Sunday, August 8, 2010
Camp in Tyre
Below are a few of the pictures from the VBS camp that we had down in Tyre. It was a total of 5 days and we have an average of 60 kids. It was alot of work, but overall good.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Resurrection
It seems that my blog suffered was suffering from maltreatment and neglect at the hands of its owner. Unable to coop with the crushing feelings of abandonment and despair, it gave up the ghost and passed into the abyss of forgotten blogs…Now, I have come to revive its poor, broken spirit and try to breathe life into it once again.
Yeah, so anyway, I’ve obviously not been writing much on my blog for the last few months. So what have I been doing? Well, actually I’ve been really busy both inside and outside
Things were moving along well, when one day I went to renew my visa…Here in
After
Overall I spent one month in
Pic 4: The Zarqa (Jabbok) River. The 2nd largest source of water in Jordan. Also the only place you can fresh-water fish and turtles.
So, there it is. One more adventure in the story that is my life in the
I will try harder to make consistent updates on the blog, but I can’t make any promises. Things seem to get busier every day.
Take care everyone and God bless
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
I must be a squirrel
OK, so my excuse for not posting is that I think someone injected me with Red Squirrel DNA. Some time back I was reading some random facts on Wikipedia and read that the common red squirrel only has a memory span of a few weeks. Many biologists think that the reason they spend so much time gathering nuts and what-not is that they forget where they stored the food. Man, that must be terribly annoying! So, yeah my excuse is that I just forget that I had a blog until I randomly stumbled upon it...how is that for an excuse? I should get something for creativity at least
In truth I have been really busy. The trip to Egypt was pretty amazing. I think it might has been one of the most intense 10 days I have spent in the last few years. We visiting over a dozen villages and held over 20 meetings. Egypt is a, in general, a very poor country. The area where we visited was even poorer than the average and had a very low education rate. It was dirty and undeveloped, but there was something very refreshing about the simplicity of it all. I'll put pictures at the end of the post.
After coming back from Egypt I was busy working with a group of volunteer doctors who were working in southern Lebanon for two days. I used to opportunity to do ministry and help and meet new people. It was quite fruitful and there was a great response, but it was very tiring. A couple days after they left we held a special conference for the women in southern lebanon. Women in Arab countries very commonly get overlooked, so we (the church in Beirut) decided to try and do something especially for them. It was the weekend of Mothers Day in Lebanon.
I have been sick for the last week and a half (not much fun). It started when I got a really back case of food poisoning. I was out of commission from that for almost 5 days. By the time I recovered my body was so weak that it made it really easy to get the flu that is going around. I am hopefully nearing the end of that as well...hopefully. I also got a really bad set of burns from an allergic reaction I had to some plants I encountered...just to top the other illnesses. I am hoping to do at least one short hiking trip before summer gets too scorching. I haven't done any kind of 'recreational' activity since the Fall, and Beirut city-life is starting to wear on me.
Things are starting to heat up here in Lebanon, in every meaning of the word. We had our first 90 degree day a few days ago. It is cooled down a bit, but it is only going to get worse...something I'm not looking forward. Summer is also going to be a busy time for me. Kids will be out of school, people will take vacations, tourism will start up, and in general people will be out and about more. All of which means we need to take advantage of the activity and make activities of our own. Tensions, unfortunately, are also heating up between Israel and Lebanon. People are talking more and more about war this summer. It is not something I want to see, but it is part of living in the Middle East.
Anyway, here are some pictures of the trip to Egypt:
Monday, March 8, 2010
Off to Egypt
Yep, I'm off to search for the lost tomb of the pharaohs. No, not really. Actually I doubt that I'll do any site seeing in this trip. I have never been to Egypt, and the opportunity came up to go with one of my co-workers here in Lebanon. I have to leave Lebanon by the 14th of March anyway, because my Visa is going to expire. So this friend and I are going to go to southern Egypt to try and meet some people and share some good news. I am also hoping that it will give me a feel for the Egyptian culture and what kind of conditions they are living in. We'll be there 10 days, so it should give me enough time to get a taste of Egypt. It will probably test my Arabic, because Egyptian is very different than the Levantine dialect which I am used to speaking in Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan.
Egypt is the most populated Arab country with 77 million people. Cairo is one the largest and most densely populated cities in the world, with about 18 million people literally living on top of each other. Personally I hope we don't spend much time in Cairo. Beirut is bad enough. Plus every tells me the only place which has worse traffic that Beirut is Cairo. Thanks but I'll pass, my sanity is wavering as it is.
Hopefully it will be a break the busy schedule I've been living here in Lebanon. Well, actually I hope that I will be busy (actually I know I will), but it will be nice to change the scenery a bit and get a breath of fresh....oh wait Egypt is one of the most polluted places on the planet...well a change of scenery anyway.
I doubt I'll have much internet access while away because the part of Egypt were going to is most poverty stricken and probably doesn't boast many internet cafes, so if you don't here from just trust the Lord that He's taking care of me.
I'll try to bring back a piece of the pyramids for a memento, or maybe a piece of mummy wrapping.
Which reminds me of a cartoon I read. Here's what it would look like if Alaskans made mummies (compliments of Tundra):
Monday, February 22, 2010
Book Review
I just finished reading this book, after it was recommended by a fried. It is the true-life story of a young Palestinian boy who grew up at the time which the state of Israel was formed, and Israelis forced him out of his home. Of course, this is not a new topic, hundreds of books have been written about it, but what separates this book is Chacour's reaction to the events. Instead of turning to hatred, violence, and revenge he instead turns to forgiveness, tolerance, and the hope for peace. Although he is not a born-again believer, he applies the teachings of Jesus Christ to one of the world's most intense conflicts. It is quite well-written and very interesting. Definitely worth reading, but I must warn those who have only been exposed to the standard western view of the conflict that it will probably challenge your viewpoint and knowledge of the events.
There was a quote I found in the book that describes almost all international conflicts, and especially this one:
"If there is a problem somewhere, this is what happens. Three people will try to do something concrete to settle the issue. Ten people will give a lecture analyzing what the three are doing. One hundred people will commend of condemn the ten for their lecture. One thousand people will argue about the problem, and one person -only one- will involve himself so deeply in the true solution that he is too busy to listen to any of it"
I think this quote is very accurate in we understand it from the viewpoint of the gospel.