Fun in Oman

To celebrate Eid we flew to Oman to spend time with Jeff and Mary and Russell. It was such a fun week.  Russell had never been to Oman so it was fun for him to see another Gulf country. Oman is especially beautiful with its mountains, beaches and history. 

The Bahla fort was built during the medieval islamic period sometime between the 12th and 15th centuries. It is surrounded by a ruins of a village from the same era. Russell hoped to see a Jinn. No luck. 

It is so fun having Russell back in this part of the world!!   

Meals on Wheels

It's Eid al Adha this week. The time of year when Muslims all over the world celebrate Abraham's sacrifice and obedience before God.  As part of the celebration there are family meals which include meat from a sheep.. just slaughtered.  So all over town one can see animals on their way to the slaughterhouses. I snapped this poor fellow on the way home from dropping Robert at school yesterday.

Mike and Robert have the whole week off!  Tomorrow we are going to see the Kenney's in Oman. We can't wait. I heard on the news that One million people will be going thru the Doha airport in the next 10 days. Needless to say, we are going to get there at least 3 hours early tomorrow. :) On Thursday people abandoned their cars and ended up walking to the airport. Yep. It is a crazy time in the Gulf region.    

Last and First

We had another first in September. In fact we had a couple of other firsts besides Robert's first day of a bricks and mortar school experience....

And we had a Last as well.  Grace Fellowship, our church here in Doha, held its last worship service in the villa where it all started like 9 years ago. Although the Hildebrands have only been attending for a little over a year, we still felt the emotion of change and goodbyes.  Many families here helped start this church and it was difficult to say good bye to a place that held so many great memories for them. We are thankful to have had these months here getting to know the way it was and being part of the way it is going to be.

Grace Fellowship Doha, Qatar

Thanking God for many great years here, and His provision.



   

And on Friday Sept. 27, we celebrated our first service in the new building. This buildiing is located in an area called the Religious Complex outside of Doha. There are several other churches out there, including the Catholic church, the Orthodox church,  and I don't even know who else. Our building is shared by many other denominations. If Friday was any indication it's going to be a busy place all week long.

Welcome to the new building!

Relaxing with Lori and Ibrahim

To celebrate Mike and Robert and I joined some dear friends for our first visit to the Sealine Beach Resort here in Doha.

Daniel buries Robert

 

Where Robert received his first jelly fish sting!  Hope it's not the last time Robert gets in the water here...but I wouldn't blame him. :)