it will not return to me empty

On the Mediterranean Sea

2012-02-27T01:46:00.000-08:00

General update...

2012-02-24T02:03:00.000-08:00

I have now been inLebanon for over a month and I just want to give everyone a practical updateabout how I am and what my days are like. As far as the work goes, honestly, the first month has been a bitscattered. I have been between two different organizations, meeting many newpeople, being assigned many different odd jobs, trying to understand thepolitics of working in organizations that are reliant on donations, often fromEuropean countries, and mostly asking God how I can be most useful in this timeand place. Now I understand more than Idid a month ago, but I still have a lot to learn and will need more time toreally settle in to my work. However, Imust say that I am most thankful that not a day goes by without some littleadventure and many new things learned.

In my free time I gorunning or walking by the sea which is about a ten minute walk from my place. Iread on the long bus rides across Beirut. For those of you who always want to know what I’m reading, the currentbook is “Dr. Zhivago” and I’m liking it a lot. I’m picking up lots of new Arabic words here and there and thinkingabout signing up for a class though the thought of adding something like thatto my schedule now is a bit overwhelming. We’ll see. I’m also trying tospend time with my grandparents every week. They live in a suburb of Beirut called “Sabtieh” and usually I spend oneor two nights a week at their place. Ienjoy the constant smell of Jedo’s hookah and watching Turkish soap operas withmy Teta. Also enjoying my old friendsfrom the year I studied abroad in Lebanon and meeting new people as well. I have settled into my place well and reallylove my room and my quiet time though I miss my little brother, Elie, walkinginto my room all the time. Yes, I missElie, that is the biggest problem in Lebanon!

Honestly, this is acrazy place as everyone who has been here knows. The smell in Beirut is awful, the bus driversstop to get themselves coffee and cigarettes while the passengers sit waitingin the bus and you find bombed out buildings crumbling next to brand newhotels. I never get bored here. And sometimes at just the right time of day,the sun floods in between the cracks of those buildings and a warm fresh windblows in off the sea and I can understand why people still want to come backafter all its done to them.

I have found anEnglish-speaking church called “All Saints” which I can walk to and I enjoygoing to sing familiar hymns and hear the message. In everything I do, whether it is in work orchurch or relationships, my goal is to know more about God’s love and share itwith other people. Please pray that inwhatever I do, my heart is bound to this commandment. And continue in your prayers for Lebanon,Syria, Egypt, Iraq, peace in the Middle East, in all the world, in all ourhearts…it will come.

Pity the Nation

2012-02-17T06:38:00.000-08:00

by Lebanese poet, Khalil Gibran...

Pity the nation that is full of beliefs and empty of religion.
Pity the nation that wears a cloth it does not weave,
eats a bread it does not harvest,
and drinks a wine that flows not from its own wine-press.

Pity the nation that acclaims the bully as hero,
and that deems the glittering conqueror bountiful.

Pity a 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 trumpeting,
and farewells him with hooting,
only to welcome another with trumpeting again.

Pity the nation whose sages are dumb with years
and whose strong men are yet in the cradle.
Pity the nation divided into into fragments,
each fragment deeming itself a nation

Distribution of food portions and diapers with Heart for Lebanon

2012-02-16T03:12:00.000-08:00

Iraqi Women's Bible Study

2012-02-14T00:42:00.000-08:00

Psalm 111

Praise the Lord!

I will praise the Lord with my whole heart.

In the assembly of the upright

And in the congregation.

The works of the Lord are great,

Studied by all who have pleasure in them.

His work is honorable and glorious,

And His righteousness endures forever.

He has made His wonderful works to be remembered;

The Lord is gracious and full of compassion.

He has given food to those who fear Him;

He will ever be mindful of His covenant.

He has declared to His people the power of His works.

In giving them the heritage of the nations.

The works of His hands are verity and justice;

All His precepts are sure.

They stand fast forever and ever,

And are done in truth and uprightness.

He has sent redemption to His people;

He has commanded His covenant forever;

Holy and awesome is His name.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;

A good understanding have all those who do His commandments.

His praise endures forever.

Today, the gathering opened with a reading of Psalm 111. The Iraqi women’s Bible study group meets every Monday morning. The Bible studies are led by staff from an organization called Heart for Lebanon which I mentioned in an earlier post about the organizations that I am working with. The women’s group meets every Monday morning but only gathers at the Our Lady Dispensary twice a month while on the other two Mondays, the group meets in one of the ladies’ homes. I have felt so blessed to have the chance to participate in these gatherings. As we read and discuss the Bible, share in joy and pain as the body of Christ and pray over it with overflowing eyes and hearts, I feel a deep spirit moving through the room. As a woman excitedly calls out the name of the next hymn she would like us to sing and the room fills with a loud joyful call to our Lord, my heart begins to tremble in awe of God’s enduring presence. After prayer and hymns, we moved on to read and discuss the following verse:

1 Thessalonians 5

But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore, let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night.

But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him.

Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing.

And we urge you, brethren, to recognize those who labor among you, and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake. Be at peace among yourselves.

Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all. See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all.

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Syria's hope?

2012-02-08T04:42:00.000-08:00

When I attended the conference on trauma a couple weeks ago, we began the conference by going around the group and sharing a symbol of trauma. At the end of the conference we each shared a symbol of hope in our lives. The group of attendees was a mix of Lebanese and Syrians. One of the Syrians, a Christian man from the Syrian Orthodox church in Damascus, shared a poster of Assad, the president of Syria and shared that he hopes he will regain control of Syria because that is the hope for the safety of Christians. I always find it interesting to hear personal perspectives about the situation because we are getting many mixed messages in the news about which is the "good" or "bad" side. After sharing our symbols of hope, we each placed them together on the table. Above, I have attached a picture of the table and you can find the picture of Assad.

Don't stop praying for Syria...

2012-02-06T00:04:00.000-08:00

Everyday, I have the freedom to safely travel to work, the grocery store, to my friend's home or just out for a walk by the sea. I am living in Lebanon, perhaps only a one-hour drive to Syria's border, and still, because my daily life is so comfortable, I am easily consumed by it and forget to think about and pray for my neighbors as I should. The following is an e-mail that I got this morning from a friend of my family whose family is in Syria. Please read this personal account of one family's situation and remember that there are too many more. Remember Syria and our Christian brothers and sisters every time you pray and I will try to do the same.

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus" (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).

Dear friends,

Hope you are doing well.

My mother, sister and her family live in the hot area of Homs district in a predominant Christian area called “the Christian Valley.” They are less than 2 miles from the famous Crusaders castle, Krak des Chevaliers (https://sn2prd0202.outlook.com/owa/redir.aspx?C=b7jGPaMRREmDWuQ3ZGVA3AdYtTM6uM4I8KN7a3MDtT0Nuu6nykp_YJ2g5v0EOZVXJLJgF_DN8ds.&URL=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fKrak_des_Chevaliers)

I was on the phone this morning with my mom and sister. I am sad to tell you that Jihadists armed groups have controlled the Krak des Chevaliers now. They are also issuing calls for Jihad from the mosque next to the Krak. I also just heard from the news that three police men from the town police station were slaughtered. All three police men are Muslims. I asked mom, sister and her family to come to Lebanon, but they insist of staying at home. People in the area are so worried and children are so scared. Your prayers are much appreciated. Thank you.

The last three days have seen unprecedented violence in Syria. Militant groups are using all means to force the UN security Council to intervene and it seems that the one way to do that is by raising up the level of bloodshed and chaos in Syria.

LORD, have mercy!

With best regards,

Yours truly,

Leaders of the "Arab Spring" arrest Egyptian comic for insulting Islam...again the oppressed become the oppressors in the cycle of ignorance and violence

2012-02-03T02:00:00.000-08:00

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2012/Feb-02/161948-adel-imam-sentenced-for-insulting-islam.ashx#axzz1lJLV9DWE

Winter Carpet and Blanket Distribution for Iraqis at the Our Lady Dispensary

2012-02-02T00:02:00.000-08:00

Iraqi Women's Bible Study

2012-02-01T02:34:00.000-08:00

“Dear friends, do notbe surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though somethingstrange were happening to you. But rejoicethat you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyedwhen his glory is revealed. If you areinsulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed for the spirit of gloryand of God rests on you. If you suffer,it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or evenas a meddler. However, if you suffer asa Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name.” -1 Peter 4: 12-16

This morning I gathered with the Iraqi women’s Bible studygroup. The subject was the verseabove. The Bible study was in Arabic, ofcourse, so there were many words that I didn’t know, but I was able to followand take some notes. The message of thispassage was very interesting to discuss in a room full of refugees, especiallywhen many of them have been or directly know someone who has been persecutedbecause of their Christian faith. Whenthe leader asked for prayer requests, one of the women shared the story of aman who passed away last week. Both ofhis sons were kidnapped in Iraq. One ofthem was returned but the other is still missing and no one knows where he isor what has happened to him. Thismissing son has six children. Theydescribed that this man passed away from the stress of what is happening to hisfamily. Please join us in keeping thisfamily in your prayers, especially now pray that the missing son will bereturned to safety with his family. Theother prayer request, which is shared by all Iraqi refugees, is for the UnitedNations to approve them for immigration to the United States or other Europeancountries. Whenever someone receives thenews that they have been approved, they come excitedly to the center to telleveryone and they are met with applause and congratulations.

In discussing the scripture above, we focused on the truththat God uses Peter to both warn and prepare Christians for the troubles andpersecutions that will come. He doesn’ttell us that everything will be great and easy for us as Christians. He tells us and those earliest Christians, inthe same breath, that there will be difficult times. We must reflect on this and prepare ourhearts and our faith so that it will endure trials. We also discussed that it is okay for us tocry and have sadness when we experience tragedies and difficult times just asJesus wept. However, the blessing ofbeing a Christian is that through all circumstances, people from the outsideshould be able to see the joy and strength of a heart that belongs to God. Above all, from this Bible study, I took themessage that as Christians we must not turn our backs on God and lose faithwhen we go through difficult times because that is when we most need thestrength of the Lord and the gift of faith and peace and hope is a mostbeautiful miracle in our lives.

Stories and Commentaries from Iraq

2012-01-31T03:38:00.000-08:00

http://globalministries.org/mee/from-war-to-peace/

Conference on Breaking Cycles of Trauma

2012-01-27T01:05:00.000-08:00

This week I had thegreat opportunity to attend a three-day conference on Brumana, a nice town inthe mountains with good fresh air. Theconference was about helping victims of trauma, whether personal or collective,to break the cycle of violence. Bycollective trauma, I mean something like a genocide or living under a brutalregime. It is something that traumatizesa group of people and the emotional and behavioral symptoms of that trauma arewidespread throughout the community. Oneof the reasons why I loved studying in Lebanon during my junior year ofUniversity is because even if we were studying a topic that I could havestudied in the U.S., the discussion would be so different because of the collective experience of my classmates. This week in the conference, I was very awareof the fact that studying and discussing trauma and cycles of violence withLebanese and Syrian citizens would be very different from taking a class on thesame subject in the U.S. We discussedthe war and oppressive regimes. When wetalked about the cycle of unhealed trauma leading to a continuous cycle ofviolence, we got into small groups and had to make dramas to show how this wouldlook in real life. My group created adrama which showed our fear that in these countries, those who get rid of thecurrent regimes and are the next to sit in the palaces, will adopt the samebehaviors as the previous regimes without realizing they have become just asbad. The cycle continues because thereis no reconciliation between the warring groups, they continue to fear and hateeach other. It was an interesting timeto encounter such a workshop, right as I began my second week in Lebanon. It was a good introduction back into Lebanonand my work to have the chance to connect with Lebanese and Syrians on theseincreasingly relevant issues.

Iraqi refugees in Lebanon

2012-01-26T02:43:00.000-08:00

This article that I have attached to the bottom of my post gives a good description of some of the common problems and realities that I have encountered in the Our Lady of Faith Dispensary. The center is open Monday through Friday, from 8-2. On a daily basis, it is open for anyone to come in to see the nurse, take medications, make appointments with the doctors who volunteer in the center. We have a pediatrician, gynecologist, orthopedist and regular doctors who come in as volunteers once per week. We also have people coming in to talk, they are looking for help for many different issues which they encounter as their saving are running out. Each person and family has a different story. As the article will tell, most Iraqis coming to Lebanon, and also to other Arab coutnries like Syria and Jordan, feel that they are in a strange period of waiting to be granted approval from the United Nations to move to the United States or Austraila. After entering Lebanon, Iraqis must usually wait about two years for this process to take place and at the end they may not be granted permission to travel. In that situation, they face the choice between living illegally in Lebanon under very harsh conditons or returning to the danger of Iraq. Many know about the very harsh laws about citizenship in Lebanon because of the situation for Palestinian refugees. All Iraqi refugees are here illegally and are at risk of being imprisoned at any time and put into a cell with real criminals. One of our partners, Heart for Lebanon, is doing prison ministry with these people. I will try to find some more information about this particular issue but for now, the following article gives a good general description of the issues.

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Local-News/2011/May-13/Conditions-for-Iraqi-refugees-in-Lebanon-less-than-ideal.ashx#axzz1kYcfGeBQ

Last Christians ponder leaving hometown Iraq

2012-01-26T01:59:00.001-08:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/20/world/middleeast/20christian.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all

Iraq: At least 170 people killed in terror attacks this month

2012-01-26T01:46:00.001-08:00

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2012/01/24/iraq-bombings.html

2012-01-23T13:18:00.001-08:00

Who are the Christians of Iraq?

2012-01-23T13:06:00.000-08:00

Another excerpt from my thesis:

The modern state of Iraq corresponds to an area that wascalled Mesopotamia in ancient times, a Greek word meaning ‘the land between tworivers’, the Tigris and the Euphrates. In its time, Mesopotamia included all of present-day Iraq, along withsmall pieces of modern-day Syria, Turkey and Iran. At the time of Christ, a buffer-state calledOsrhoene lay within Mesopotamia occupying an area of north-west Iraq near itsborder with Syria (Rassam, 9). Thissmall state would become very important to the spread and development ofChristianity in the Middle East. Anancient legend tells the story of the king of Osrhoene, who heard of Jesuswhile He was alive and wrote a letter to Him asking Him to come and live inOsrhoene because he had heard that Jesus was being persecuted by the Jews. In the myth, Jesus replied, telling the kingthat He could not come but that He would send him the apostle Addai. Addai arrived in Osrhoene soon after Jesus’death and healed the king who suffered from an incurable illness. At that point, the king converted toChristianity and his people followed him.

Church tradition tells that the message ofJesus was brought to Mesopotamia by the Apostle Thomas, Addai and his studentsAggai and Mari. Thomas and Addai were ofthe Twelve Apostles and the students were of the Seventy who traveled withJesus. A book entitled “the Acts ofThomas” was written at the beginning of the third century in the city of Edessaand describes what he calls the transfer from darkness to light or from sin toa life with Christ. The transfer beginswith “repentence which is based upon fasting, prayer, keeping vigil,suppressing physical and personal pleasure and living the life of a strangerand total detachment from this visible world” (AbouZayd, 387). The Apostle Thomas lived a celibate andaustere life. He ate only once per day, usuallyjust a piece of bread and salt with some water. He was one of the first in a long line of monks who built the strongtradition of Christian asceticism in the region. It is most likely that Christianity reached Osrhoeneand the lands of Mesopotamia largely through Jewish converts who lived inMesopotamia and travelled to Palestine for pilgrimage or trade and learned theChristian message which they carried back to their families and used to buildsome of the earliest Christian communities (Rassam, 26).

Osrhoene became the first kingdom to adoptChristianity as its official religion (Rassam, 11). The population of Osrhoene’s capital, Edessa,spoke Syriac, a dialect of the Aramaic language. The term Aramaic is derived from Aram, thefifth son of Shem, the firstborn of Noah. By the time of Jesus, Aramaic had become a very important language inthe Middle East. The Aramaic language isa Semitic language closely related to Hebrew. Aramaic was the language of Semitic peoples throughout the NearEast. It was the language of theAssyrians, Chaldeans, Hebrews, and Syrians. A large part of the Hebrew and Arabic languages is borrowed fromAramaic, including the alphabet. Sincethe alphabet was simpler than the cuneiform script, it was used dominantlyamong the people who lived in the land of Mesopotamia, whether they werePersian, Assyrian or Hebrew. The Aramaicculture and language became dominant in the Middle East and prevailed until thecoming of Islam fifteen hundred years later when Arabic began to replace Aramaic.

It was natural for Christianity to emerge inthe Middle East through communication in the Aramaic language because it wasthe language that the apostles, the Jews and Jesus spoke in everyday life. Christian learning had thrived in Osrhoeneand thus, the Syriac dialect of Edessa had come to be used especially amongChristian circles. As the Syriac dialectbecame prevalent in Christian circles, the connection between Syriac languageand Christianity became so strong that the word Syriac became tantamount toChristian (Rassam, 15). In the secondcentury, Christianity prospered in Mesopotamia among the descendants of twopowerful empires, Chaldea and Assyria (Hanish, 35). When Mesopotamians converted to Christianity,they rejected their ethnic names and identities because they did not want tobear any connection to their pagan pasts (Hanish, 2). The name was also significant to Christiansbecause it distinguished them from the non-Christian Aramaeans. The Church wascalled The Church of the East (Hanish,35). Syriac became the sacredreligious language of Christians in the Middle East in the same way that Latinwas the sacred language of the Roman Church (Rassam, 16).

Eastern Christianity is still stronglyrooted in its original apostolic tradition because of its thousand-year-oldhistory, and therefore, modern worship services may closely resemble those oftheir first Christian ancestors. Thetraditional services are rich with scripture and many works of the Fathers ofthe Church, often Biblical paraphrases. The Christians of Mesopotamia also possessed a fervent passion to spreadthe Gospel message into the farthest reaches of the East. They cultivated a strong ascetic and monastictradition everywhere they went and also dedicated themselves to the promotionof culture and learning, to which the monks of medieval monasteries made acritical contribution (Pacini, 295).

Throughout history, what began simply as The Church of the East has split intomany different churches and many of those first people who wanted to be known,above all, as Syriacs or Christians, have reverted back to holding tightly tothe name of the original empire from which they descend. In Iraq today, the majority of Christians arecalled Chaldeans, Assyrians or Syriacs. TheChaldeans are the descendants of Christian converts from the ancient empire ofChaldea while the Assyrians and Syriacs descend from the Assyrian andBabylonian empires. Strong Chaldean,Assyrian and Syrian nationalist movements emerged as Christians tried to claimthe right to protect their ethnic origins in response to the Arab nationalistmovements of the 1950s-60s (Pacini, 297). Other ancient churches within Iraqinclude the Syrian Catholics, Armenian Orthodox and Armenian Catholic Christians,who entered the region as refugees fleeing the massacres against Christians inTurkey in the early 2oth century. Thereare also small Greek Orthodox and Greek Catholic communities, as well asAnglicans and Evangelicals (BBC, 3). These sects are separate and distinct in various ways but the vastmajority of Iraqi Christians share two very strong cultural traits which setthem apart from the rest of the Iraqi population; they believe in the Gospel ofJesus Christ and they still speak Syriac, the language of the earliestChristians. At the start of the 7^thcentury, before the Islamic invasion and conquest of Mesopotamia, about half ofthe Mesopotamian population was Christian (Hanish, 2). Before the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003,Christians made up around 3-5% of Iraq’s population and that number is believedto have plummeted since then.

Iraqi Refugees

2012-01-21T08:02:00.000-08:00

I did my senior thesis on the persecution of Christians in Iraq. Of course, there are problems for all Iraqis, but because of my background, having a mother from an eastern church and being a Christian, this was a very interesting topic for me. At the Iraqi refugee center where I am working this year, about 90 percent of the refugees are Christian so I would like to share some parts of my thesis paper with you. For today, I will just post here the introduction and more will come later...

Since the invasion of Iraq in 2003, the rare but shockingheadlines about the plight of Iraq’s Christian community have brought to theattention of the west that Iraq and the Middle East is not a homogenous Muslimregion. To many Westerners, it comes asa surprise to learn that Iraq not only has a Christian population, but thatthis community is one of the oldest Christian communities in the world.Christianityin Iraq was not the result of European missionaries evangelizing in theeighteenth and nineteenth centuries but, rather, has a presence which reachesback almost two thousand years. Theorigins of Christianity in Iraq are ancient and its biblical history is evenolder. After Israel, Iraq is the most mentionedland in the Bible, though it is called by its historic names such as Babylon,Assyria, Land of Shinar, and Mesopotamia. Also, besides Israel, no other nation has more history and prophecyassociated with it than Iraq. The widelyknown story from the Old Testament about Jonah and the whale takes place inIraq, with God commanding Jonah to go to Ninevah (in Northern Iraq) to tell thepeople to “turn away from their wickedness”. In light of the current situation, it is also interesting to note thatAbraham, the father of all three monotheistic religions, Judaism, Christianityand Islam, was born in Ur, a city in present-day southern Iraq.

Soon after the death of Jesus, the ApostleThomas traveled to the land of Mesopotamia to share the Gospel and thus, by theend of the first century, Christianity had established its roots in Iraq. Christian culture flourished in Mesopotamiauntil the Arab conquest in the early seventh century. Though the prominence of Christian culturebegan to decline, Iraqi Christian scholars, doctors and scientists played amajor role in the emergence of the Arab Abbasid civilization. Christians played a major role especially inthe field of medicine and in translations from Greek and Syriac to Arabic. Christian scholars translated a great numberof scientific and philosophical texts into Arabic and the content of such textsled to the Arab cultural awakening and the emergence of an Arabcivilization. The work of theseChristian translators was also of great significance for Western civilization,since Greek works reached Europe via the Arabs in Spain (Samir, 512).

Thoughthe Iraqi Christian population has declined dramatically over the centuries,and especiallysince the U.S. invasion in 2003, the community still has thepotential to play a significant role in the future of Iraq. Iraqi Christians, and all Christians in theMiddle East, are some of the best-educated and most politically-moderate peoplein the region. They are the people whoIraq can least afford to lose in the process of building a free, democratic andpeaceful society. Christians in theMiddle East have ended up in a very unique position on the world stage as theystand on a sort of middle ground between the Christian West and the Muslims ofthe East. Christians in Iraq and theMiddle East could potentially act as a vital link between the East and Westpreventing total polarization between the two regions. Since the invasion in 2003, persecution andintimidation has led to the acceleration of the already-existing out-migrationof Christians from Iraq.Over the past eight years, the number of IraqiChristians has fallen from around 800,000 to 300-400,000. After two millennia of unbroken existence,the indigenous Christian community of Iraq, alone in carrying the sacredlanguage and traditions of one of the oldest churches in the world, risksextinction in the ancient land of Mesopotamia.

Introduction to the organizations I am working with

2012-01-20T06:01:00.001-08:00

I am supported by two Christian denominations in the United States, the United Church of Christ and the Disciples of Christ and their joint mission board which is called Global Ministries. Global Ministries has partners all over the world who can requestmissionaries, advocacy and funding. Iwill be working with two of Global Ministries’ partners in Lebanon.

The first is the Our Lady of Faith Dispensary for Iraqirefugees. The Dispensary belongs to theMiddle East Council of Churches. Itprovides medications and medical services to poor Lebanese citizens and Iraqirefugees. In addition to the clinic, theDispensary works with a Christian NGO (Non-governmental organization) calledHeart for Lebanon to distribute food portions to 550 families, 275 eachmonth. The Dispensary also hosts Biblestudies and fellowship gatherings for the Iraqis.

The second organization that I will work with is called theForum for Culture, Development and Dialogue (FDCD). My first week has been spent at theDispensary so I do not yet have any experience at the FDCD which makes itdifficult for me to really explain what it is all about but I will copy here adescription of the FDCD’s mission from one of the organizations brochures:

FDCD represents a faith-based, integrated initiative risingfrom the community and aiming to restore dignity to marginalized, oppressed,and dehumanized individuals and communities. We strive to empower religious groups, both Muslim and Christian, towork alongside civil society organizations to address the challenges that facetheir communities, individually and collectively. This is done through a process of dialogue,interfaith solidarity and cooperation among communities in the Middle East.

So now I have explained a bit about the partners I will beworking with over the next year. However, I am still not able to explain exactly what my role will be inthese organizations. I have spent thisfirst week at the Dispensary, just observing and learning, asking lots ofquestions. Tomorrow morning I have ameeting at the Middle East Council of Churches where I will learn more. Next week I will go to a three-day conferencewith the FDCD about helping victims of trauma. It seems I will be in a different office every day, learning many newthings and doing many different types of work. There will be a lot of room for creativity, growth, challenge and ofcourse, God’s will and guidance.

Isaiah 55

2012-01-20T05:57:00.000-08:00

It was difficult for me to decide how to begin thisblog. I wanted a title that wouldinspire me throughout the year and keep me centered on my mission every time Isit down to write. So I did what Ialways do when I need guidance, I opened up my Bible. On the morning of January 13, the day of mydeparture, I closed my eyes and randomly opened to Isaiah 55. These are the verses from which I have takenmy title:

““For my thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your waysmy ways,” says the Lord.

For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are my wayshigher than your ways, And my thoughts than your thoughts.

For as the rain comes down and the snow from heaven, and donot return there, but water the earth, and make it bring forth and bud.

That it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater,so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish what I please,and shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

For you shall go out with joy, and be led back in peace; themountains and the hills shall break forth into singing before you, and all thetrees shall clap their hands.

Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree andinstead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree; and it shall be to the Lordfor a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”

These verses assure me that just as God sends the rain andsnow to earth to accomplish their purposes, He has also sent me for a specificpurpose. My greatest prayer is that Iwill live a life that accomplishes “the thing for which I was sent”. My past has taught me that what is returnedto me won’t be what I expected or desired, but I can be sure that it will beexactly what I need, because it is what God intended for me and with thisknowledge, I know that in the end, I shall “be led back in peace”.