Day Two

We are on our second day of this awesome trip. We serve such an amazing God! We are having an eye-opening, fabulously, great time! Being a servant of the Most-High is extraordinary! Today after a continental breakfast of labna (a traditional Lebanese breakfast yogurt), cheeses, olives, and pita bread we were treated to an eye opening presentation of all the ministries under the umbrella of LSESD (Lebanese Society for Education and Social Development). From SKILD (Smart Kids with Individual Learning Differences) and the way it is revolutionizing how special needs children are thought of in the Middle East, to the impression the Beirut Baptist School is having on both Christian And Muslim communities, to the closed borders that are being crossed by the Gateway Bookstore, to the walls that are being brought down through the Community Relief and Development focus, all of these are just too awe-inspiring to be put into this simple blog. God is so at work in LSESD! It would not be surprising to hear that many throughout the Middle East receive salvation in Christ through their ceaseless efforts.

Knowing you are traveling overseas to help is one thing, being here and listening to the passion these missionaries have for those whom they are serving is moving in a way unimaginable prior to coming. There is such a tremendous need here in the Arab community for the love of Christ, especially with the thousands of refugees pouring in from Syria across the open borders on a daily basis. It can make one feel very inadequate. That is until you hear of the tremendous way God turns every hardship into a victorious witnessing opportunity and we are reminded that only a limitless God could work through such broken jars of clay!  It is definitely not by our power, strength or knowledge.

We ended our day with a fantastic tour of downtown Beirut. What a contrast there is between new construction and the rubble left over from war days gone by. (It is profound that these brothers and sisters-in-Christ can talk about living and working in terrifying conditions with the same tone of voice you and I use to talk about the weather.) Our dinner was delicious. We cannot remember being treated to such tantalizing flavors ever before in our lives. The cuisine is not only rich and pleasantly filling, it mouth-wateringly delicious as well. Day two has been wonderful and exhilarating!

"Father God in heaven, you are such a mighty, caring, and consuming God. You have placed faithful men and women in perfect places and opened strategic doors for their work to pierce the darkness that one would be foolish to think it was by any other means than Yours. Please continue to bless them and their efforts, meet every single one of their overwhelming needs, love them to overflowing, and continue to soften the hearts of the Muslims they serve through the strength You so generously give them. May our meager, and all too short, efforts bring them joy and inspire others to support their causes, Your causes, as they pour out their lives daily upon this battlefield. Glory to You forever. Amen."