After such a long trip to Lebanon, and having so much family time and local responsibilities to catch up once I returned, these next few posts are going to appear long overdue -- and they are, but "first things first."
After the Grotto, we went from underneath Lebanon to high above at Harissa (see video below), where there is a statue of Christ built upon a large pedestal on top of one of the mountain peaks; there is a beautiful little chapel inside the pedestal. The area provides beautiful panoramic views of Lebanon as it spills down toward the Mediterranean. By the time we went through all of this, and overlooking the sea, the Egyptian group kept saying "Lebanon is beautiful" - and they're right. They were so spellbound by the mountains and trees; though there are mountains along the Red Sea in Egypt and in the Sinai, they're not green due to the desert in which they're located.
On the morning of August 29, it was time to start the camp. Ana Terzo begins with an optional adventure day, and our schedule this year had us prepare for caving, rock climbing, and a zip line. We met others and bussed out to our first event--caving. We had stopped in this cave last year just for a look around because our primary event at Tanourrine took us all so much longer to do. This year, the cave was first on our list so I thought it was going to be the quick look inside like last year--but it wasn't! Instead, we were preparing for an adventure course through the cave--breaking in two groups, two guides led us down into new paths where we had to work together to help each up and over rocks, help each other balance in narrow places, and even crawl through very low places. Halfway through this experience, Shady (one of the Egyptians in our group) slipped and fell into a large icy puddle of water -- now freezing and all the more slippery, his journey became tougher. Frustrated and embarrassed, he attempted to just get out of the cave on his own--it led to some harrowing experiences while we tried to calm him down. Fortunately, we all got out okay, but we were not sure if Shady was going to do any more of the adventure day.
And we could not have asked for a better relational connection between the Egyptian and Lebanese young adults. They laughed and shared and talked and played and prayed together within hours of meeting one another. There was a lot of laughter and learning over the differences in vocabulary and in pronunciation between the Egyptian and Lebanese Arabic--but all in good fun. The worship and sharing times also witnessed great spiritual connection and appreciation of one another, too. A really, really good start to the bridge building here.
The theme of the camp was "Perfetto", Italian for "perfect", as it was the 7th year. Pastor Bob Moss of the Salem Church of God was supposed to be the main speaker and I was scheduled to offer one session and the morning devotions; however, Bob had to cancel, but because I had seen Bob's plans and correspondence with the planning team, I was able to fill in using the same Scripture texts and his pre-prepared discussion questions. In addition to the devotion times, there were four sessions over the two days, and we added a brief fifth message in the worship before the bonfire on the last night:
Thank you for your continuing interest, love, and support.
#PrayforEgypt
So, looking back at the Lebanon trip, I have to look back at Ana Terzo first. Ana Terzo (meaning, "I am third") is the annual Lebanese young adult camp that just experienced their 7th consecutive year. The camp is designed for ages 17-30. Last year, I was the speaker for the camp, and was greatly surprised by the number of young adults and the deep relationships that they shared together. It was such an impressive event, I wanted to see how we could connect other nations' groups with them; they liked me too (surprising, I know) and they wanted to bring me back for some training opportunities. The training didn't work out over the last year, but I didn't forget about connecting another group of young adults.
Thanks to the generous support of the North Modesto Church of God (CA) and the Salem Church of
God (OH), we were able to scholarship 4 young adult leaders from Egypt in registration and airfare to Lebanon; the national Church of God in Egypt pulled together to sponsor a 5th. So, on the morning of August 27, I met Donald, John, Christine, Nermeen, and Shady at the Cairo International Airport for this journey. Donald, son of Alexandria area Pastor Dr. Latif, was the only one of the five who had ever been outside of Egypt; in fact, the other four had never been on a plane. So all of this was brand new and exciting.
Our good friends and Ana Terzo leaders Shukri and Gerard were waiting to pick us up in Beirut. They took us to Shukri and Khathia's home; last year I had my youngest (Zeke) with me and he had the undivided attention of their boys Freddy and Fouad the entire time. Now at 6 years old, the boys were quite upset that Zeke wasn't with me, but they also have a beautiful new sister Andrea to help keep them busy. Shukri and Khathia are great, passionate leaders (as well as remarkable hosts) and it's always a joy to be with them.
The next day, Gerard and his friend Karen took us around Lebanon. First, we went up to Jeita Grotto,
which is a nature park built around the main attraction of a large cave. I've been in caves in Lebanon, as well as other places throughout the US; caves are not usually all that exciting, and I was not expecting much. I was surprised, overwhelmed, and speechless at what I experienced in the Grotto -- easily the most magnificent cave I have ever seen. It was like walking into a scene from "Lord of the Rings" -- towering ceilings, deep chasms, filled with the largest stalactites and stalagmites & resulting columns -- just breath-taking. You are not allowed to take any pictures, which was a huge disappointment, but click on the link above to see some on their website and make a plan to go if you are ever in Lebanon! After we saw the upper portion of the cave, we walked down the hill to another entrance where we took a brief boat ride under the very area we just toured on an underground lake that is visible at points from the main cave -- also very amazing, though the boat driver kept attempting to hit my head on rocks ;(
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| How could we see such a beautiful place and not get any pictures?!?!? |
After the Grotto, we went from underneath Lebanon to high above at Harissa (see video below), where there is a statue of Christ built upon a large pedestal on top of one of the mountain peaks; there is a beautiful little chapel inside the pedestal. The area provides beautiful panoramic views of Lebanon as it spills down toward the Mediterranean. By the time we went through all of this, and overlooking the sea, the Egyptian group kept saying "Lebanon is beautiful" - and they're right. They were so spellbound by the mountains and trees; though there are mountains along the Red Sea in Egypt and in the Sinai, they're not green due to the desert in which they're located.
We took a quick stop downtown, grabbed some ice cream, and then made our way back to Shukri's house for a rest, dinner, and prayer with Isa & Issam, two of the Ana Terzo leaders who would be leading worship for the camp. The guys quickly connected with both of these leaders.
On the morning of August 29, it was time to start the camp. Ana Terzo begins with an optional adventure day, and our schedule this year had us prepare for caving, rock climbing, and a zip line. We met others and bussed out to our first event--caving. We had stopped in this cave last year just for a look around because our primary event at Tanourrine took us all so much longer to do. This year, the cave was first on our list so I thought it was going to be the quick look inside like last year--but it wasn't! Instead, we were preparing for an adventure course through the cave--breaking in two groups, two guides led us down into new paths where we had to work together to help each up and over rocks, help each other balance in narrow places, and even crawl through very low places. Halfway through this experience, Shady (one of the Egyptians in our group) slipped and fell into a large icy puddle of water -- now freezing and all the more slippery, his journey became tougher. Frustrated and embarrassed, he attempted to just get out of the cave on his own--it led to some harrowing experiences while we tried to calm him down. Fortunately, we all got out okay, but we were not sure if Shady was going to do any more of the adventure day. |
| why zip when you can fly? |
He sat out of the hike and lunch, joining us just before going to the zip line and rock climbing. He actually was one of the first to attempt the zip line, which was not as fast as we would have liked because were were attempting to get some good pictures of everyone while on the line.
Then, we climbed the face of the rock over which we just did the zip line. There were two sides, an easier climb, that is if you could get 4 feet off the ground, and a harder side that actually was easier
for the first 4 feet. I ended up being one of the first because the group was really tentative at this prospect for adventure--I've done the "mall walls" before, but not had a lot of actual rock climbing experience. The easy side proved too easy for me, though I did brace my knee in a sharp place in the rocks that led to a couple of scrapes and cuts. A few thought if the old guy could do it so easily, they could do it -- like I said, the first four feet were hard as there was not a lot of good places to get your footing to push yourself up. We helped to coach, push, and encourage everyone to give it a go, with a few making it -- once a couple started being able to do it, they all kept trying and many succeeded. Shady was one who kept trying, but couldn't get to that first good footing. He was very frustrated.
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| yep, that's me at the top |
for the first 4 feet. I ended up being one of the first because the group was really tentative at this prospect for adventure--I've done the "mall walls" before, but not had a lot of actual rock climbing experience. The easy side proved too easy for me, though I did brace my knee in a sharp place in the rocks that led to a couple of scrapes and cuts. A few thought if the old guy could do it so easily, they could do it -- like I said, the first four feet were hard as there was not a lot of good places to get your footing to push yourself up. We helped to coach, push, and encourage everyone to give it a go, with a few making it -- once a couple started being able to do it, they all kept trying and many succeeded. Shady was one who kept trying, but couldn't get to that first good footing. He was very frustrated.
Once I helped several, the guides challenged me to give the harder side a try. Without a helmet (who needs safety), I started easily, and then I had to take hold with fingertips, reach and pull, and trust the guides had my weight from the harness and ropes should I slip -- it was a grind, but really exciting to get to the top. Several others were
also able to do the harder side, and we were beginning to pack it in when Shady wanted to have one more try. Shady went for the hard side, and I began to pray--Shady needed a win on this day or the rest of the camp was going to be terrible. He got going easily enough, and we stood at the base cheering, encouraging, and directing hand and food holds -- and slowly he made progress. About halfway up, one of the guides encouraged him to just repel down from there because he had done well--Shady wouldn't hear of it, he had to finish. He kept going, and slowly he continued until he made it to the top -- once he did, the whole group cheered and he was literally on top of the world. He came down to hugs, and I think I may have been more relieved than he was!
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| Shady's climb was the stuff of prayers and perseverance |
We got to the camp and a few others were there for the camp. The attendance was much lower this year because the older ones who had been the core of the group for all these years were now facing more work responsibilities; more had gotten married, and time off became more of a challenge. The Ana Terzo team asked for people to commit to the whole weekend and not just drop in as many did last year. These factors made for a smaller group, but for a much better relational experience.
1) Perfect love for Imperfect People (Colossians 3:1-14)
2) Perfect commitment from Imperfect People (Matthew 5:43-48)
3) Finding the perfect spiritual temperature (Revelation 3:14-22)
4) Discerning God's Perfect Will (Romans 12:1-2)
5) Laying down the perfection obstacles (Matthew 19:16-30)
Of course, this was camp, and we had a lot of goofy times, too -- not always scheduled and planned. From water games to "Chicken - dog - Chicken" (a crazy rhythm cooperation activity that led to spontaneous drumming and clapping throughout the whole camp) to trying to take pictures and videos of people sleeping/snoring -- it was a lot of great fun.
The group planned to offer some fun in service to children at a Syrian refugee camp, but that led to a lot of heartache and introspection -- that will be the next post.
For now, I'll leave you with this thank you video. We look really tired because we were really tired when we filmed this because it was after the last night's bonfire. We had to do it at this time because we were not going to be together in the morning as we were going to two different churches before the Egyptian group left for the airport.
I may see a couple of these leaders in the next week, and if I do, I'll attempt a follow up interview :)
Thank you for your continuing interest, love, and support.
#PrayforEgypt
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