After living in the Middle East for seven months, I got my first taste of what one would expect to experience in this region.  We left the glitz and glam of the city and headed out to see the desert.  One of the first sites we saw was what they call "Tent Cities" , where out in the desert Kuwaitis set up tents to spend weekends away from the busy life of the city.  Roughing it for the weekend, with their four-wheelers and satellite TV's. 

 Then we stopped to see some camels.  We met a group of bedoins (nomads) from Sudan, who now live in Kuwait taking care of camels and selling the camel's milk to the locals.  The men were kind enough to let us have a taste of the milk (I wasn't sure if this was going to be a good thing or not).  The milked the camel right there (and, she was not happy at all), and then handed us the dish so we could try.  It took a while for someone to volunteer to be the first, but we eventually all took a sip.  It wasn't bad, tasted like milk (imagine that). 

 After that, the bedoins invited us inside their tent for tea.  it was probably some of the best tea i had ever had.  We also got to know a little bit more about the bedoin life.  It was hard for them right now, because it was very cold, and the winds made it worse.  In the winter, the tent blocks the wind.  During the summer, the tent blocks the sun during temperatures that reach around 120 degrees.  When it is this hot, they do their work in the early mornings and late evenings, taking shade during the heat of the day.

What a contrast after coming from the city to see the sights of the tent city and the bedoins with their camels. You could hardly believe they were just an half hour drive away.

After the encounter weekend we are holding a class once a week to teach some fundamentals and helpt them grow in their faith.  it ihas been al ot of fun to help with these classes, to be able to watch them grow and encourage them.  i was able to teach one of the classes about  winning the biggest battle, the battle in our mind.  the devil knows that he can control our destiny if he can control our thoughts.  We will be victorious though, as we renew our minds with the Word of God. 

Kuwait and Lebanon may be in the same region, and only a two hour flight away from each other, but they are two different worlds.  The first thing I noticed is that everything is very new in Kuwait.  Since the country is only very recently developed, and because Kuwait has more money from oil than it knows what to do with, everything is modern and very nice.  While Beirut definitely has it's very new and modern parts of town, it is also filled with areas that are aged and filled with history.  Another big difference is the landscape.  Beirut is located on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea, and surrounded by the mountains of Lebanon.  Kuwait City is also on the shore, i can see the Persian Gulf from the home where I am staying, but is completely flat and surrounded by desert.  Beirut is very crowded and noisy, while Kuwait is spread out and much more quiet.

 One thing to note about Kuwait is that only 30% of the population is actually Kuwaiti - the majority of the people in the country are expatriates, foreigners working here.  Most of the people I've met here have been from Southeast Asia, some Africans, several Americans and Europeans and just a few Arabs.  Everything is in English, and most of the time it feels very much like America.

 While the city buildings and roads are new and nice, the Kuwaitis are still very traditional.  So, you see a man wearing a scarf with a band around the top of his head and a long flowing robe, driving a lexus or sitting in Starbucks sipping on a latte.   It's two extremes in the same world, especially seeing women covered from head to toe, except for her eyes, sorting through the latest fashions in the shopping mall. 

 Kuwait is nice and I am enjoying my time here, but I will be glad to be back home.  Home where the noise on the street wakes me up every morning and I am surronded by a language I don't yet understand, but I love it so much.

I hit the ground running in Kuwait.  The day after I arrived we held an Encounter retreat.  It was a powerful time has lives were changed by the power of the cross.  One attendee was a lady who comes from a different religion and is now a born-again Christian.  During a break at the Encounter, I had felt impressed to just tell her that God has a good life for her.  Simple enough, I didn't think to much of it.  After telling her, she began to share with me that just few days earlier, she was asking herself "What is this life? There is nothing, why don't I just end it?"  She didn't though, she said "I know God hears my prayers, and the He cares about me".  She then came on this Encounter Retreat, and during the session on the cross, she really began to see how much Jesus loves her, and how much He went through for her because of His love.  It is always a blessing to me to see how lives are changed when people realize how much God really does love them.  Many people came to the Encounter with heavy burdens, but left rejoicing in the Lord.  We serve such an awesome God!