweet! The first class up was one of the First Grade classes. The girls had little green tootoo on and the boys little green vests. They came up the isle with grins on their little faces. Just beaming with pride! They dance a ballet to music I recognized. It was precious. The Second Grade did a skit about us all having an angel to help us where we are hurt or lonely or need comfort. This angel’s name is mother. I would have paid good money to see the rest of this program.

The Lord is continuing to tender my heart for the people here. It is almost as if you can tell by the look on their faces who is a believer and who is not. Many look angry, but those here at the seminary and at the school are some of the most happy faces I have ever seen. Their hospitality is tremendous. We feel so at home.

Please continue to pray that our work here will bring glory to the Lord. That we will remain humble servants of His. Pray also for the camp this weekend.