It seemed extraordinary to be in Beirut, a city which had meant civil war, hostages, pain and destruction and very uplifting to see how its people were tackling the task of reconstruction; there were many buildings blasted by shell fire and pock marked by bullet holes which helped us to see what it had been like.

Starting from Beirut we began this journey of Roman cities, Crusader castles, Christian churches and Muslim Mosques mixed with Middle-Eastern food, very good guiding by both Barbara in Lebanon and Hisnam in Syria, and gentle good humour and care from Brian who ensured that we were where we should be when we were supposed to be there! The days were full and I certainly had to keep a diary to keep track of the things I had seen and also some of the feelings they had roused in me.

So here briefly are some of the memories we keep with us: The friendliness and good humour of all the group members, even we women when we had to don black robes before entering a Mosque; the friendliness of the local people we met; looking at structures dated fourth millennium B.C. and thinking that unless our Millennium celebrations have a Christian core what are we making so much fuss about?; climbing down amongst the tombs in the Roman city of the dead in Tyre, peering through a hole in a sarcophagus and finding it full of bones!; feelings of awe at the scale of the Hippodrome built for chariot racing and wishing that that architect was in charge of our Millennium Dome; Crusader castles at Sidon, Tripoli and the great Citadel of Aleppo built by those who were so sure of their faith they were willing to journey far from home and conduct savage war in its name; Michael being draped (in the souk in Aleppo) in Arab dress (which we of course then bought), a wonderful photo opportunity.

The magic colour of the light on stones at the church St. Simeon, Palmyra and Baalback. At Palmyra we got up early to walk among ruins and experienced a feeling of hope and continuity as a shepherd drove his flock of sheep and goats between the pillars; a very biblical scene. Spirit life seemed very near. There were many special moments, but we found it was particularly a journey of a confirming of faith, whether in the very early and beautiful church in Maaloula where we heard the Lord’s Prayer in Aramaic, in the house of Annaias in ‘the street called straight’ where St. Paul sought refuge, or in the communion held by Brian in a church on the spot where St. Paul escaped by being let down in a basket. We found it an experiencing of continuity of faith through the history surrounding us. I was also aware of this in the Great Mosque in Damascus; it may not be our faith but for us that building had a good feel about it.

All that is left for us to say is ‘when do we go again?’."

Source: Tina Bunce, The Spire Magazine - 1998 December