Lebanon #1: A TIME FOR EVERY PURPOSE UNDER HEAVEN
by Marilyn Borst, Associate Director for Partnership Development
“It’s about time…” is an expression that we use (often, with a hint of impatience, or, perhaps, standing with our arms crossed over our chest, tapping our toe and wearing a bit of a scowl) to express the arrival of a long-awaited person or event.
Ecclesiastes 3 begins with this divine reminder: To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven…
And so it seems that after the long season of isolation, necessitated by the coronavirus, a time has come for The Outreach Foundation to get back on the road and visit our partners --- and our re-entry into the world begins here in Lebanon, where our relationships run deep and wide and have matured over a long time.
My tote bag told the story of this “new normal” as I made multiple checks to make sure that my vaccination certificate, face masks, and hand sanitizers were within easy reach. As a “seasoned traveler” I will confess to a higher degree of anxiety, mainly around what requirements might be expected upon arrival in once-familiar airports, now made strange by protocols. And, indeed, our team’s combined experiences to get here could fill a small booklet on “worse travel experiences of our lives.” But, we made it, if not always on the same plane as our luggage!
Grateful that our colleague, Rev. Nuhad Tomeh, is with us to shepherd us on this journey, our new Executive Director, Mark Mueller, and I arrived first, and our initial (blurry) day was spent in the loving company of precious friends like Dr. Mary Mikhael and the Revs. Najla and Joseph Kassab.
And what a great joy to have the Rev. Boutros Zaour come over from the Presbyterian Church in Damascus to be with us for a few days!
We heard bits and pieces of the struggles and challenges they, their families, and their ministries are facing at this moment in time. They would have every reason to “lose heart” ...but, not surprisingly, we found them to be “hard-pressed but not crushed.”
We have come to be an encouraging presence. But we are finding —- as we always do—- that this is very much a two-way street. Please continue with us on the path over these days ahead.