Le Seigneur avec ceux qui me soutiennent

Common life 

At the end of our experience in Lebanon, before we will share some of our very special last experiences with you, and before we will try to summarise what we lived for you, we do not want to end this blog without showing you some of the basics of our daily life here in Lebanon. So far, we have explained you a lot about our daily meetings, our travels, and our work. But of course, also our daily life here, together as a group of three, was a very important aspect of our experience during this month.

Strangers? Don't know such a thing.

Before we met each other on the airport of Istanbul on the way to Beirut, we did not all know each other personally. But we did not need long time to get along with each other. Instead, we have the impression that from the first moment on, we were friends. There was never a doubt about that: We are friends. Of course, each of us had easier and more difficult days in Lebanon, and of course we also lived moments of tiredness, sometimes insecurity, and exhaustion. But the others' joy, humour, and their love always carried us.

We are very thankful to each other for this friendship, and to God for giving us the opportunity to get to know each other. It is a great gift!

The three of us on our last evening all together, at the port of Beirut.
(Florian has not gone shopping: He is carrying the farewell gifts that we received from our friends of the students' pastoral.)

Logistics

We have to tell you about our weekly shoppings! Apart from some small daily shoppings in the markets of Maghdouche, we went to a big supermarket in the centre of Saida every week, together with one of the brothers of the Fratelli project and the lady who prepares breakfast (for all the children) and lunch (for the team) there every day. Look how a shopping for 500 people looks like!

Buying food for 500 people! (A big part of it is already inside the bus.) This is just enough for a week.

Common prayers

Three times a day, we gathered in this little chapel under the basilica of Maghdouche to pray together. Sometimes, we decided to have our prayers in the Fratelli project's school chapel in Rhmeileh (for example when our schedule was too tight to return to Maghdouche at midday). Next to the services we attended in the entire region, and next to the very special  prayers we had with our friends of the students' pastoral (JEC) and the members of the Fratelli team, these daily prayers were very important moments for us.

The little chapel in Maghdouche ...

... where we had our prayers three times a day.

The chapel in the Fratelli school in Rhmeileh.

Between all our exciting and very intensive experiences that we were able to make during our time in Lebanon, our common prayer helped us to take a step backwards and look at these experiences from a new, maybe wider perspective. Our prayers brought us together, helped us to be good to one another. And becoming silent together in front of God really strengthened us and our relationship among each other and towards our Lebanese friends. Again, we realised that prayer is not just something "extra" for us, but an indispensable component of our lives.

Not alone

Thanks to our wonderful friends from the students' pastoral (JEC), we never felt alone. Sometimes, some of them would join our evening prayers in Maghdouche, and sometimes, others would surprise us with traditional Lebanese meals.

During the severe fightings in the Palestinian refugee camp Ain al-Hilweh during our third week in Lebanon, they took care of us so tirelessly and reliably that at no single moment, we felt that we were in danger.

We are very thankful for their friendship!

Our friends Juliette and Sally brought a traditional Lebanese breakfast one morning. This is just one example of the JEC's friends' hospitality and friendship that we are very thankful for.