Syria: Day 1

Sat, Apr 25, 2009 at 11:09 AM
Subject - Syria: Day 1

Hey y'all!

We made it! Yes, we are here, safe and sound. All of our bags made it, so no problems there either! PTL! :-) Pastor Samara picked us up from the airport with his wife (Joun's mother) and his two neices, Priscilla and Youanna - both of which I'm sure you will see in pictures from the trip. They are SO adorable and love to play tickle games with John Card (who they call "John 2") and Russell. The girls are precious!

Getting off the plane was amazing. We flew over the mountains of Lebanon at sunset, which was incredible. God's beauty is truly breathtaking in this place. We landed and got through customs ok. It was imperative to explain when asked why in Syria, we are here on vacation. On a humorous note, one of the guards asked Krazer, "what is the address where you are staying?" and his reply was, "oh! Right! Vacation!" lol And the guard replied, "No, the address!" They got that ironed out, and we were on our way! lol

Our hotel is quaint and right on "straight street" which you can read about in Acts 9:11. Yes, our actual hotel where we sleep is directly on the ancient Straight Street, right by the old wall. The old wall is long through the old city part of Damascus and is where they lowered Paul to escape, Acts 9:25. Yes, that exact spot of the wall is literally a two minute walking distance from where we are staying. We walked passed Anania's house today as well on the way to the church. It was incredible! We met there briefly to P and W. We played songs over the whole church such as "God of this City" and "Marvelous Light" just to name a few. Card read a devotional as well. We then got on a little bus to go out to Bloudan, which is where the Samara's have another church about 1 hour away. The drive was SO beautiful, mountains everywhere. However, we drive by the refugee villages and you could see the poverty of these precious people. Similar to something you might see out of Slumdog Millionaire, for those of you who have seen the film.

At Bloudan, we had lunch at the top of one of the mountains. You could physically see the gorgeous snowcapped mountain ranges and could clearly see the Lebanon border with Syria. It was so picturesque, and yes - we all took plenty of pictures! We made a "2 camera" limit rule for group photos, or we are trying to anyhow! lol The food is soooo good here. I'm pretty sure Graham and Card together ate enough food to feed two families for a day! The people are so kind and generous, especially when it comes to feeding us!

We also met a man who helps Pastor Samara named Fadi, and his wife, Feeda. Fadi's ancestry is actually of the Caldeans, if you trace it back in the bible, that is quite the lineage! Him and his wife are from Iraq. Before he married his wife, she was living in Baghdad, grew up a Christian. Some muslim extremists had told her she needs to wear a hijab (muslim head covering for women), and convert to Islam. She told them no, and they told her if she did not, they would kill her. So she fled. She is such a kind hearted woman who just pours out God's word and love in all she does. I spoke with her in arabic a bit, which was awesome. Fadi, her husband, actually grew up with Aramaic as his first language, and Arabic has his second language. In fact, his parents only know Aramaic (the language Jesus spoke, which is now largely dying), and only know small bits of arabic. It was incredible to hear his story. Fadi has a home and business in Michigan, and became a US citizen as well. However, the US govt consulate in Damascus is giving him and his wife a hard time about obtaining her visa. Everything in their lives is hinging on her obtaining this visa, and when you ask them about it, they simply say: "we just need to P." Amazing. They are such examples of strong faith. Please, please send up some P's for Fadi and his wife to get her visa, so they can start a new life in Michigan. :-)

We toured the church in Bloudan and saw the Samara's home. It's such an amazing village. They give out B's to anyone who comes inside, for free. There are about 250 people who attend, and 50 people who attend from other faiths. God is at work in Bouldan and its outstanding. They are trying to start a church in the nearby village of Zebani, which is held at a home where 35 people attend. Please P for them and the new seeds of this church.

Feeda and Pastor's Samara's wife actually hold a women's ministry meeting weekly on Monday evenings, to which they asked me to come and also invited me to speak. I am truly honored! I believe some of the other girls will be able to share as well, at least we are hoping there is time. Please P for God to give me the words, as they told me just to speak about anything! I'm excited for this opportunity! As many of you know, I have such a heart for women's ministry, especially younger women.

We also exchanged our money, so we are all set in that area. Tomorrow we will be going to church, and John Card has been asked to give a message. That truly is amazing, as in his shoes - to be giving a message in a church in Damascus minutes from where Paul witnessed to Jews. That opportunity doesn't come along too often, so please send up some P's for his words to touch hearts for God!

Aside from that, we are finishing up preparing our lessons for the kids. We start the school part on Monday, which many of us are looking forward to getting started.

Thanks SOOOO much for your P's, truly. The team is loving the encouragement and support you send!! You all are such a HUGE blessing! Shout outs: Russell wants to know if the Rockets and Astros won; Graham shouts out to his kids Jack and Henry; Lauren says "its all good" and that's just about it! Oh, and by the way, last night - there was only cold water for showers at the hotel! Yep, we all took FREEZING cold showers.....so we are hoping the management got the hot water figured out, but if not its ok - we are being flexible! lol There are dozens of humorous stories that go with the cold water, but those will have to wait for our return! :-)

Again, we are P'ing for you, and your spiritual encouragement is like little power bars, so thank you!!

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Kristina