Lebanon #10: Hospitality and Hope
Hospitality and Hope
Renata Dennis, for the team
North Avenue Presbyterian Church, Atlanta, GA
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. Romans 12:12-14.
The day started with these verses and a devotion – the call to enter into the affliction (translated suffering) of our brothers and sisters in Lebanon as a spiritual discipline. We have been overwhelmed by their hospitality and yet paradoxically it’s our presence that gives them hope.
I will admit that today’s visit to “Together for the Family,” a holistic ministry to refugees in the Beqaa Valley, is what sold me on this trip. I know the Women’s Retreat is a highlight of the two weeks in Lebanon, but I had a connection with the Kassis Family, and relationship is everything. Izdihar Kassis, and her husband, Rev. Dr. Riad Kassis, spent a short sabbatical in Atlanta, Georgia, about 10 years ago and attended my church, North Avenue Presbyterian while there. I clearly remember Izdihar standing in the pulpit, telling us of her vision for ministry among Syrian refugee women and children and it touched my heart. I was so excited to see the ministry site on our itinerary.
We left our hotel this morning through the streets of Beirut and then climbing over mountain passes until the Beqaa Valley lay before us. What lay before us was a compound of neatly organized shipping containers with plenty of green space between them. We were invited into the main assembly area to find a room full of moms and babies! As a nurse (with years of experience in pediatrics), this warmed my heart. It looked like a clinic scene out of the British TV show, “Call the Midwife.” They were just completing formula distribution for these mom-baby pairs. We got a chance to say hello and delight in the faces of proud moms with their beautiful babies.
Once settled, Izdihar gave us a brief history of the ministry. She founded Together for the Family in 2006. She wanted a ministry based on people’s needs and didn’t want to just distribute food. They found a property in the valley near the refugee camps that they cleared and had concrete placed as foundation. They were renting for a while, and ironically, were able to buy the property outright because of the collapse of the financial system in Lebanon – land suddenly became cheap. Her husband’s salary and her funding came in U.S. dollars. They had saved $25,000 and the price tag was $150,000. A supporter from Hawaii asked how she could pray, and they trusted God together for the rest of the money. After 2 months, $130,000 was raised! The site that we saw today was completed only 6 months ago.
Some statistics: the ministry serves 200 people per day, including 80 kids; there are 32 staff members plus volunteers and interns. There are 18 different projects going on at any time: music lessons, basic school courses, sewing classes (basic and advanced), carpentry, electronics, beauty school and art classes. A doctor and a dentist are on site. They have been gifted with a piece of land adjacent to their current property to build a medical clinic. Both the property and the soon-to-be-built facility are completely paid for, but on hold due to current financial restrictions. However, the ministry has foreseen the need for nursing staff and is now holding a nursing assistant course for young women (this RN just loves this!).
Bible studies are held (and more have been requested) for those who are interested. One 20-year-old woman on staff told us of how she came to faith, and how she now has hope. She arrived during the Syrian war 8 years ago. Since then, her entire family has come to faith. She is married and has a son. Her husband is Muslim. She still wears the hijab, but indicated it is no sacrifice compared to the one Jesus made for her. Please remember to pray for K and her family. We also met Yazmina, an art apprentice to Izdihar, who created lovely pieces of folk art available in the gift shop.
After our goodbyes at the ministry site, we went to lunch at an outdoor café and were then invited to the Kassis home for a coffee break. Greeted by a troop of happy dogs (and it looked like one long-suffering cat), we sat on the open balcony and heard the story of how they met. Izdihar told how she gave God a two-day ultimatum to be introduced to the man she would marry and Riad asked her (she instantly accepted) with a few hours remaining! God has richly used this dynamic ministry duo in Lebanon, Syria, and beyond.
In our parting, Riad said this to me: “Arab Christians feel isolated. We are misunderstood by other Arabs and (American) Christians. It is an encouragement to us that you have taken the time and effort to come and visit us. It gives us hope.”
There it is again. Paul’s guidance to the Church in Rome to be joyful in hope, despite affliction. What a deep honor our brothers and sisters here in Lebanon have bestowed on us.
