CONTRASTS

It is Monday afternoon and we are on a short break between ministering this morning with Hope of Lebanon and our teachings tonight with Grain de Ble. The best word I can use for what I have experienced from my time here in Lebanon is: Contrasts.

NEW & OLD: During the day yesterday we went into southern Lebanon to Tyre and Sidon. There we got to see the ancient ruins from centuries ago where there was a coliseum, a road built during the Roman Empire, a cemetery and an aqueduct. It was amazing to see how things were built to stand the test of time. We passed through areas where Jesus possibly did some miracles (Wedding at Cana) and taught his disciples. Then last night some of us decided to take a taxi downtown to the city center of Beirut. Everything is so new and beautiful built from the designs of the French. A new shopping mall filled with expensive European and American shops were bustling with people. All this has been built because of the civil war of the 70’s and 80’s which destroyed much of the city. When returning to our lodging and commenting to the taxi driver about how beautiful his city is, he replied that the old city was much more beautiful. One can only imagine.

HOPE & DESPAIR: Ruth and Karen (from Village Baptist Church in Beaverton) and I got to spend some time this morning with a ministry called Hope of Lebanon. Though this ministry is only 3 years old, they are accomplishing tremendous things for the Lord. Their heart is to help the Iraqi refugees that have escaped to Lebanon from the persecution and torment in Iraqi. After being in this country for a month, the refugees are considered illegal and can no longer receive any help from the government. In actuality, the government does not care if they stay longer, they just will not help them. The people are lost – they cannot return home for they will be killed and there is no help after they are here. The UN may try to find them a new country to live in but it could take many months and if initially denied, they must wait 5 years before asking the UN for help.

We were divided into two teams to visit some families in their homes. I was able to visit with two families. One was a young mother with 5 children whose husband was able to find some menial work for over 12 hours per day. They left Iraq because of the car bombings by the school in their village and the constant threat of harm. Here the children are not going to school because they only speak Arabic and the classes they should be taking are taught in French or English. They would have to start in grade 1 if they were to go (the oldest is 15). They will hear in 3 weeks which country they may be sent to if approved by the UN. The other family left Iraq because they were threatened to have their business be bombed and also be killed because they were not following in the ways of the militia. They left with nothing. The son has not seen his fiancé in 5 years because she had already escaped to Germany. They are still waiting to be together. The other group visited a family whose husband was kidnapped from his store 2 years ago and not be heard from since. They know he is dead. We were able to share the hope of Christ and scripture with these people. We closed with prayer each time. The families were so appreciative that someone would visit, to know where their physical needs could be taken care of and be left with their hearts filled with the hope of Christ.

The stories continue. The ministry of Hope for Lebanon is providing meals and clothes for these families. They have storage rooms filled with clothes and food to be distributed at their food and clothing banks each week. The Lebanese government is not able to handle all the refugees coming into their country which is where ministries like this are able to step in.

HISTORY AND FUTURE: You see the old massive apartment complexes where there is extreme poverty and you see the amazing new structures of beauty and stature. You see the young people out at 11:30pm in the city center dressed like they were going to some fancy affair and you see the Muslim women dressed in black and still covering their faces. At this late hour of the night you see families together with the children playing and you contrast it with the children I visited today who are hoping for a secure tomorrow for they do not see it today. One sees the deep, rich history going back hundreds and hundreds of years and you see the many buildings going up to accommodate the people still flocking into the country of Lebanon and the city of Beirut. The people don’t trust the government for it changes drastically every 5 years. So much is uncertain for them.

DARK & LIGHT: You see the amazing mosques being built and ministries like Hope of Lebanon and Grain de Ble where God’s light is shining in the darkness. God is doing a unique and amazing work here reaching into a very dark world.

Got to go get ready for tonight’s teaching. Not sure when any pictures will come up – might have to be when I get home.

Thanks again for your love, support and prayers!