Normally I write as I go so posts are no more than a day old. In this case, due to the quick pace we have been keeping and the sensitivity of the work, I thought it best to break with tradition and catch up when opportunity presented itself. That happens to be now!
I also wanted to take time to process and there is a lot to think about.
How to sum up Lebanon? Impossible in one post but I will say the people will remain long in my heart. In terms of place, its stories reach into the days of Seth (Adam and Eve’s son), Noah, Abraham and even Jesus who visited Tyre and Sidon. You may remember his encounter with the gentile woman who begged him to heal her daughter.
The country is tiny with two mountain ranges that make driving more like a roller coaster ride. If you dare to take to the road in Lebanon, you can drive anywhere on the planet, they say.
With a history that stretches into the earliest days of humanity, it was no surprise to find Phoenician, Greek, Roman, Byzantinium and Crusader ruins. We travelled east, less than 2 km from the Syrian border to take in what was once the centre for Baal, Molech and Ashturah worship. It’s no wonder the Jewish sacred writings speak of God’s hatred for their worship practices where one child per day was the required sacrifice. The ruins are some of the best preserved in the Ancient Levant.
There is no question that February 19, 2013 was the most exotic birthday I have had to date.
I should back up just a little and say that we spent Sunday in the town of Zahle where a small congregation is providing 400 Syrian refugee families with basic food and blankets. Lebanon has seen a huge influx of Syrian and Iraqi refugees over these past few months, as you know. 1/3 of Lebanon’s total population consists of refugees.
After the church service where we joined our Lebanese brothers and sisters in worship, we observed the distribution of packages to these families. About 50% of these are from a Muslim tradition. The congregation loves them both in word and deed, which is at the heart of integral mission. I went through a lot of kleenex that day.
There is much more to say about the work of the Lebanese Society for Education and Development, a partner with Canadian Baptist Ministries. And that’s still to come.
Let me just say that Aslan is on the move in the Middle East.
