Founded by British missionaries in 1868 as the first school for the blind in the MENA (Middle East/North Africa) region, the Lebanese Evangelical Society decided to expand Blessed School’s mission to receive students with special needs including autism and Down syndrome. Blessed School spreads the Word of God not only to the Lebanese but also to people of many other nationalities who study there and learn and explore the God of Love during daily chapel services.
Read MoreFrom 1975 to 1990, civil war raged in Lebanon, causing enormous destruction. As a result, countless families were torn apart, and many children were forced to search the streets for food and usable materials. Increasing social conflicts and rising criminality among unprotected children eventually led to the establishment of Home of Hope (HOH) in 1999 as the first Lebanese institution to care for street children. HOH is part of the Lebanese Evangelical Society, which runs several schools including one for children with special needs.
Read MoreBy Lois Andrews, Trustee-elect, who was in Lebanon this summer and spent two days at Home of Hope
It was my privilege and great honor to spend extra days at the Home of Hope in Beirut, Lebanon during a visit of women from The Outreach Foundation attending the Women’s Conference at Dhour Chouier. This compassionate abode is the home of twenty-four children who reside full-time under the vision and direction of Rev. Linda Maktaby, run by the Lebanese Evangelical Society, and joyfully supported by The Outreach Foundation.
Read MoreA timeline of history from a Beirut seminary
PAST
On The Outreach Foundation’s October visit to Lebanon (and on into Syria), we stopped by to visit our beloved partner, N.E.S.T. As always, President George Sabra made time for us, and we got caught up over the little cups of Arabic coffee which seem to be perpetually “on tap” in the faculty lounge. As no one in our group was making their first visit, we did not need to tour the facilities. But I did have a special request, mindful that most of our team was unaware of a “treasure” tucked away in the library here: the translation papers of Dr. Cornelius Van Dyke (1818-1895), a Presbyterian missionary who completed the translation of the Bible into Arabic (from the Hebrew and Greek). That translation is still the most used and beloved one throughout the Middle East.
We spent the morning at the Home of Hope Beirut, a ministry of the Lebanese Evangelical Society, which also oversees Blessed School. The words “home” and “hope” are linked together here in the most blessed way. Home of Hope is a one-of-a-kind ministry in the densely packed city of Beirut and its surrounding area. Abused children – sexually, physically, emotionally – who have been living on the streets, many trafficked, are placed by court order in their loving hands. There are currently nineteen here, ages 7-18.
Trauma is something we have seen before here, usually from visiting refugee camps. This is trauma at a whole other level. The stories we heard here have shaken us to the center of our beings.
Read MoreA team from The Outreach Foundation (Jack Baca, Julie Burgess, Mark Mueller, Nuhad Tomeh, Marilyn Borst) just returned from a 2-week journey to Lebanon, our first post-pandemic trip. We traveled to encourage our partners there who have been through so much over the past 19 months: a collapse of their government and the economy; the pandemic and its necessary lockdowns; the cataclysmic explosion in the port of Beirut on August 4th which left over 200 dead, 6,500 injured and 300,000 homeless. After the explosion, thanks to our generous donors, we were able to wire funds to the National Evangelical Synod of Syria and Lebanon within 48 hours and they began handing out food vouchers to residents near the port. Their outreach soon “morphed” to assist families in making repairs to flats and apartments in densely populated neighborhoods within a mile of the port. We were blessed to visit with several of those families….
The brand new door was ajar and awaiting our arrival (the old door had been blown away by the explosion in the port). We caught a glimpse of a picture of Jesus on the wall within and noticed a sign on the door. It announced that tailoring services could be found here, and soon we would meet that tailor/seamstress, Jacqueline, who lived here with her special needs sister, Lodi.
Read MoreBy God’s grace, the GROW Center (part of the Philemon Project, a legal Christian Lebanese NGO) has weathered the storms of revolution, economic crisis, disaster, and the COVID-19 pandemic. We are still able to provide children with a God-centered experience by giving them a safe, warm, and welcoming climate in which to explore, grow, thrive, and develop.
We wanted to introduce two of our key staff members and share some of their thoughts with you. They have led the project through Lebanon’s many challenges over these past months.
Mireille, GROW manager: “This year was so challenging for us as Lebanese citizens. But despite all the bad circumstances, we are grateful for God’s blessings. When the blast at the Beirut port happened, all the GROW students who live close to the port were safe. God protected them and protected the staff as well.
Read MoreIn the aftermath of the August 4 explosion at the port of Beirut, your generous gifts have helped our partners to, literally, put things back together again in their places of learning like the Near East School of Theology (seminary training Presbyterian pastors), Haigazian University (Armenian Evangelical), Blessed School (for autistic children) and Philemon Preschool (for low-income kids). Repairs were made in the church sanctuaries of Rabieh Church (Presbyterian) and the National Evangelical Church (Presbyterian/Congregational), within sight of the port. Grants to ministries that serve refugees (Our Lady Dispensary and Together for the Family) provided a lifeline for those who were already living “on the edge.”
Read MoreIn Beirut, on August 4, an explosion at the port rocked the city…we all watched, almost in real-time, as social media captured the cataclysm and it went viral in minutes.
The effect upon a fragile, densely packed city – already reeling from street protests, a collapsed economy, and a pandemic – was stunning:
170 dead
6,000 wounded
300,000 homeless
With ministry partnerships that are both deep and wide, The Outreach Foundation was in touch with our “family” there within hours. Within a day, we had launched the Beirut Compassion fund to raise resources for their recovery as well as their outreach to others, and that very same day, your gifts began to arrive in our office. Within 48 hours, we had made an initial wire of funds.
Read MoreIn Beirut, on August 4, at around 6 pm local time, an explosion at the port rocked the city. Within minutes, videos of a huge fire, followed by a deafening “boom” and a massive mushroom cloud--spewing toxins--went viral around the world. Within hours, international news media was capturing the aftermath of destruction and chaos.
Anyone who watched the disaster was horrified by the scale and impact of this cataclysm, playing out a world away, even if they had had no prior connection to Lebanon. Our collective humanity was deeply impacted. But for The Outreach Foundation, what unfolded in Beirut---and continues to unfold --- is deeply “personal” as we have nurtured and been blessed by partnerships there which go deep and wide. (Were it not for the pandemic, we would have had an Outreach team in Lebanon at this moment).
Read MoreFuture generations will no doubt look upon 2017 as a historic year for the churches and societies of the Middle East, especially for the Near East School of Theology. Two of NEST’s alumnae were ordained in the Presbyterian Church of Syria and Lebanon, known as the National Evangelical Synod of Syria and Lebanon. Rola Sleiman (‘97) was ordained in the Tripoli congregation on February 27, and Najla Kassab (’87) was ordained in the Rabiyeh congregation on March 24.
NEST community members, faculty, and students were in attendance at both ordinations. We are proud of these alumnae who became pioneers of women’s full ministry in the Protestant churches of the Middle East. Along with a being proud of our graduates, we are also overwhelmed and gratified by their success.
For years, our seminary has been promoting women’s full ministry in the church, including ordination; for years, our faculty has taught and supported and argued for women’s ordination, and now it has become a reality.
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