As we seek to engage followers of Christ in His mission in Syria and Lebanon, The Outreach Foundation continues in partnership with the National Evangelical Synod of Syria and Lebanon (NESSL). This July three Outreach board members, Nancy Fox, Lois Andrews, and Lisa Culpepper traveled to Beirut to visit partners and attend the annual Women’s Conference in Dhour Choueir, Lebanon.
Read MoreTogether for the Family’s Executive Director Izdihar Kassis recently shared this news:
Together for the Family currently serves more than 1,700 families who were affected by February’s earthquake. During our visits to devastated areas in Aleppo and Latakia, we noticed that many children have no shoes or toys. So, in addition to providing food and blankets, we decided to provide them with shoes and toys! It was also a great time to share and pray with children and adults.
Read MoreOn February 6, 2023, the world woke to the news of a devastating earthquake in Syria and Turkey. We all watched reports from the field indicating the region was in dire need of help. The Outreach Foundation responded quickly (within 24 hours) by establishing the Middle East Earthquake Relief Appeal which has generated widespread support from our donor base.
Read MoreOn February 6, an earthquake in Turkey and Syria measuring 7.8 magnitude was followed later that same day by an aftershock of 7.5.
The numbers are staggering:
the area of destruction is equal to the size of the state of Texas
the death toll in Turkey and Syria has reached 46,000
5.3 million have lost their homes
12.4 million people in Syria are now food insecure
The mobilization of the Church in Syria was swift.
Read MoreCrossing the mountains from Latakia brought us to the old city of Hama. A warren of tightly packed streets led us to the unobtrusive front door of the National Evangelical Church, founded in 1869. This was the first visit for all of us.
Stepping through the front door, we entered a courtyard where the ghosts of laughter and children playing seemed to surround us. The church operated a highly respected school here in Hama for many years until it was closed by the government in the late 1960s. The old classrooms are gathering dust today, but it does not take much to imagine this place filled with life.
Read MoreThe situation “on the ground” is pretty grim — both Syria and Lebanon are in the midst of economic collapse. Our major partner in both countries is our Presbyterian family, the National Evangelical Synod of Syria and Lebanon. It is hard to get a grasp on the “direness” of the context in which the Synod churches do ministry but these sobering assessments from the World Bank may help:
Read MoreThey will know we are Christians by our love…
After two years of a shutdown, begun by protests over government corruption and then continued because of the pandemic, it gave me much joy to see two of the four reopened schools for refugee children on my recent trip to Lebanon!
On the outskirts of the large city of Zahle is the small village of Kab Elias. The National Evangelical Synod of Syria and Lebanon has had a small church and a school there for over 100 years.
Read MoreMathilde and Firas, two bondservants of Christ Jesus, were sent to shepherd God’s people in the Al-Hasakeh Governorate in the far northeastern corner of Syria. This tip of the country is bordered by Turkey in the north, the Tigris in the northeast, Iraq in the southeast, and the Euphrates in the southwest. It is a contested region, forgotten by much of the world, where Turkey has annexed a swath of the north and the Kurds have declared it an autonomous region. It is to this impossibly difficult region that Mathilde, Firas, and their families were called.
Read MoreIn late October, I led a team from The Outreach Foundation to Lebanon and then into Syria to meet with our partners, especially the congregations and leaders of the National Evangelical Synod of Syria and Lebanon. During the intense 9 days we spent in Syria we were able to visit 7 congregations and all 16 of the pastors and seminarians who are leading these congregations. One of the team, Rev. Mike Kuhn, recounts the time we spent in the south of Syria, not far from the border with Jordan.
Marilyn Borst, Associate Director
“Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”
One imagines the gospel writer’s knowing smile as he records Nathaniel’s question. The place one is from inevitably leaves its imprint on the soul and destiny. Occasionally, the stigma of origin is overcome by the power and beauty of the person, much as Jesus upended Nazareth’s sketchy reputation.
Read MoreAfter a two-year hiatus (first necessitated by political upheaval and then by the pandemic), the National Evangelical Synod of Syria and Lebanon has been able to open their 4 schools for Syrian refugee children. This one, in Tripoli, started at the end of October with 65 children in four classes but will expand when they are able to hire an additional teacher. There are already many children on a waiting list.
As the principal, Dominique Nazha (l), and Rev. Rola Sleiman (r), pastor of the Presbyterian Church there explained to me on my recent visit, most of the families of these kids fled from the area around Homs, Syria, and few had ever been to school. So, even 10-year-olds may be learning the alphabet or writing their names for the first time. Dominque “broke down the statistics” of the older class of children who are 9 or 10: in a class of 13, only 2 knew the alphabet, a few could write their names, but most were completely illiterate. In a “normal” school these children would automatically be placed into the 4th or 5th grade based upon their age – where they would likely fail. But here, there is no shame in being behind and each student is attended to according to their learning needs.
Read MoreThe Family Oasis
Twelve years passed and I never gave up on this dream: Together for the Family needs a permanent center for its various activities after all our years of renting land and putting up temporary structures. Perhaps it was more wishful thinking than even a dream! Who could afford to pay for a property? With the global crisis that the world is facing, who would think to help us buy a piece of land in Lebanon? Those who know me well will understand that I do not easily give up my dreams!
I shared my dream with several friends and, in June, sent an appeal to all our partners after we found an appropriate piece of land for an exceptional deal. One of our partners is a dear sister, Dr. Sharon Ayabe, who visited us a couple of times, coming all the way from Hawaii. In June Sharon’s sister, Cheryl suddenly passed away. Cheryl loved Jesus and others - especially children and families. In life, she was gentle and generous. Sharon and her dad experienced unending sorrow until the Lord lifted their heads and dried their tears with the idea of the Family Oasis! It would be a place for the expanded and consolidated ministry of Together for the Family where everyone who enters it would surely find comfort, love, peace, and a better future. They began giving and raising funds to purchase the land. The major bulk of funding for the purchase was raised by Sharon and her dad and others joined in as well. In no time the long-awaited dream became a reality!
Read MoreNajwah and Nahla are leaders in the Presbyterian Church in Homs, Syria. Like so many of our family-by-faith in Syria, they are eagerly anticipating the completion of their Retreat Center which will serve the Church to equip and encourage, provide rest and restoration, gather in for study and reflection, and send out for mission and ministry. Several years ago, The Outreach Foundation pledged to help the National Evangelical Synod of Syria and Lebanon fulfill its vision to create, in Syria, what already existed in Lebanon at Dhour Schweir – a retreat and conference center that would not only serve their congregations but also the larger Christian community.
With 50 double rooms, each with a private bath, and a large conference hall, it will soon be filled with youth groups, families, women’s conferences, and much more. It will have stunning views of the peaceful, rolling hills which make up this “Christian Valley” not far from the border with Lebanon, and it will be part of the small town of Amar al-Husn with its own Presbyterian Church.
Read MoreWhere is God in the Midst of Suffering?
The question has been asked since the beginning of time. Theologians have been quick to write their responses. The Bible gives its “Emmanuel” answer. Still, the question announces itself seemingly not fully satisfied with our words or our thoughts.
The question was asked again of me as our team visited a refugee school operated by the Synod of Syria and Lebanon near the Syrian border, only two hours by car north of Beirut. Upon arriving at the school and hearing from its leadership that question announced itself loudly.
Where is God in the midst of this suffering?
Read MoreA team from The Outreach Foundation (Jack Baca, Julie Burgess, Mark Mueller, Nuhad Tomeh, and Marilyn Borst) made a 2-week journey to Lebanon in late May. The National Evangelical Synod of Syria and Lebanon made it possible for us to visit many of their churches. Two of those visits are highlighted here (Aalma Ech-Chaab and Sidon) by Julie Burgess.
Encouragement
Coming back from Aalma Ech-Chaab after worshipping there, I struggled for a way to frame our Sunday. But then it came to me from Mark’s sermon about Barnabas, from Acts 4:32-36. As Mark explained it so eloquently, pausing as Nuhad translated into Arabic for this sweet congregation, Barnabas was patient with Paul, positive toward Paul, and persistent for Paul, and saw the potential in everyone. These characteristics define an encourager, and of course, Barnabas’ name means “son of encouragement.”
Read MoreIn this broken world, 1 out of every 95 people has been forced to flee their home---and many cannot go back. Let that sink in….
In round numbers, lives displaced by manmade disasters (like war) or natural ones (like volcanoes) are 82.4 million: that is slightly less than the entire population of Germany…. or more than 4 times the population of the Netherlands. Need to bring that a bit closer to home? Think the citizens of California + Texas + Ohio running for their lives.
Some flee to other parts of their own country---we call them “displaced.” If they cross borders, they become “refugees.” Within both groups, 50% are children.
Read MoreFresh. It is a word we hear on a daily basis on our travels around Lebanon and in our visits with Outreach partners here. It modifies the word “money.” Fresh money. It is the money that comes to you after the economic crisis began in Lebanon many months ago. If you want old money, the money you deposited and saved in your bank account, you will be found at a loss. Dollars in the bank are restricted for withdrawals, and if you do withdraw them, you will get back the Lebanese equivalent at the old rate, thereby losing up to 90% of their value. Fresh money, especially for an NGO like many of the partners here, becomes a new lifeline.
Not wanting to dwell in such a hard place, let us make a list of the more joyful ways we think of for the word fresh, and I think in the listing you will discover what we found: God is still making all things new – fresh.
Read MoreOf Peppers and Praise
For as the earth brings forth its growth, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring up amongst the nations… Isaiah 61:11
Spring is here and many of us are delighted to anticipate the planting of our gardens. I live in an urban townhouse but my small balcony allows for a long, narrow planter that will soon be overflowing with basil, thyme, and rosemary. If your context is suburban, fast-growing zucchinis and tomatoes are likely in your plans. Have a bit of acreage? Sweet corn and lettuce will enliven your summer picnics' enjoyment, no doubt.
Garden analogies, like the one from Isaiah, are quite numerous in Scripture because this was the ubiquitous context for the original audience. In fact, the book of Genesis had not even completed its second chapter before God is planting a garden and dropping “man” in it to tend to it. But what is a “hobby” for us can be life-sustaining for others. Recently, our major partner in Lebanon---the National Evangelical Synod of Syria and Lebanon---wrote to ask for help in funding a project which would assist 250 middle-class families from their congregations in Lebanon in planting vegetable gardens because they could no longer afford the cost of food. This once thriving nation had been brought to the verge of economic collapse by a convergence of the pandemic, government corruption, and the explosion in the port of Beirut last August.
Read More…as you have done it for the least of these, you have done it for me…
Since December of 2015, The Outreach Foundation has been a partner with a “hands-on” outreach in Lebanon that helps Syrian refugee mothers care for their newborns. Together, For the Family (TFF), led by its Executive Director, Izdihar Kassis, started this ministry upon realizing the dire need of parents to care for their newborn babies while living in tent camps.
Izdihar shares this reflection:
The poor living conditions and the inability of the parents to provide basic necessities for their newborn babies motivated us to address this matter.
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