Leaving Lebanon

We are now facing the end of our time here in Lebanon—for now. We are constantly asked if we will return someday to Lebanon. And this is not a question we are prepared to answer yet, although we do feel very connected to the community we have been exposed to here (Christian and Muslim alike). It has been difficult to slowly say goodbye to this community and we have realized, particularly since returning from the camp last week, that Lebanon and the culture has really found its way into both of our souls. Because of the difficulties of the political situation here and the general instabilities in the region at this time, we find ourselves very sad to leave not being assured of lasting peace for people here.
Overall, we want to sum up our experience here this summer as: challenging, tiring, insightful, confusing, beautiful, heartbreaking, enriching, maddening, and spiritually enlightening—even if just because of the questions we are now forced to ask of ourselves and others.
This summer has proved to be a very full and weighted experience. We have been well exposed to a wide variety of approaches to “ministry” (for lack of a better word), to a varied range of visionaries, and now feel well connected in many different areas within this small country. We have struggled and experienced moments of comfort and inspiration. As we try to put words to everything we have encountered here, we ask for prayers as we engage in the journey of processing it all and as we practice articulating ourselves without bitterness, but with passion regarding the political decisions made here and in the West that bear great weight in this part of the world.
We leave for Jordan on Wednesday to spend some time relaxing, exploring the country, and attempting to debrief ourselves a bit about our experience this summer. Your prayers would be appreciated for our safe and smooth travels from here to Jordan and from Jordan to the States, for our experience of re-entry into Western culture, and for our attempts to communicate our experiences through our assigned academic papers and most importantly in our conversations with you, our friends and family.

Bedouin Style & The Forest of God

Well, we are back from our week at the kids camp for the Bedouin children. It was a wonderful, but very tiring week. Many nights we only slept for 6 hours after running around with the kids for 14 hours. We were also in an environment where Arabic was spoken almost entirely. We could speak English with some of the staff and leaders, but all of the teaching and communication with the kids was in Arabic, so we tried to put our previous study to work. It was actually very helpful for us in cementing our language learning before we leave this area.

We both served as co-leaders for groups of boys and girls (respectively) aged 5-12. Though we were not able to communicate with the children completely we could play and love them sharing the love of Jesus through our presence and care for them. All of them come from a small Bedouin village in the Bekka valley and many of them work in fields or with animals in order to help make money for their family. Sadly, many of them are neglected by their parents and/or physically abused, meaning this week was one of the few times they might experience love and care from adults. They also come from Muslim families making this one of the few times they will hear the good news of Jesus.

Alethia with her group of girls.

Some of the older guys at the camp.

Despite the hardships these kids face, they can still have fun and enjoy life.

A few more of the older boys, even Bedouins want to look cool.

Ryan with his group of boys.

Some of the girls from the camp.

Two of the most adorable boys from the camp.

And one cute girl who always wanted to dance with Ryan.

One highlight for Ryan was when a boy came up and asked to pray with him following one of the small group gatherings. When the boys pray, they cover their faces with their hands, as they would when saying their Muslim prayers. I had been sitting down with my hands folded and resting on my forehead during the prayer time and I think when the boy saw he felt something he identified with from his own cultural experience. The boy approached me in the middle of the basketball court and asked me to pray with him. He did not know what I was praying, because it was in English, but we shared a moment in prayer where I believe the Spirit of God was present.

Another time was when the group went on a ride in some cable cars to the top of a mountain outside Beirut. There happened to be a Maronite church at the top of the mountain with a large statue of the Virgin Mary that is visited frequently by both Muslims and Christians as a revered holy site. (The Maronite church is a tradition that by practice resembles the Eastern Orthodox churches, but theologically aligns itself with the Church of Rome.) When we arrived at the top and were outside the gates of the site, Ryan had one of the leaders explain to a group of 25 boys that we were entering a holy and respected religious site and that the statue was Mary, the mother of Jesus. The boys, who usually were loud and often difficult to keep in a group were extremely well behaved, quiet and respectful, while we entered the site and took them up the circular stairs ascending to the base of the statue. This stood out during the week because it shows there is common ground between Muslims and Christians were we can engage one another and from which to use as a platform for dialogue and witness.

The statue of the Virgin Mary.

Out on a boat ride off the coast of Byblos.

One of the challenging things for us during the week was the way the message of Jesus was presented to these Muslim children. We felt many times that we were sitting in a camp designed for Sunday School children. Instead of taking into account the context of these children and trying to be culturally sensitive, the message was presented through Christian language, which seemed to disregard the background of these children or any commonalities between the religious beliefs. This caused us both to question and ask how to present a contextualized and sensitive message of Jesus for children.

Overall it was a very difficult, but rewarding week. We very much enjoyed the group of staff we were working with and we learned to love a lot of the kids throughout the week. It was very hard work, but we felt surprisingly encouraged that our previous studies really connected with this particular setting and purpose. We felt more prepared and encouraged to build bridges between Christianity and Islam – a need that we feel demands more attention than it receives given the dynamics between these religions today. Rather than condemning one or the other, we need to be working hard to find ways of communication and love for one another as created human beings.

Alethia learning the traditional Lebanese dance.

Alethia and a couple girls from camp.

After we returned to ABTS this past weekend, we spent Saturday at the Kefraya Chateau in the Bekaa Valley with some friends. We really needed to unwind and enjoy the country a bit after this past week and because we are facing the fact that we are soon leaving. On Sunday we went up to the mountainous area of the Cedars, a beautiful area of Lebanon and very different from the unbearable humidity, the crazy bustle, and continued rumors of unrest in Beirut. The mountains are quiet and their villages seem comparatively unconcerned about the questions those in the city are asking. At least that is how it seemed as we drove through…and as we have learned in the past 2 months here, nothing is as it seems and everything is political.

The Kefraya vineyard where we relaxed on Saturday.

Two of our friends, Suzann and Sue, who we went to the vineyard with.


The great Cedars of Lebanon, or the Forest of God. They are often talked about in the Bible.

There is a beautiful forest of Cedars up in the mountains.


This Cedar is believe to be 6,000 years old! Up close it looks like four trees from one trunk.

An image of Jesus crucified that has been carved into the wood of one of the Cedars.

A Light of Hope in the Midst of a Dark Situation

Hello friends…this will be a quick update as we are about to leave ABTS for the week to spend time helping with a camp for about 100 Bedouin children. We will be up in the hills, supposedly based at a monastery, so we are hoping for some peaceful space even in the midst of 100 kids! We will have a bit of an introduction to the camp structure tonight (Sunday) and then head up to the monastery with the rest of the “staff” for a bit of a retreat before the children arrive tomorrow…
Unfortunately, we won’t be around internet in order to keep you posted as we go, but we will try to write another update when we return to Beirut on Friday. In the meantime, please enjoy some pictures from our time with the kids from Home of Hope this past week…we would appreciate your prayers for this place because as it stands now, they can only stay open until the end of August. If something doesn’t change for them financially, then about 60 kids will lose their only home. We got a chance to meet with World Vision this past week as well and talked with them about our experiences there earlier in the week. This morning at church, we introduced the young Mennonite couple who is currently volunteering at Home of Hope to the same person we met with from World Vision (we’ve noticed that the community here is small enough that many representatives of different places we have worked with during our time here all attend the same church at least part of the time, so we get to continue our ties with them and introduce them to one another! ☺ ). Who knows if anything will come of this connection, but we continue to hope that these kids will somehow be provided for…
So we begin our last full week here in Lebanon…the time has gone by quickly even though each day has often felt very full and like a week in itself! We will return to Beirut at the end of this week to have a few more meetings and some fun before we leave for a week in Jordan. We appreciate your continued prayers for our travel here and there and for energy and strength for the different cultural dynamics this week will bring.

Ryan and Oleg (one of the Mennonites) with some of the boys from Home of Hope after a tough game of football.

Can you guess which hand is Ryan's? :)

Here's Hibba, having just discovered a spider!

Hibba, giving Alethia orders to find the spiders instead!

Alethia doing as she was told :)

Ryan and Mohammad after football

Pity the nation divided into fragments, each fragment deeming itself a nation.

The Hariri Mosque in downtown Beirut. The anti-government protesters in tents are nearby to the left. Rafik Hariri was the Prime Minister of Lebanon and the master-mind behind the downtown reconstruction.

Construction continues in downtown Beirut, remodleing it into a European-esque city even though the downtown area is quite empty of shoppers.

The religious atmosphere in Beirut. There are two mosques in this picture with a church as the third tower in the back right. This reflects the actual demographic as well of 30% Sunni Muslim, 35-40% Shiite Muslim, and 30% Christian.

"The Martyr's" Statue in Martyr's Square, downtown Beirut. Currently it is located near the Hariri Mosque, which some may deem appropriate given Hariri's assassination two years ago.

Our week “off” is officially over, having ended with Alethia’s birthday on Saturday. Both of us had spent the latter part of last week feeling quite sick, part exhaustion, part extreme heat and tension, but decided to go to the ancient port city of Byblos (north from Beirut on the coast) for Alethia’s birthday. So after taking some medicine and asking which buses went to Byblos, we finally found ourselves in the small and beautiful seaside city. We spent the day wandering around the ancient citadel ruins, shopping in the newly remodeled “old market,” and enjoying a meal of fabulously fresh seafood for Alethia’s birthday lunch, complete with chocolate cake for dessert ☺ It was a good day all around, perhaps one of the most peaceful and relaxing days we have spent here.

Ryan near a column at Byblos with the Crusader's citadel (castle) behind. We figured out the direct sun on Ryan's head and sudden movement to cold air-conditioned places was the cause of his sickness, hence the nifty little hat.

Alethia taking advantage of the shade of a palm tree with the Crusader's citadel in the background. Byblos is said to be one of the oldest, continuously lived-in cities in the world. The site contains ruins from 3000 BC, Roman and Persian ruins, and obviously a citadel from the Crusaders during the 12th century.

The view from our table during Alethia's birthday lunch, overlooking the port of Byblos.

What birthday wouldn't be complete without some birthday cake. That is Foundant au chocolat, a chocolate cake oozing with chocolate sauce served with ice cream and accompanied by a glass of Lebanon's finest white wines.

Last week we were able to do some processing, but recognize that much more is needed. However, this week we are spending time with a struggling ministry called “Home of Hope” –a home for children who would otherwise be on the street somewhere. And although it is located in a Christian neighborhood, it has received quite a bit of criticism from other Christian organizations and it seems that if its neighbors had their way, it would be shut down---many of these kids are of a Muslim background. So this leads to all kinds of questions about what it is that other Christians desire to criticize and what the future of these kids will hold? After all, funding is quickly running out with none promised for the very near future. Unfortunately, the kids are also feeling the uncertainty of what will happen to them. We find ourselves there this week in the midst of our own questions about forms of ministry (what works, what doesn’t in this context?), about our own passions and what we have to offer, about identity and theology, about faith and humanity…all of it. Needless to say it’s a bit difficult at times.

This past Sunday we were in church while Martin was speaking about prayer. This was perhaps the first time that I (Alethia) realized that our time here is indeed drawing to a close and that more often than not, the only way I have been able to come through it is by being in a state of constant prayer even if it’s angry and saddened prayer about the situation here, or fearful prayer, not knowing what is true and what is not or what the future holds. Often it has been thankful prayer for the things that we are experiencing together and learning and being exposed to, even when it is difficult. So sitting in church was a peaceful and genuine experience on that particular Sunday, not something I can always say about church structure. With the current situation, the history of this place, and the questions about its future, it often feels as though all we can do as a church is to pray.

We have found Kahlil Gibran’s poem particularly meaningful these days in this place and so we would like to share it with you…(and yes, Robert Fisk took his book title about Lebanon during the civil war from Gibran’s words):

Pity the Nation
Pity the nation that wears a cloth it does not weave, eats a bread it does not harvest, and drinks as wine that flows not from its own winepress.
Pity the nation that acclaims the bully as hero, and that deems the glittering conqueror bountiful.
Pity the nation that despises a passion in its dream, yet submits in its awakening.
Pity the nation that raises not its voice save when it walks in a funeral, boasts not except among its ruins, and will rebel not save when its neck is laid between the sword and the block.
Pity the nation whose statesman is a fox, whose philosopher is a juggler, and whose art is the art of patching and mimicking.
Pity the nation that welcomes its new ruler with trumpetings, and farewells him with hootings, only to welcome another with trumpetings again.
Pity the nation whose sages are dumb with years and whose strong men are yet in the cradle.
Pity the nation divided into fragments, each fragment deeming itself a nation.

We begin our last two weeks here in Lebanon and look forward to a few days of rest and sightseeing in Jordan as a way of starting a process of self debriefing before arriving back in the States in early August. We pray in the meantime that the situation in Lebanon continues to hold stable. There is a saying about “wars and rumors of wars” and this is appropriate here in the Middle East this summer…we appreciate your prayers not just for the peace of Lebanon while we are here, but for the peaceful future of the region as a whole.

Explorations in the Valley of the Sun

Well, since our last entry we have had a couple fabulously relaxing days!! On Saturday we traveled to a river in the mountains slightly north of Beirut to spend the day and have a picnic with a group of people. Picnic is not really the best word to describe what we partook of, for it was more a riverside FEAST. Arabs know how to picnic and eat well! Alethia and I went with Rob Pelgrim and his family (see photo in the last post) and expected to spend a relaxing day next to the water and eat some bread, cheese, and vegtebles (or something along this idea of picnicking). When we arrived we carried down loads of things including two whole watermelons. As soon as we were at the riverside the preparations began. Alethia spend an hour cutting potatoes to make french fries with our friend Suzann. While the potatoes were being cut, eggplants were roasting in the BBQ to make fresh baba ganoush. Garbanzo beans were crushed to make hummus and there was also a tomato and cucumber salad made. Then it was time for cooking the meat. We feasted on an array of freshly BBQ’ed chicken, lamb, and beef kafta kabobs.

While all the preparations were being made, Ryan was fishing with some of the other guys and we caught a whopping 5 fish around 3-5” in length. They were cleaned and thrown into the deep fryer and enjoyed during the lunch. We were some of the first people to begin eating, but Ryan was the last one to finish. There was so much meat that he ate for a solid hour and there was still much left over.

Some of the guys trying their hand at fishing.

On Monday we traveled to the Bekaa Valley, to the Roman ruins at Baalbek, which are said to be some of the best-preserved ruins in the world. The site contains Roman pantheistic ruins that date back to the 1st century B.C., Byzantine Christian ruins from the 4th cent., and Islamic ruins from the 7th cent. It is a very impressive site with many walls remaining from temples, a basilica and a mosque. After we had finished wandering around the massive site, we sat down next to the Bacchus temple in the shade resting against the stones that still were cool from the previous night. The stillness was disturbed at 12:45pm by a nearby mosque’s call to prayer. We sat and listened to the muezzin (the man who chants the call to prayer) slowly chant the introduction “allahu akbar (God is the greatest) and then call to prayer “Ash-hadu alla ilaha illa-llah” (I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but God). Soon after we heard another muezzin at a neighboring mosque begin. Within a minute three other mosques had begun the call to prayer and we heard an mélange of rhythmic chanting.

One of the grand arches standing at the entrance to the Baalbek ruins.

Alethia standing in the hexagonal court of the temple to Jupiter. The main ruins at Baalbek are from the initial temple that was erected to Jupiter.

Looking across to one of the walls of the temple court.

The other facing wall. The stone which we are standing next to contains Latin engravings.

One of the massive pillars of the main surviving arch inside the temple area. Notice the detailed engraving at the top. This pillar stands about 65 ft high.

This is a view of the columns from a distance.

Alethia standing on the steps to the entrance of the temple of Bacchus. Bacchus was said to be the God of wine and this temple is the best preserved temple from the Roman era.

Inside the Bacchus temple. As we walked into the temple a white owl flew out of one of the holes on the back wall. It was like a scene out of Indiana Jones.

Alethia resting outside the Bacchus temple.

Ryan standing next to the outer column area of the Bacchus temple.

Alethia trying not to get eaten by the stone lion. This piece which now rests on the ground would have been attached to the roof of the Bacchus temple (about 70ft high).

After our archeological expedition at Baalbek, we journeyed to a small Bedouin village in the Bekaa where Martin’s family has contacts through their ministry. This is also the village of the children whom we will be with during the week long camp in two weeks. We sat around and conversed with the chief and his family, practicing some of our limited Arabic but also in English, which the Bedouin leaders knew quite well. Before we could leave we shared a cup of “Turkish coffee,” a sort of Arab espresso shot. Though Ryan does not like American coffee, he has found a liking of the Turkish coffee when it has sugar added to it. Cultural customs are such that a guest cannot leave until the coffee has been poured and drunk. Once the coffee is finished the guest is free to leave, and should do so reasonably soon, otherwise they are overstaying their welcome.

On our way back to Beirut we had to drive around the main highway because one of the many bridges to Damascus had been bombed by the Israelis last summer during the July War. We also passed a war memorial from the Civil War that has been made out of old tanks stacked upon one another and cemented together with concrete. These images are a stark reminder that the beauty of this country has often been disturbed by conflict and violence. As recorded at Baalbek, the area of modern day Lebanon has been one that has captivated people throughout the ages for religious reasons and natural beauty, but it has also been a historically contested area.

The bombed out portion of one of the bridges to Damascus.

The war memorial from the Civil War. Notice the tank guns sticking out of the top and the bodies of the tanks further down.

Today, Wednesday, we were able to spend a wonderfully relaxing day at a beach resort, lounging between a pool and the Mediterranean Sea. We went with two of the foreign workers from INMA and were able to process some of what we have experienced during our time here. This was a needed and valuable time to individually relax and process while hearing from two women who have worked in this context. Our continued prayer is that God’s Spirit would continue to move through this region, that people would come to know God through Jesus Christ, and that the churches would be renewed to faithfully communicate the good news of the gospel of the Kingdom of God.

SNOW in Beirut?!

Yes, it does SNOW in Beirut, that is if you are going to a Strongholds Night Of Worship, which we did on Sunday night. Strongholds is a local worship band from Beirut comprised of Christians from different traditions. The pianist is the librarian at ABTS, Rola, and her husband, Lou, is the bassist. They have befriended us while we have been here, and we have enjoyed hanging out with Lou and Rola very much. Sunday was an enjoyable time of joining in worship through the Spirit, in Arabic, English, and French. For anyone interested you can visit the bands website at http://www.strongholdsband.com

Strongholds band at SNOW.

Our friends Lou and Rola in Strongholds.

On Monday we were invited out to enjoy an evening with some Palestinian refugees at a place called Fantasy World (a restaurant/outdoor lounge with an amusement park for the kids). It was an amazing experience to sit with these people and hear some of their stories while enjoying arguileh (water pipe) and fruit cocktails. It was one of our first opportunities here to hang out with Muslims, yet we were not thinking about differences between our traditions, rather it was an enjoyable evening of relaxed conversations and relationships.

This past week has been full of Arabic class in the afternoon and hanging out with friends in the evenings. Each night this week we have spent with different people that we’ve met here. They have been long days beginning early and ending late in the evening, but we have felt very blessed through all the people we have met here and the opportunities to spend time with them.

Alethia and Suzanne (from Denver, CO)

Fortunately things have been relatively calm around Lebanon and Beirut this week, but we are constantly hearing of rumors of what will happen next. There is a great amount of tension in the air as people wait for the next thing, knowing it is not if, but when something will happen. We knew we would be entering a tense situation here this summer, but we did not fully realize the strain and weariness this would cause. Even though we have felt completely safe every day we have been here, we can feel the heaviness and anxiety that people constantly live with. This has compounded our tiredness over the last week, so we are looking forward to some much-needed rest in the upcoming week. Please continue to pray for the situation around the Middle East, especially those that are daily living here with nowhere to go if things get bad. We just read about the massive bombing in the Iraq marketplace today and it saddens us and makes it seem like this region is spiraling towards disaster.

Despite this, we have experienced many places of hope in this challenging context. We have met with the organization INMA, that works with Palestinian refugees in one of Beirut’s refugee camps providing humanitarian aid and establishing relationships with people in the camp that lead to moments of reconciliation.

Rob Pelgrim and his wonderful family. They are from Holland and Rob is the directing manager at INMA.

Mohomad and his family (from the Palestinian camp).

We have also met with a very influential Muslim follower of Christ. He is Muslim, but understands the importance and significance of Jesus Christ and is sharing this message with people in places that missionaries would never be able to reach. Yesterday, we had our final Arabic lesson with our teacher at a café on the waterfront in Beirut. She is a Lebanese Shi’ite and is engaged to a Palestinian Sunni (a modern day Romeo and Juliet). She respects the traditions but does not believe they should be divided to the point of hatred. We sat and shared arguileh with her, speaking our little Arabic and talking about life in Beirut during the Civil War, last summer, and now.

Our last Arabic class with our teacher Nada.

In this context it can be quite depressing feeling there is nothing to be done, but as believers we know there is ultimate hope in Jesus Christ that can motivate us to do what we can to bring peace and reconciliation in our own spheres while sharing the hope and good news found in Jesus.

Ryan and a Palestinian refugee boy.

Ryan with another Palestinian boy.

This upcoming week we now have a break from the practicum program and we will be trying to see more of Lebanon. We look forward to the much-needed rest and relaxation while enjoying this beautiful country. Due to the increased talk here in the last few days and as a result of the US government denying visas to Syrian officials, we have decided to cancel our travel to Syria at the end of July and will be flying directly to Amman, Jordan for a few days before traveling to Washington DC to spend time with Alehtia’s mom. We continue to covet your prayers and our extremely blessed by all of you who are thinking of us while we are here.