Days 58-64

    After a long week it is good to be back in Beirut, although it is kinda sad to see this week come to an end. We left Beirut Wednesday and went to Tyre and stayed there until Saturday morning. Wed. - Fri. night we stayed at Said's with his family (Said was out of town). We mostly just hung out together, as he had the car so it left us without easy transportation. Thursday Hanan and I went for a bite to eat by the sea while Sean got the kids McDonalds. This was a treat for all of us! It was nice for us two moms to just sit and chat without a zillion distractions. The sea is so beautiful and the weather was really nice outside. Inside, however, the houses are quite chilly. They are all made of concrete so it holds in the cold like a refrigerator. Friday afternoon we babysat the youngest girl while everyone else was at work and school. Isaiah got to have his first real bath in 3 months! We give him sponge baths but we haven't had a bath tub for him to really splash in. (and the sinks aren't condusive for baths). Anyway- at first he didn't know what to do, but within 2 minutes he was splashing and laughing! Then I got a hot bath! Oh my! I just soaked in hot water... what a treat!
    Saturday morning we got up early and headed to another friends house, that lives in a village. This was our first time to see this village and it was so beautiful! I have some pictures that I will post tomorrow, but they won't do it justice. Beautiful mountains, valleys, and streams. They were grape vines, pomegranate trees, orange trees, pine nut trees, olive trees, fig trees, jasmine.....   Narrow, cobblestone streets  that winded through the village and houses that were 100-500 years old.... And lets not forget the castle.... a crusaders castle  from around 1300 AD. Unbelievable! I could have gotten a little apartment right then and there and never left! Our friends had a Christmas tree up and a wood burning stove. It was so cozy and comfy. Their children played with Isaiah and loved on him. It was so sweet. In the evenings we all gathered in the living room for devotion time. We all sang hymns and Christmas songs, then the man of the house opened the Scriputures.  After the kids went to bed, the adults stayed up, drank tea, and fellowshipped. What a blessing! What a gift from our Lord! Yesterday Noah and Sean were supposed to go out and visit some of the Beddouin villages but the family we were staying with got a truckload of wood (and i mean a truck load!). So the rest of the evening all the guys were unloading and stacking wood. Afterwards we all ate a big pot of homemade soup and continued with our nightly ritual.... adding brownies to the mix. We were supposed to come back to Beirut last night but the guys were so tired we stayed over again. This morning we left early and barely made it back in time for our Arabic lesson. Actually if our teacher had not been late, we would have missed it! Needless to say, our brains were mush for class. Today has been spent at the apartment. I cooked dinner and played with Isaiah. Now I am ready to go to bed at 8:30! I am exhausted... and I'm not even the one who loaded wood yesterday for 4 hours! There is so much we want to do this last week. Please pray that the Lord will give us wisdom on how to spend our time. It is definitely going to be hard to leave. There are people we have grown to love. Please pray that the Lord will give us wisdom on what the next steps are. Praise the Lord that He is the Light unto our path. We don't have to know exactly where the path goes, but we can trust that He will light each step of the way... even if it is only one step at a time. Our time here in Lebanon has been so wonderful. There have been ups and downs.. but I am SO grateful! Please pray that we will walk in obedience with joy and surrender.
 

Day 56

We are headed out for the next week! We are getting ready to leave and go south until next Monday night (i think).... Plans are crazy right now. It seems like we don't know what is going to happen or where we will be from one day to the next. We our looking forward to spending time with Said's family and Jonathon's family.
Arabic class was good today. We are really going to miss Lodi, our teacher. She has been such a blessing and an encouragement. We have really grown to love her!
We won't have internet for the next week, so I will see you guys next Tuesday!

Day 55

My Orders are to fight,

Then if I bleed or fail,

Or strongly win,what matters it?

Only God doeth prevail.

A Servant craveth not,

But to serve with might.

I wasn't told to win or lose.

My orders are to fight.

At this point, we are two weeks away from a return trip to the states.  We have been reviewing our time here to see what has been done and what remains to be done.  Have we accomplished that thing for which we were sent?  I suppose that only God can answer this but the above poem has been a source of encouragement.  Jessica has developed several contacts with at least one strong relationship of mention.  Our desire of course is that Christ will permeate the few available moments left and leave an eternal impression on this young woman and her family.  In addition, there are other girls who Jess has been in touch with who have yet to hear the gospel or understand the true Bride for whom Christ died (that is, genuine Christianity).

 

In the south there are at least two Palestinians who have faithfully attended the small evangelistic "church plant" in Tyre.  One of these walks several miles to attend and then walks miles back.  He is there every time the door opens.  At this point there does not appear to be a work of conversion in his heart.  If, however, there were a person of whom you looked at and their smile quickened hope within you that God may save this man, then it is Mohamoud.  He brings his children whenever possible and sometimes his reluctant wife.  Oh, did I mention that his family is muslim?  Praise God for hope and that hope has a name.  "I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No man can go to the Father, but through me." (John 14:6 paraphrase)

Today we had an Arabic lesson.  We have another tomorrow and then return to the south for about a week and this may be our last week in Tyre before returning to Beirut for our final lessons and then going home.  Please pray for us as we cement some of these relationships, that there may be some fruit to show, and that we would end our time here in a way that honors God the most.  --Sean Johnson

Day 53

How is it that your emotions can be so conflicting? Today me and Sean went to Xhitam's (my neighbor) house and visited with her, her husband, and his brother. Before we left, Xhitam took a ornament off of her Christmas tree and gave it to me and told me to put it on my tree in America so i wouldn't forget her. I want her to know the Christ of Christmas so badly. She says she is going to be sad when i leave... and so will i. I am so excited to come home and see my family... but at the same time I don't see how i am going to leave here... and leave these relationships. The reason i can leave is because i know that Salvation is of the Lord... not of me. I have plans to meet for the second time with another girl, Reena. Please pray for these women. i am so inadequate! I was speaking to a friend today about how i don't understand why my zeal for the Lord and evangelism isn't like it was when i was first saved. I had no fear to evangelize to anyone! I know how horrible of a sin it is to fear man. And I know that I am called to fear the Lord. I have talked to these women about Jesus.... but I havne't pleaded with them. Elzleen- my sweet accountability partner... I need your wisdom here! Again... Salvation is of the Lord!
Anyway- Sean preached at one church today and Walid preached at another. I stayed in Beirut with Isaiah. They both said that the Lord gave them grace. My time here was good. Just time in the Word and time with my son. Plus I had some food ready for the guys when they came home.....which was a good thing because they were stuck in holiday traffic for 2 1/2 hours! Isaiah is closer and closer to crawling. Today i thought he had it! He is soooo close! He just can't quite get moving forward! Also- for the past week or so he has been saying "dadadadada". I forgot to blog it when he started doing it... but Sean loves it of course! By the way... Jen- how much should a 7 month old eat? Isaiah is a pig! He is getting so big! Cuter everyday!

Day 51

While everyone in the states is out Christmas shopping on the biggest shopping day of the year, all the stores here are closed.  Today is a Muslim holiday and all the shops are closed. The streets are quite other than the occasional fireworks. It was a good day though. I baked a cake for our neighbor and took it to her. Then Sean and I went over and spent time with her and her husband. It was really good. The wife speaks a few words of English and we speak a few words of Arabic. So we use the few words we know and then the rest of the conversation is like a game of charades.  :o) But it is a lot of fun. We enjoy spending time with them. Please pray for them and pray for us as we strive to live out the Gospel.  Also- because the language barrier is difficult, sharing the Gospel is difficult. But we serve a mighty God! So we are looking forward to going back over there tomorrow.... looking for every way and every opportunity to talk about our Lord.

Day 50!!!

Happy Thanksgiving! Well- as missionary life goes.... our plans completely changed... again! But we are thankful... it was a wonderful holiday. This morning when didn't have electricity when we woke up so as soon as Isaiah woke up Sean and I walked to one of the big supermarkets to buy the remaining ingredients that I needed to cook. As soon as we got home we laid Isaiah down for a nap and the phone rang. It was a friend of ours that was in Beirut and was going to Tyre then returning to Beirut tonight. He said if we could be ready in 30 minutes we could ride with him. So we hurried up and packed a diaper bag and head to Tyre. I wasn't able to cook anything to take with us, but there was plenty of food anyway. I spent the day with another American missionary and Sean went and distributed food baskets and Bibles. Then when they returned we had a wonderful Thanksgiving meal... with Turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, and pumpkin pie! What a treat! Isaiah had quite the Thanksgiving as well. He had mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, and apple pie! He loved it!  Then we had a time of worship and fellowship. Our friend read the Abraham Lincoln's address to institute Thanksgiving as a national holiday in America. It was amazing to hear the President of the United States speak on the meaning of Thanksgiving. It truly was a day of thanks to the Almighty God, our Lord and Savior. Now we are back in Beirut, looking forward to a weekend of witnessing. Continue to pray for discernment in our last few weeks. Also pray for the relationships that the Lord has given us that we will be faithful to the opportunities given.

Day 49

Well- today started off with Arabic class.. .which is always good. And tonight Sean and I got to talk with several different people about Jesus.  I had plans to meet with one girl and then me & Sean met a guy from Ky. It is amazing  how people flock to Isaiah! We get so many opportunities because the Lord uses him. You can try to look for open doors and conversation starters... but with Isaiah we just go sit in a coffee shop and people swarm us. Then we they ask his name which means "salvation is from the Lord"... you automatically get to talk about Jesus. It was truly a blessing! A much  needed blessing considering we found out today that we aren't going to get to have Thanksgiving with Said and his family :o(   We were supposed to be having a big Thanksgiving dinner with Said and his family, Noah, and another family. But under difficult circumstances, we aren't going to be able to go. So we were kinda bummed. But the Lord reminded us today that we are here for Him. If we aren't willing to sacrifice our comforts, we aren't called to missions. So I'm going to cook for my Muslim neighbor and in the evening I'm meeting again with the girl I met with tonight. How wonderful to be able to share the love of Christ on Thanksgiving.... to share that the thing I am most thankful for in my life is the grace which was poured out upon me... a grace i don't deserve... but was so freely given to me. What a wonderful Thanksgiving gift to be able to share!