Tooth Tales – May 2019 (Edited for Publication)
Dear Friends,
Beautiful Lebanon – cedar trees, ancient ruins, the sparkling Mediterranean, friendly people – we have come to love this country. We so appreciate the missionaries and pastors who are laboring to help Syrian refugees and introduce them to Jesus Christ.
As we arrived in Lebanon this time, the Middle East was a bit on edge. President Trump had just announced he was in favor of the Golan Heights (formerly of Syria) being made a permanent part of Israel. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, was in Beirut for talks with Lebanese officials and the city was filled with uniformed military and police officers. Check points had sprung up everywhere it seemed. One of our suitcases had arrived late from Paris and we had to make a trip to the airport to retrieve it. In a room filled with hundreds of pieces of lost luggage, ours was right in front of us as we walked in! God’s kindness and help never ceases to amaze us! We had to take a taxi back to our hotel, and after checking the taxi driver’s ID, we got in. But a different driver jumped in and sped out of the airport in the wrong direction from our hotel. Seemingly ignoring our protests, he continued on and there were some anxious moments as we wondered what was happening. It turned out that the driver couldn’t speak English and was headed to the wrong hotel. We eventually arrived safely back at our hotel, thankful that something really bad hadn’t happened!
Our first week in Lebanon we spent in the mountains near the Syrian border. It was cold there and few buildings have central heat. We had the opportunity to visit some of the refugees in their (cold) homes and, of course, we helped with their many complicated dental problems during our evangelistic clinics. Jack’s messages of comfort and hope in Jesus Christ during two church services were gratefully accepted. We don’t always have the opportunity to personally share the gospel because of language but this time some of the refugees were English speaking and we had that privilege several times during our clinics.
We moved on to Beirut for the weekend, speaking at First Baptist Bible Church of Hamra that Sunday and then again on Wednesday night. Pastor Richard Sadaka has become a good friend to us and our ministry and we enjoyed being there again.
The second week, we were in another area, which we won’t mention. There we were just about overrun with patients and the work was difficult. We were so thankful though for the many good gospel conversations that those visits to the dentist generated (as was the missionary we were supporting testified). We were exhausted (and Jack’s “injection hand” was bothering him from the volume of patients treated) but we felt satisfied that we had done all we could to help these needy people. Jack’s message from the Scriptures at one service seemed to especially help and encourage those who came.
We arrived home the 9th of April and four days later left to speak at Pensacola Christian College’s mission prayer band and for vacation in Florida with our kids and grandkids. We were very ready for that! Our 8 year-old granddaughters had the best time of us all! So thankful to the Lord and to a good friend for making his beach house available to our gang.
Thanks for your faithful prayers for us. Can you tell how much we needed them? We’re grateful!
Sincerely in Christ,
Jack and Jennifer