We were in Bahrain for about one week. We flew in on July 3rd (Karyn's BD!). The 4th of July was my first 4th out of the country... Not a huge deal, but I did wonder what was going on back home. After the hectic schedule in Abu Dhabi, we spent the first day sleeping in. I do believe I slept until nearly noon! Anyway, let me say a little bit about the country. It's a very small island of the eastern coast of Saudi Arabia. The island is 25k long and 10k wide! The temperatures were still very warm. I've heard that Saudi is the hottest country in the world, and Bahrain is in the vicinity of the oven-like heat. It has a cool flag, red and white. Mom, I tried to get some pics of one for you!
Some highlights for me: giving an extended version of my testimony at a youth night/praise service. It's so amazing to me to look back on my life and see how God has carefully and deliberately taught and guided me. It's these times when I realize how close Jesus is and how much He cares about each detail, big or small. Even the times when I felt like I wasn't getting answers, He was showing me His love, because He had better things intended for me.
Another cool experience was praying for Saudi Arabia. We drove along the causeway to this tower that overlooks the Saudi coast. It was dark when we went, so we could see the lights that defined the shoreline. Everywhere we've been, we've heard about Saudi. It seems like a mysterious giant--so huge in land mass and infamous for it's strict regulations concerning religion and women. Yet it remains a mystery, because few are allowed to actually travel across the border.
It's definetly a strong country, and forboding. Mecca has it's home on the western border, the place which multitudes of worshipers face five times a day to pray. Another place that remains to be seen by nearly all westerners and Christians. We, however, are not forbidden to pray for this mighty country, for the Light of Life to shine.
We also spent some time with some of the young- 20something- people from the church there. Several people in my group engaged in conversation with them, but I didn't. Even though they seemed like cool people, I just didn't have it in me to go through the whole get-to-know-you phase and leave a couple days later. We had a couple of evenings of them, and my head was spinning, I almost felt like the conversation part of my brain was numb. Thank God for His grace.
One of the girls traveling in our group has a friend who lives here. She got to meet up with him and his wife, and introduces us to them on another night. They were very cool, bought us dinner and gifted us financially! It was a good way to spend our last night in Bahrain.
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