My Hope

  I know what we’re doing isn’t normal or rational.     I’m aware that it doesn’t make sense to people back home any more than it makes sense to the people here.    Many people here though make assumptions about what we’re doing though as there are many non profit organizations working in the area providing humanitarian aid and Horizons also distributes food as money is given, though for Horizons it isn't the primary focus.    Yesterday we were visiting a woman we’ve seen on a number of occasions who has been very open to the Gospel and a neighbor came over to join us.    She appeared deep in thought but was looking in my direction, so I inquired what she was thinking about.    She replied that she wanted to know why I had come (to live here).    I get it.    While my Arabic has improved by leaps and bounds over the last year, I still struggle to keep up with a rate of normal conversation.    Let’s face...

  Christ mas quickly came and just recently went.  In Lebanon, two Christmas dates are celebrated as there is a large Armenian population.  Traditionally, they celebrate on the 12th day of Christmas (January 6th).   Tommy recently posed the question, like the Who's, would we still celebrate if we woke up to nothing on Christmas morning?  Is it Christmas without a ham and sweet potato casserole?  Is it Christmas without a platter of goodies?  Is it Christmas without caroling?  What about the gifts? What was your perspective this Christmas?   My perspective of things changed after moving from Beirut to the Beqaa.  I understood the protests and yet, I didn't.  What had been frustrations when the power went out daily at 10 am and 6 pm became heightened when we moved here, and I couldn't figure out when to run a load of laundry with a constant flow of power.  And running a heater at the same time as the washing machine is really iff...