Home is where your heart is, so they say. But my heart is still in Beirut. I can't get the faces out of my mind. The faithful saints who are plodding along each day. Taking it one day at a time. Sharing the love of Christ with whomever they meet. So Kind, So Faithful!
Above is picture of the view from our room at the seminary. You can see the Mediterranean Sea in the background. What a beautiful view! The camp overall was successful and the children had a wonderful time. The language barrier was very difficult for me. There were so many things I wanted to say to the children but only about half could understand English. Those who knew some English could not always understand what you were saying. It was paralyzing at times for me. I tried to just hug on them and say what I could. When I go back I want to learn a little Arabic so that I can express my love and concern for them in a language they can understand. Several children were begging us to return for the next camp in the summer. The disappointment on their face was painful. As we drove to the airport I felt a bit like I do when leaving Angie's after the birth of a grand baby. So little time, so much love and I don't know what to do with the feelings. I was not ready to return. There is so much there to accomplish. So many to reach. I wanted to build relationships. The tears were ready to flow and it took great effort to hold them back.
It was amazing to find that the Lebanese believers asked us to pray for the same things many in America request prayer for. The Seminary wives asked us to pray that the Lord would show them how to balance ministry and family. How to live in a fish bowl. I immediately thought of Robin, our pastors wife. She does an amazing job of this. We had a chance to pray with 5 of these women. It was awesome to bind our hearts in prayer with fellow believers we had never met. Just 20 minutes together caused a bond that will last.
While I am glad to be home and close to those I love, God has given me a love for these fellow believers. I pray I never forget them.
2 comments:
I'm so glad to have you home,but understand the mixed emotions. I'm so thankful that you and Dad were able to make this trip, and pray that it's not the last. You have a gift for touching children's hearts and I'm sure that God has more of this in store for you. I love you! Only 13 more days till we're there!
Want to learn a little bit of high-quality, clean Arabic? I'm at your service. I won't bore you with my language résumé, but I will offer to share with you both my faith in Jesus Christ as well as my knowledge of Arabic. My e-mailed lessons will be easy: no hard grammar, no memorization, no drills, no verb conjugations...I'd just like to teach you (in English phonetic transliteration) some friendly and useful phrases in the language. E-mail me at jfromtn (a) satx.rr.com if interested. Salaamu yasuu` il-masiihi `aleykum. "May the peace of Jesus the Messiah be upon you and yours." -Jason
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