An Update from Lebanon - November 2022
NAMES HAVE BEEN KEPT ANONYMOUS FOR SECURITY PURPOSES.
Dear brothers and sisters,
Peace be with you!!! Greetings once again from sunny Lebanon where there is never a dull moment. We hope you are doing well and finding your refuge and equanimity in Christ as economic instability abounds across the globe. Here is our latest news which we hope you enjoy:
PASSPORT AND BON VOYAGE
Praise God we were able to obtain B’s Canadian passport and then in August we made our first family trip abroad! Thank you for your prayers – B’s passport was issued without any problems. Woohoo! And she has already put it to good use as we travelled as a family for our organisation’s regional gathering. B handled flying very well; and E at four years old is already a seasoned professional when it comes to airports – he loves the shiny floors for playing hockey on (his Canadian genes!). It was an exciting experience, travelling all together for the first time, and gave us a moment just to reflect on how far the Lord has brought us as a family. At the gathering we were refreshed and encouraged as we met with our regional colleagues, heard of what the Lord is doing in other countries and made important contacts for future projects.
Back in Beirut, E has now started at a new school and we are thrilled that he is really enjoying it. B is now six months old (wow that flew past!), is growing very healthily and just this week had her first ever solid food – mashed bananas yummy!!:)
BRICK BY BRICK
We are slowly but surely laying our foundations for our work here and are very blessed by the opportunities God is opening for us. Pioneering can be a slow process. It takes time to get to know people, build relationships and develop long-term initiatives. Thankfully a few good things are starting to happen for us. One thing we are very thankful for is that we’ve been able to build good relationships with all four of the local churches in our neighbourhood and are exploring avenues to partner with them on different projects. R continues to receive invitations to teach in churches and schools, and we are both very involved in pioneering the children and youth ministry at our local church. T has had it on her heart to start a group for mums and toddlers and was praying about this for some time. Then just last week she was contacted by another local organisation who explained that they wanted to do exactly that sort of activity, have a place set up and ready to host it, but that they had no one to lead it. So, they prayed and felt from the Lord to ask T if she could lead the initiative in partnership with them. Great! They provide the place and the resources; we lead and develop the work.
LET THERE BE LIGHT!
By God’s grace we’ve been able to install a solar energy system for our two flats and are now enjoying the dreamland of 24-hour electricity. Oh what joy! What exuberant exultation! Yes, we have solar power now. It’s quite amazing. The first morning after we installed the system, I went to the toilet at 6am and…just like that…switched on the light! It seemed almost supernatural, miraculous! Haha Gone are the days of opening the fridge like a man trying to pick a coin out of a crocodile’s mouth. Now we can open it and take a brief but most pleasurable interlude to just look and think, ‘what do I want to eat right now?’ God has been very good to us. Indeed, this whole enterprise was only made possible through a very generous offering by one of our supporters for the specific purpose of installing solar energy. The Lord really answered your prayers as we made our proposal to the building tenants (several of whom even wanted to join the project too!), applied for the official permits and moved forward with the panel installation. So if you come to visit, hot showers are now guaranteed!
LIFE IN A CRAZY PLACE - SEPARATIONS
We have learned in these last few months that, in Lebanon, if a child has both their parents living at home, they are one of the privileged. At E’s football training, we’ve been able to get to know a number of the other parents. One of them is a lovely lady who is married with two young boys. Unfortunately, they see their dad only once every three months as, due to the economic crisis, he has had to move to Saudi Arabia to find work and support his family. Another is married with four children. Her children see their dad only once every six months as he has had to move to Qatar for the same reason. Just last Sunday we met a boy who told us his dad works in the Gulf and he only sees him once every two years! The boy was very friendly but seemed also… quite sad and lonely. His story moved us very much and it’s a situation we are just coming across again and again. Each time it makes me just want to grab E, give him a big hug and thank God from the bottom of my heart for every morning I can walk into his room, wake him up and get him ready for school. Truly we are blessed beyond measure.
PLEASE PRAY:
For R’s health, as he continues with ups and downs in his weight-gain diet.
For God’s grace and wisdom on T as she starts up this new mums and toddlers initiative.
Thank you so much for continuing to walk with us!! Your support means so much to us!!! Bless you and keep fighting the good fight!
R and T