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.