i'm reflecting back on something that only happen a few days ago and yet it seems too big to even start to describe our time in lebanon. God is so amazing in how he provides and reveals himself in the strangest of places and the strangest ways.
just to catch those of you up on what i'm talking about... i had the opportunity to go with the bill drake band, an artist from OM Arts international (the missions organization that care and i are joining), on a 12 day Christmas tour in the greater beruit city area of lebanon. this included a number of school assemblies and 4 major "venues" including two 5 star hotels and the theater aboard the Logos Hope (OM/GBA's flagship for distributing literature around the globe via a 12,000 ton ship!!).
i'm struggling to try to share with you all the emotional roller-coaster i personally was on for those 12 days... and even still feel like i'm on. we were able to minster first-hand to 3500+ people in a very intimate way. of those, 30 people (that we know of) came to a brand new understanding of what it means to be a believer of Christ! please continue to pray for them as well as pastors and other believers to nurture these amazing brothers and sisters.
i think the highlight of the trip for me was our time in lebanon was actually spent aboard the Logos Hope. there i was blown away with the way that God makes this a small world after all by running into people that i had met in holland as well as in the states at the training conferences carolyn and i participated in. the thing that was so amazing though was how God chose to use me to minister to some of these fellow OMers. i was able to relate on some topics that no one else could. all i can say is WOW! God takes me to lebanon and in His awesome provision, sees fit that i'm supposed to share, encourage and love on some fellow americans, australians, a brother from singapore and so many others. how cool is that!?
there are so many more stories of HIS amazingness... but for now i'll leave you with one last story and some photos.
our driver and cook, we'll call him "BOB", was an amazing man. one day i was mentioning that we saw these guys out fishing in byblos with these huge 4 meter poles. he says to me, "i'm a fisherman, the king fisherman!" and proceeds to show me a video on his nokia of him catching 2 fish on one line... (i admit, that's pretty impressive... haha) so he says, "maybe i take you fishing. you like to night fish?" i didn't know what to say so i said sure! we didn't actually get to go because of a major storm that hit. anyway, the reason he goes at night is because that's when a group of muslim men go fishing. he says, "i go fishing, not for for fish. I fish for men." it turns out that he and another guy have been going out for the last year talking to these other fishermen and sharing about Christ's love that they've experienced and have had 13 muslims come to an understanding and believing faith in Christ! i was blown away. he says that he makes sure that at the end of the day these men know that he loves them and that Jesus loves them... that is what's important and worth sharing anywhere, anytime, and everywhere.
blessings and peace to you and yours this holiday season_
His kid,
ty