Finally, I got my pictures back

OK, there are a ton of pics from my trip to Lebanon so I figured I would split the story into sections, and post about it each day. I will start with the country of Lebanon itself, and since I have over 40 pictures to share, I will just post a couple of additional blogs throughout the day. There, you have been warned, multiple blogs ahead.

So, to start out, between October 1 and October 11 a team from my church went on mission to the country of Lebanon. More specifically, southeast Lebanon, to a town called Marjayoun. We went to distribute food bags to those in need, still struggling from decades of hostility, and more recently the war in 2006. While we were in these homes, we shared the gospel, openly and freely without fear. As a matter of fact, a lot of the homes we went to, the people wanted us to read the Bible to them and have discussions. Most homes we went to were Shia (or Shiite as they are commonly called) with a couple of Sunni muslims mixed in. They are very familiar with the Bible and know a lot about Jesus. We were able to go into better detail about who He is and what He did two thousand years ago.

I will be going into the people and the mission on another day. Today, I wanted to talk about the country and landscape itself. The land is beautiful there. Rugged mountains and lush valleys make up most of the landscape in Lebanon. Where we were, it was quite windy. The town of Marjayoun is stretched along the ridge of a mountain, and so it was a bit windy throughout the days. The temperatures there during October are around the low 60's at night to mid 80's during the day. It is dry most of the year, and unlike the states, they have a rainy season tha runs from the end of October to mid- to late-February. It rains almost constantly during that time. I took a number of pictures so I will just split them up into two or three separate blogs and I will try and describe what you are seeing, if not obvious. But anyhow, here you go. The pictures do NOT do this place any justice, being there makes all the difference.

If anyone has any questions, please ask in the comments.

This is Beaufort Castle, a Crusade outpost. Lots of history there. For more info, please see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaufort_Castle,_Lebanon

The next two pictures are special to me, personally. These are pictures of Mt. Hermon. It is believed that this is the mountain where Jesus was transfigured.

Matthew 17:1-13

I got goosebumps when I saw it,a nd was filled with joy while taking pictures of it. I have a couple more that I will post later, with the sun setting, creating a beautiful color on the side of the mountain.

More pics later.

END OF LINE

JR