Beirut, Lebanon

After a few days in Cairo I headed over to Beirut. As I mentioned in my Cairo post, due to the sensitive nature of the work going on, I cannot post any pictures or write about any of the work being done over there.

Lebanon is a wonderful country. I wasn’t quite sure to expect when I stepped off of the airplane but it didn’t take long for me to begin to appreciate it. A beautiful city located on the coast, Lebanon is a stark contrast to Egypt. Despite its violent nature the city is beautiful. The people there are very warm and friendly and the word hospitality takes on a whole new meaning. Arabic is the most predominate language but many also speak French and English.

Beirut is a tough place to live and even tougher to minister in. Day in and day out I met with those who live and work here, hearing about some of the amazing things God is doing, and helping them to strategize new ways to reach even more people

Beirut is a beautiful city located on a peninsula jutting out into the Mediterranean. The northern half of the city (right side of the photo) is predominately Christian while the southern half (left side of the photo) is exclusively Muslim. Beautiful mountains surround the city on the east side and in the distance you can see the Mediterranean Sea.

Lebanon is a country with an extensive history of violence. On Valentine's Day of 2005, Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was killed when a car packed with over 1 ton of explosives detonated beside him. This is the location of his assassination. The fresh asphalt on the road is where the 30 foot crater left by the explosion was repaired.

The explosion was so powerful it completely destroyed this nearby building.

The final resting place of Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

This statue was located in the center of town during the years of the Lebanese Civil War. Looking closely you can see that it is completely covered with bullet holes from the war.

A close up of the statue.

After the civil war the government spent 31 billion dollars to rebuild downtown Beirut. However, fear of car bombs grips the hearts of many in Beirut and the downtown area, including the Parliament building (shown above) remains a ghost town except for the soldiers who are stationed every hundred yards [soldiers not photographed].

Rebuilding of a bridge after it was destroyed by Israeli troops during the war in July 2006.