New friends!

"Go in the strength you have... Am I not sending you?"

I waited until tonight to blog this week so that I could share a really fun and informative meeting we had. Kim's sister invited us to visit her and meet a friend who was Lebanese. So we were able to make new friends, John and Diana Tennery. Diana is orignally from a Christian village in Southern Lebanon, but lived much of her life in Beirut. She and John visit family there every year or so.

When they arrived Diana and I spoke Arabic for a while, as the others were milling around in the kitchen. After greetings, the first phrase I spoke was "Anti Al-Ustaaza wa Ana At-Talib". She looked confuse and I thought "Oh am I really that bad?" Not a good start! I repeated it and she laughed and understood what I meant. "You are the teacher and I am the student." As we continued in Arabic, I asked her to correct my mistakes, and she did correct a few. For the most part it went very well.

After the others began filtering into the room, we started explaining words to them, and eventually drifted into Englabic. It's pretty natural to mix two languages when it's easier to say some things in one or the other.

Diana's observation was that I spoke Arabic in the same way that people write it there. So I sound a bit formal. I enjoy personal interaction and counseling, so I need to sound less formal and distant. She figured six months would be long enough for me to pick up the slang. I'm getting more confidence in my speaking ability as I dust it off a bit. Hopefully in a few weeks I'll head to Birmingham again for another Bible study.

Diana was kind enough to pronounce the Books of the Bible for me, and I recorded them for further study. I was having a little confusion about some of the more complex pronunciations. She used my magnifying glass to make out the punctuation marks, and paused over a few of them, but was able to figure them out.

in all your ways acknowledge him,and he will make your paths straight

The most important part of the evening was when Kim and I were able to ask her questions about life in Lebanon. This was all in English for Kim's benefit. She had some observations that reinforced what we've been told by other Lebanese, and also quite a lot of new insights. This was our first really in-depth discussion of living conditions.

There are several neighborhoods near the Baptist School which are very safe. Ashrafiyyeh is the safest, but is totally Christian. I'd like to avoid insulating my family from Muslims, so if we move into that neighborhood it will be a temporary arrangement until we can find something in a more mixed neighborhood. She recommended 'Ain El-Rumani which is a mixed neighborhood between the school and the Christian area.

Diana observed that most Christian and Sunni Lebanese these days learn both English and French in school. Kim should easily be able to communicate with many of the younger Lebanese, at least on basic subjects. Outside Beirut that's not the case, but it will allow her a lot of freedom to move around the northern (and safer) areas of the city. Christians will study French more than English, while the Sunni study English more than French. This actually works well for us since I'd prefer to live among the Sunni Muslims.

“Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?”

Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

One of our big adjustments will be socializing more. We've been warned that Lebanese neighbors will be knocking on our door with trays of coffee and snacks, and staying for a visit. She also let us know that offering coffee to guests is very important in Lebanon, it's always expected. Lebanese coffee isn't like ours. It's like the Turkish coffee. The beans are ground into a powder, which is boiled directly in the water without a filter. The resulting sludge is poured into a small cup and sipped slowly. Refusing a cup is rude, but one can pretend to drink it.

Greet one another with a kiss of love.

The Lebanese like to greet friends and family with three kisses on the cheek. This is done without regard to age or gender, so I have to get used to guys smooching on my wife. That will be big for me! It isn't done on first introductions, so hopefully it won't get too out of hand.

Like a number of other nations outside the US, their septic system isn't designed to handle toilet paper. I'll say no more on that one, nor will I offer scriptural commentary.

I've always enjoyed haggling in Guatemala, and the good news is that the Lebanese haggle over everything except groceries. So, I'll get to continue the joyful experience of walking off from a potential purchase and having the salesman let me know how much it pains him to sell at my price.

The righteous man will flourish like the palm tree, he will grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Planted in the house of the LORD, they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still yield fruit in old age...

Diana felt that religious conversion was not such a big deal as it is in other Arab countries. families tend to be more accepting of members who convert to another faith. This is good news for us, as we believe that God has great plans in store for the people of Lebanon.