today was good.

seriously, you guys, GOOD.

The team serving with Youth For Christ (YFC) had the honor of helping to launch a new outreach program to Syrian refugee children, ages 10-17. They traveled to a school that is hosting the program, and played a variety of games for a few hours. One of the YFC staff invented a number of the games, and taught them to the Americans and Syrians at the same time — that is pretty incredible, especially considering that neither group can understand the other’s language.

It was an eye-opening experience for our people. There was a lot of aggressive behaviour between the children, which is to be expected. These kids have seen more violence in their short lives than any person should ever know. Many of the children are employed by Lebanese farmers; now is the time to harvest potatoes, so they work in the fields for 12 hours a day and only bring home $4 for their efforts. Sadly, if the farmers are displeased with the amount of work that is completed, the children will be beaten severely. Our hearts are broken for the injustice that continues to hurt these precious babies.

The children especially adored the young women serving with YFC. They held hands and played, and when the time came to say goodbye, they were told “I love you very much” by the refugee children again and again.

The Streams of Freedom team had two truly beautiful prayer times today. Each member on the team was so blessed to be part of each session. One of the team leaders said, “I have been part of many sessions, and they are all amazing, but these today… WOW.”

The women from the Streams Team enjoyed a couple of quiet hours before dinner. The convent where we all are staying is built into the side of a mountain, like every mountain town in Lebanon. It actually has two basement levels (most of our rooms are on Floor -2), and below that a parking garage, and below that, at least one level of apartments, and below that (on street level) a little marketplace. There is a dry cleaner, laundry service, a food market, a stationery store, and a few other businesses that didn’t have English or French signs. The team went in search of ice cream, and was pleased to discover two freezers full of ice cream on stick treats. There were enough choices that it was decided that we really ought to return each day to fully experience all of the goodness that is Lebanese ice cream. Denny tells us all the time that we should not leave with any regrets, and we are taking him quite seriously.

The YFC team is meeting briefly Friday to fine tune some details before leaving for youth camp at 5 pm (10a Buffalo). They will be at camp, working nonstop until next Thursday. Please continue to pray for them: for stamina, for energy, for patience, for opportunities to encourage the Lebanese youth who will be in their care.

The Streams team has two more sessions, and would appreciate your continued prayers on their behalf and for the healing that will be taking place. The sessions will be from 2a-5a, and 7a-10a (Buffalo).

You may have noticed news stories discussing some of the troubling events that are currently shaping up in this corner of the globe. Please be assured that we are quite safe, and that we trust the judgment of our friends who are hosting us. Things are very quiet here.

We appreciate all the kind messages people are sending. I’m not sure how to enable commenting here, but I do check in with Facebook periodically and pass the messages of encouragement on to the team. Thank you for your interest in our trip, for your support and continued prayers. We feel very loved, and very honoured to have the opportunity to build relationships with our Lebanese friends and partner organizations.

p.s. the luggage arrived!!!