Near East School of Theology - December 2021 Update
Beirut, Lebanon
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. (Not unlike the reverence many of us English-speakers have for the King James translation). I was especially “keen” to revisit those precious documents because, earlier in the visit, I had brought a few of my team to a place I had longed to see in Beirut but had never made time to do so: the Anglo American Cemetery. In this hallowed ground are the graves of early missionaries to this region, all legends of sacrifice and service, like Dr. Van Dyke.
PRESENT
But N.E.S.T. is not a just a museum of mission history, it is an incubator for leadership to serve the Church in these sometimes-challenging places, and I was delighted that fellow-traveler Julie Burgess and I were reunited with a friend who is about to complete his studies and be sent into Syria to serve our Presbyterian family there: George Shammas. Julie and I had first met George in his home church in Aleppo and have “followed” him over the years. We are eager to see how George will live into his call to ministry there.
FUTURE
While in Syria, our team met up with five recent N.E.S.T. graduates who are working hard to build a vibrant future for the Presbyterian Church in Syria. One of those graduates is Yousef Kasho. In 2017, our Outreach team was worshipping in the Presbyterian church in Latakia on a cold January Sabbath. Yousef, who was then in his first year at N.E.S.T., was home to see his family, and over coffee in the fellowship hall, retired Outreach Executive Director Rob Weingartner was chatting with Yousef and his mom. Rob encouraged Yousef in having responded to God’s call to ministry, even though this meant that Yousef had left a potentially-more-lucrative career in IT to go to seminary. (Yousef’s mom expressed a bit of “bafflement” having sent him to university to study computers and now he wanted to be a pastor?!?!?)
Since that “chilly chat” in Latakia, Yousef has completed his studies, married Sandra, and is now the father of a beautiful baby boy named Eden. As is the trajectory for all seminary graduates who are under the care of the National Evangelical Synod of Syria and Lebanon, Yousef would spend several years in different contexts of ministry to receive “on-the-job training” and be mentored by a seasoned pastor. He is currently in Damascus, under the supervision of Rev. Boutros Zaour, and that is where we met up with Yousef on this recent trip. He is not only teaching children and leading the youth groups in the Damascus church, but he is responsible for a new “church plant” in one of the densely-packed, working-class suburbs of the city, a place called Jeremana. We were able to participate in that regular Friday night worship service and see Yousef “in action.”
The Near East School of Theology is a strategic part of Church history – and Church reality – in the region. May they continue to both preserve and perpetuate the legacy of Christ’s Kingdom there until “every knee bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord.”
Joyfully,
Marilyn Borst
Associate Director for Partnership Development
Read more about the Near East School of Theology HERE.
THE OPPORTUNITY
The Outreach Foundation is seeking gifts to support the mission and ministry of NEST. All gifts of any size are welcomed for student scholarship support and general seminary operations. You may make a gift HERE or by sending a check to our office.