It’s always a treat for me when visitors come because it means that it will get a break from my routine and enjoy some time showing people the sites of my beloved Lebanon.  For this year’s conference we had several visitors from my home church, so it was a special treat.  My senior pastor, Larry Stockstill, and his daughter Melissa arrived in Lebanon two days early to be able to see the cedars of Lebanon.  I had not yet been, so I got to tag along for the tour.  It was really amazing to see these trees, some they say have been there 6,000 years, even surviving the flood!  These trees have grown large and plant roots, not in a fertile valley, but on arid mountaintops; their persitance to survive in this condition is amazing!

We had several other speakers for our conference, and one of them, Tony Foster, had been my youth pastor for several years at Bethany.  His wife, Margaret, has discipled me the past few years, keeping up with me while I am in Lebanon.  I visited them in Malaysia where they are now missionaries, so having Tony in Lebanon was like having family here.  We took several of the speakers for a tour around Lebanon.  While these sites I have seen several times, it’s always nice to see the tourist side of this beautiful nation.

It had been a while since I’ve taken a break from the city life and took time to see Lebanon.  As always, I am amazed at the beauty of this nation, and I am so proud to call it home!

We had a powerful time ministering to young ladies in the nations of Liberia and Ivory Coast.  Rana and I used the life of Esther to  give hope and encouragement.  The recurring theme in each of our messages was “leaving your past and fulfilling your destiny”.  We encouraged them to not let your past determine your future.  Esther did not come from the best background, yet despite her circumstances she became queen.  Rana pointed out that if Esther had not entered the competition, she would have never been chosen.  This may seem like a simple enough revelation, but how many times do we not enter because we have decided that we will lose before we even begin.  Don’t quit before you get started, but believe that despite what you feel, God will use you for His glory!

One thing in Esthe,r’s life that challenged me, and that I shared in the conference was that when Esther was given the chance to choose whatever jewelry she liked, she decided to chose only what Hegai suggested.  With Hegai representing the work of the Holy Spirit in oulives, we have to shoos what the Holy Spirit is telling us, for He is showing us what pleases the King.  We may be choosing things for our life that pleases us, or it looks real good to the people, maybe even looks real “spiritual”; but, it is not pleasing the King.  We have to make the decision to not choose what only looks good, or just what pleases us; but we have to choose only that which pleases the King.

There was so much that was shared in these conferences, I wish that I had the time to share everything with you.  Many were challenged and encouraged that God will use them in His harvest.  There is so much need in West Africa, and it was an honor for us to be a part of encouraging and equipping the laborers.

We finished our time in Abidjan by ministering in the Sunday morning services  Rana   shared in Pastor Agnus’s on the importance of having a secret place with God. Afterwards, we prayed a prayer of blessing over each member of the church. 

I had the opportunity to minister in a church that I visited seven years ago.  On my first visit, though, there was not building but only dirt.  Our team had prayed for this pastor and the church that would be there.  So, it was a great joy to be able to minister to this congregation of Harvesters Miracle Church.  This trip showed me so much the faithfulness of God.  I was so encouraged to see the work that has continued in these seven years, and I was also encouraged by the work that God has done in my life since then.  Many times on this trip I was reminded of old dreams that I had (when I thought I would one day live in Africa), and many times I felt like I was   through these dreams.  I was encouraged to see that things that I only dreamed of are now a reality before my eyes.  Just has God has caused these hopes and dreams come to pass.  I know that the dreams I still hold in my heart, for my life and ministry, and for God’s work in the Middle East – I will see as a reality before my eyes!

      For the vision is yet for an appointed time;
      But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie.
      Though it tarries, wait for it;
      Because it will surely come,
      It will not tarry.

      Habakkuk 2:3

We flew from Liberia over to the neighboring country of the Ivory Coast.  I spent two weeks in this nation seven years ago and I was more than happy to be back.  Rana and I were working with Gregory Bangura and his wife, Agnus, to hold our second Esther’s conference in their church, and also to minister to the youth of the church.  The conference was really great, and even though it was the same theme, we could see how the Holy Spirit was speaking specific things to this group.  We held the sessions in the evenings, and the attendees were coming from work, and some nights coming in heavy rains, to be in the meetings.  We had a smaller crowd in Abidjan, and we were happy minister this group.  We were able to spend personal time with the attendees and get to know them and their lives and minister to their specific needs.

We had a fellowship with the youth and spent time getting to know them, what they are doing and their plans for the future.  Several shared with me their desire to travel and be missionaries in neighboring African countries.  It really blesses me to see Africans who have a desire, not to go to a better country, but to countries inn more need than theirs.  I shared with them lessons I’ve learned, and the work that God has done in me to prepare me to be a missionary.  I am looking forward to hearing about what God does in their lives!  I know that God will do great things in with this group of young people!

It’s only day 2, but because of our late arrival, we are finishing in Liberia.  It has been a short time, but a powerful time!  We started the morning in Pastor Tim’s church were I shared about the “boldness to believe”!  In 1 chronicles 17, David says “I have been bold enough to pray this prayer”.  Some prayers you can’t pray without boldness, and you have to choose to believe that what God has promised, He will do in your life.  Right have the morning service, we went down the street to a church that has just recently started and Rana shared about Abraham and Lot, and how even though Lot got what looked better, it was Abraham who prospered, so as long as you are where God as you, don’t what about what it looks like because God will cause you to prosper.  Immediately after this service went to another town, as Pastor Gregory shared the Word of God in a church there.  In this church, I saw a couple of ladies who I met on my first trip to Africa, including one whose home I stayed in for five days.  It was wonderful to be able to see them again.  It was a busy morning, but a great time as we were able to encourage the believers.

In the evening we finished the Esther’s conference.  Rana preached a great message  on how Esther was taken to the best place, alone, and it was there that she was prepared to meet the king.  In our life, we go through seasons where we are alone, but it is in this best place that the Lord is preparing us for His purpose for us.  We finished the conference by laying hands on and praying a blessing over each person attending.

An “Esther’s Offering” was taken up at the end of the conference, and around 50 USD was given (over 3,000 Liberian Dollars).  This amount will be able to start a pepper farm in another village that will sustain a new church plant there.  So this conference not only blessed spiritually, but also economically . . . To God be all the glory!

We believe that God will continue to do great things as we travel on to spend a week in Cote d'Ivoire

It took some time getting here, but finally we made it to Monrovia, Liberia.  It is my first time back in West Africa in 7 years and it is like stepping back into dream.  We were met at the airport by Pastor Gregory Bangura and Pastor Tim Gibson.  Pastor Gregory is who I worked with when I came 7 years ago.  We have stayed in touch since then, and he has been a huge encouragement to me.  He was the one who really pushed me to pursue missions again, and though I didn’t go to West Africa (as we thought I would) he has been 100% supportive of me in Lebanon.  I am really excited to be back here working with him, and I am sure that it is only the beginning.  Pastor Tim is hosting us during our stay in Liberia, we are holding the conference in his church and he and his wife are taking good care of us while we are here.  I met Pastor Tim in my first trip to Africa, and it was so great to see another familiar face once I was here.

It was 30 minute drive from the airport to the home where we stayed, and it was amazing to see the green landscape and to drive by the small African villages where they have mud huts.  I was surprised to find that Liberia has swamps like my home, Louisiana!  I was equally surprised that it is not that hot here, halleluyah!!  It’s the rainy season, and while it is still warm and very humid, it is not too hot.

We arrived in the morning, and that evening jumped into the Esther’s conference.  Pastor Gregory held morning and evening sessions for two days while waiting for us to arrive, so the young women of Liberia were ready to finally to see us.  I shared the first night, and it was really a powerful time, as I shared with them that it doesn’t matter your background, where you came from, but that God has a destiny for your life.  We finished with a song “turn, turn, He has turned it around”, and rejoiced as we believed that God will turn our situation around.

I am so happy to be back in West Africa, and I am expectant that we are going to see God do great things while we are here!

I want to start of by thanking all of you prayed for Rana and me while we were stuck in Ethiopia for 3 days.  It was an unexpected delay, but we are sure that God had a reason for it!

Rain delays caused us to miss our flight, and the soonest flight we could get into Monrovia was not until three days later.  The airlines put us in a hotel to spend the next two nights.  After 24 hours of sleeping in planes and lobby chairs, we were just happy to have a warm bed to sleep in, not knowing that God had a divine purpose for our stay.

It wasn’t long before we befriended the youngest daughter of the hotel owner, which opened the door to minister to her family.  Rana was able to spend time with them while doing French manicures, giving Rana an opportunity to speak to them about Jesus.  Before we left the hotel, Rana was able to pray with the older daughter to receive Jesus as her Lord and Savior!  The Bible says that all of heaven rejoices when ONE sinner repents!!  We left Ethiopia encouraged that God indeed had a purpose for our stay, one young lady giving her life to Jesus was well worth it!

 "But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?" Jonah 4:11

our cell group leader, Mischa Achkar, had decided to do some prayer walking around the area of the church during our meeting time.  so last wednesday, this group of leaders from the women's ministry set out in twos to prayer walk around Bourj Hammoud.  as i was walking and watching all of the people going about their business, the verse that kept coming to my mind was the one where  God said, speaking about ninevah, that these are a people who do not their right hand from their left.  This is what i saw, people who are so busy with the concerns of their lives, but in reality are so confused and far from the truth.

  When we got back to the church, I read the end of Jonah and saw a picture of what is wrong with so many of us.  Jonah was more concerned with something temporary than with the harvest.  Maybe we read his response to the dying vine and see his silliness, but how often do we do the same things in our own lives.  We get upset over trivial things, and when God asks us if we have the right to be angry our response is "I do!"  it's time to get our attention away from the temporary and focus on where God's concern is, the multitudes.

 There are multitudes of people in our cities who do not know their right hand from their left.  i know for me i can be overwhelmed thinking about how can we reach ALL of these people ?!   After our prayer walk on wednesday, which we will continue on a regular basis,  we may not have "numbers" to show what happened, but i believe that we have definitely started do something to reach the harvest.  We are believe that God is going to open doors to reach people and and really begin to move in this community!

I don’t even watch the Lebanese news, but I am still very aware that elections are looming.  Of course there are pictures of politicians plastered everywhere, and billboards with their logos lining the streets, but showing support for your group doesn’t end here.  Each one has his own color (and if you wear the shirt of a groups color, just because you like the style no other reason, you will quickly get questioned if you are showing loyalty.  They are usually joking with me, though).  Each group has his own flag, songs and hand signs.  You can even honk your car horn a certain way to show your support for your group.  If you haven’t guessed yet, elections time in Lebanon are very LOUD! Now that we are closer to the date, you hear music and car horns late into the night, and at anytime you can get stuck in a traffic jam because of street rallies and supporters marching the streets. 

Politics in Lebanon are always hotly divided, but with an important election just a day away you can really feel how much so.  PLEASE BE IN PRAYER.  These elections are very critical, and the outcome will determine the direction of this nation.

We had a great weekend in the beginning of May, bringing the kids through an “Encounter with Jesus” retreat.  It was physically hard being with kids an entire weekend, even during breaks you are “on duty” because kids destroy things, or jump off balconies, when left alone J.  I was wore out on Monday, but it was well worth it to see how God worked in their lives during this weekend.  On this weekend, we taught the children about sin and repentance and about the Cross where Jesus paid the price for our sin.  We shared with them the importance of feeding on the Word of God, how they are fearfully and wonderfully made, and we had a session on the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. 

We had several kids this retreat who had never been in the church and may have for the first time heard that Jesus Christ died on the cross for their sins.  It was really amazing to see kids so hungry for God and receiving from Him.  The subject I taught was  “fearfully and wonderfully made” Psalms 139, for the kids we call it “you are special”.  I shared with them how I came from a big family and that I was usually known as someone’s sister, or just thoms because they couldn’t keep all of our names straight, and this made it hard for me to realize that I was special and unique.  It changed my life when I realized that God loved me and created me for a special purpose.  Honestly, I don’t know how the kids received it, but several of the leaders really enjoyed the message!

It was really a great weekend, and it was a delight to the kids lives changed by the power of the Cross!