The Closing of a Chapter...

Again I sat in a chair of uncertainty… the same chair I sat in two years before. This time I faced the opposite direction. The small oval window beside me showed the scattered lights of the early morning. Slowly these lights went by.  Then faster and faster until they were no longer shining beside me, but slowly faded below as the clouds separated me from a city I have come to think of as my second home. The last month had sped by so quickly with final exams and then Ramadan and evening visits to enjoy the Iftar’s (the break of the fast at sundown) with my families. It seemed that I had always been a part of the lives of these people who had touched and blessed me so much. It seemed impossible that I was in an airplane…perhaps never to see some of the dear faces I had grown to love so much. Perhaps I would never hear some of the voices that had encouraged me during the last two years. Maybe they would disappear in the madness of war like so many others have. What if I wouldn’t recognize "my" children the next time I saw them? Would they let GOD lead them to become useful and happy servants of HIS? Some children came to my mind more than others. These were mostly the troublemakers that I spent more of my time with… Now I wondered if all of the hours spent with them were useful? Did I make any difference? It is clear that they made a huge impact on my life…but had I been a blessing to them? Or was I only another annoying foreigner who didn’t really accomplish much? These thoughts were over-ridden with a much bigger one…the knowledge that whatever may have been accomplished in any of the children’s lives or in the lives of their parents and families would not have been something that I did… “I” can’t and didn’t do anything of use for these precious people…but then realizing how much GOD had done in the short time I was there, made my heart fill with thankfulness to HIM who alone can make a difference in a person’s life. I thought now of all the different times I had seen GOD working. I, my co-workers, my boss, the school…couldn’t do anything really…only GOD could. Only GOD could take such a diverse group of people, people with so many different problems and weaknesses, people who didn’t have the right training…and bring them together to learn how to live, work, and interact together in a way that could produce so many wonderful effects. 

I am now back to school at Southern Adventist University…learning to be thankful no matter where GOD places me, whether it is with my children and families in Lebanon, at home in Nigeria, or here in the USA. 

Yes I am back in America…but the Lebanon adventure hasn’t ended, I am just not as submerged in all the everyday doings of my friends there. Life moves on…but memories and friendships aren’t stopped so easily. Technology makes it possible to still talk and interact with these precious friends.  What a blessing! This chapter may have ended, but there’s another one to follow. And as I turn the page to start on the new chapter, I wonder if any of the places or faces will show up again in the coming pages …

The last few months many things have happened and I never got a chance to write about them. You may still be getting some reports over the next few months as I find time to share more of the amazing things God has been doing there.

To end this letter, I now want to give a final word of thanks, first to GOD for the immense blessing and privilege HE gave me to spend time and learn so much in Lebanon, and then to all of you, who with your support through prayer, and funds, and encouragement, helped make it possible for me to have such a life-changing experience. THANK YOU!