Liban from my heart

This is what I wrote while in Lebanon:
Well well. I find myself in the Middle East and what a lovely place to find myself. The trip was looong and not exactly comfortable. But when is a trip ever exactly comfortable unless you have big time mula to shell over to first class? I’m not complaining, however. Actually, I am grateful to the Lord because his presence and protection covered us the whole way and every flight was precisely connected. Considering that we had to drive four hours to the airport and make four connecting flights without long layovers, that says a lot. I am the only girl in our little entourage which means that a lot of toilet talk (and not just talk either) takes place and my reactions are limited to laughter…not joining in.No siree, I will laugh at them but not join them. Anyways, we have been here four full days now and have seen many sights, tasted some YUM foods, and made sweet friendships. My heart is torn between admiration and sorrow. This place is amazingly beautiful and to the surprise of most, is very “civilized” in the sense that not only do they have most of the Western commodities but I dare say they are even more extravagant than many Western countries. Contrasting the modern beauty, however, the scars of war are evident all around and an invisible oppression looms heavily in the atmosphere. In the midst of all of the modern beauty, a terrorist group has taken and held control of certain parts of the capitol. A block or two from dazzling designer shops you can find, even though you may not want to be seeking, a permanent encampment of these terrorists surrounding a most beautiful mosk and many other beautiful new developments. These terrorists are not currently terrorizing, however, but are instead lolly gagging the time away playing cards, eating and whatnot. All I can think about is that something must be brewing because groups like that don’t just sit around forever but I thank God that for now they are living peacefully. Think about the situation for a few minutes yourself though. They have taken over one of the most affluent sections of town where no one not belonging to their kind dares go in, and are mightily showing the power they hold over the government (who protects them so that bigger problems don’t occur.). Put yourself in the shoes of the shop owners, the shoppers, and everyday Lebanese people who no longer go about as freely as the long ago carefree days. There is so much more I could write on this point but you can use your God-given imagination and ask me personally for more details later. Surprisingly, the country is considered a Christian nation, or predominantly Catholic if you will, and possesses certain quirky laws such as: The elected president of the country must be registered as a Catholic. Not Protestant, Buddhist, Mormon, or anything else, only Catholic. Interesting? I thought so.
Now, our purpose for coming…We are spending time with a faithful pastor and his congregation. We have been to two of their services and spent a day at a leader’s retreat with them. Ahhh, it is lovely, absolutely lovely to hear the name of Jesus spoken and sung in a foreign language. It excites me for the day on which EVERY knee will bow and EVERY tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. I have no idea what words they are singing but based on the volume of their praise and the loving, giving and longing expressions on their faces, they love the Lord and are exalting him. These Arabs, so beautiful and kind, the descendants of Ishmael, the first son of Abraham, are praising the Name of Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God. What a privilege to witness their faith and their boldness. I love them and believe they love me, and this is only due to our common love of our Savior. It’s amazing how quickly such a love can be established and shared. While among them we have heard story after story of what God has chosen do to through them and how he has chosen to do it. His Spirit is moving among these people and filling them with life and hope despite the odds. He has healed people of sicknesses, given them visions of their callings, saved over 500 Muslims in their church, and so much more. After the first service we were a part of, a woman began screaming, lashing her arms around and gnashing her teeth. She had come and heard the message of the gospel of Christ and the demon that was possessing her was rebelling against God;s word. A couple dozen people immediately surrounded her and we began to pray for her and command the demon to leave her body in the Name of Jesus Christ and through the power of his shed blood. The demon angrily racked her body and stared several of us directly in the eyes as if to challenge our command, but after a few moments left the woman’s body. She sank into the bench in relief and with a smile on her lips professed her faith in Jesus and received his salvation. Praise God! He delivered her of her anguish and reminded me and everyone who was there that we truly are waging against a spiritual battle, but most importantly that Christ is victorious!!!
We toured several beautiful places. Lebanon is certainly beautiful. We visited a huge, and I mean HUUUUGE cave, but were not allowed to take pictures…sorry. We also went into another cave that was filled with water and we went through it in some little boats. The water was crystal clear and extremely cold and you could see all the way down to the cave’s floor. At one point we saw a man dip his palm into it and drink the water!!! His little kid saw him and did the same thing!!! Ahahaha. I hope he’s ok. Lebanon has by far the BEST food I have ever eaten. And a lot is served, let me tell you. It boggles my mind how they stay skinny. We were served a feast, and when we pushed back from the table and started rubbing our bellies after eating all we could, we were told that was merely the appetizer and that the main course was on its way! Aaaaagh!!! Considering that we were about to POP they spared us the last two courses of fruit, and dessert (which we later had, hee hee). You have not eaten well until you have eaten true Lebanese cuisine.
Whew. Your eyes are probably crossed form so much reading so I will write what happened in Ukraine later. Aahahah. Maybe this time it won’t take me so long to actually post it. I hope this gives you a tiny taste of my experiences abroad. Much love and the peace of the Lord to you….Ta ta.

Oh yeah, to get the scoop on what has been going on in the past few weeks read Jason’s blog: jasonrsmith.blogspot.com