Lebanon #7: Fresh
“And he who was seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’ Also he said, ‘Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.'”—Revelation 21:5 (ESV)
Fresh. It is a word we hear on a daily basis on our travels around Lebanon and in our visits with TOF partners here. It modifies the word “money.” Fresh money. Coming from a printing family, I imagine they are speaking of freshly printed banknotes, the ones that come easily from the ATM when we insert our plastic cards and punch in our PINs.
But fresh money here is something different. 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. If you want them in dollars that you can exchange for this new inflated unofficial rate, you are out of luck. Your money sits in stasis, losing value no matter what you do. Fresh money, especially for an NGO like many of the partners here, becomes a new lifeline. This money in some complicated way that we cannot understand is available and at a much more favorable rate.
So fresh, like many words today, has been given a new, less attractive meaning. 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 did today: God is still making all things new – fresh. His word is trustworthy, and it is true.
We began our day with a drive to the Bekaa Valley. Upon arrival in the Zahle region, we went to the Sarah House campus of Together For the Family, a multi-pronged ministry run by our dear sister Izdihar Kassis, that is serving around 100 Syrian refugee families in this area. It would take an encyclopedia to describe all that is done here, but let us go with this. A campus that two years ago consisted of two buildings, has grown into a small community. In one there is a dental clinic operating in the morning hours every day, serving five-six children. Dr. Somer says after the children get their teeth cleaned, their smiles open wide showing their beautiful teeth. Fresh faces.
On this campus, there are three classrooms, each seating eight students at desks with COVID precautions for distancing, with two shifts per classroom. There is a woodworking/carpentry workshop training twelve boys in two shifts, and making marvelous works as they learn new skills. Fresh ideas.
There is so much to tell, like I said, I would need an encyclopedia, so let us move from Zahle to Kerbet Khanafer, a bit farther to the south. Looking across the Litani River from here, you can see the Syrian border and snow on the Golan Heights. But we came to sit with the Aboud family: Rev. Tony, his wife Ramak, and their children Elias and Elena. Such a gifted family, we sat in the church as they led us in worship songs in English and Arabic. Following this exquisite reminder that through all of this life we raise our praise to the giver of all freshness, we headed for lunch along the river. A constant reminder that this country is in economic freefall (fresh money, remember?), we had an entire restaurant to ourselves. But concentrating on the amazing Lebanese food that refreshed our tired minds and bodies, we enjoyed the breeze blowing in from the open windows. Fresh air.
Saying goodbye to the Aboud family, we headed back to Zahle, to the other campus of TFF, where mothers had gathered to attend the graduation of their children from the three-month school program. There was pomp. There was circumstance. There was cake and diplomas and gifts. And more than that, there was singing. Kids and moms together raised their voices in a familiar refrain: Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so.
You may pause here for tears like the ones that flowed from Marilyn’s eyes, as you know that these are Syrian Muslim families that are served in this place. Jesus loves me, this I know. And they have learned this, too. A fresh new day.
What will be fresh for them going forward? None of us can know what the future will bring for these families and children, and indeed, if we stop and dwell there, we can get stuck there. What we do know and are humbled and proud to celebrate, is that God is using Together For the Family to make something new, something fresh, in this place at this time. He said it. It is true. We can trust it. Here I stand, and cannot be moved.
Please continue to pray for Together For the Family, a longtime partner of The Outreach Foundation, for Izdihar, her staff, and her board, and that their coffers will be replenished with fresh money to continue the good work that God has started.
Julie Burgess, for the team