The annual Spring Trip/Retreat took place after the end of the academic year on Tuesday June 11. Thirty-five members of the N.E.S.T. community – students, faculty members and some guests - went on a one-day trip to the village of Abeih in the Aleih district. The main aim was to visit the place where the Theological Seminary (predecessor of N.E.S.T.) was founded in the spring of 1869, and so to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Theological Seminary in Lebanon. Dr. Sabra introduced the place and gave a brief history of the beginnings of the Theological Seminary in Abeih; Rev. H. Badr then explained the plans of the National Evangelical Church of Beirut for renovating the place and setting up a vocational school there. Then all took part in prayers, singing and reflections on the mission of a theological seminary.  After lunch, the group drove up to the Barouk Cedar reserve where a cedar tree was adopted in commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the Seminary.