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'They Know We Are Christians'
Lebanese Christian compassion impresses Muslims during
bloody conflict.
By Dale Gavlak in Beirut, Lebanon, and Amman,
Jordan
September 28, 2006
Shortly after the recent Israel-Hezbollah war broke
out, Riad Kassis, the head of the J. L. Schneller School, a 146-year-old
evangelical Christian institution in West Beqaa, Lebanon, wrote an
internet commentary appealing to Western readers: "Imagine being forced
to suddenly leave your home. Imagine that you do not know when you will
return home and are unsure whether you will find a heap of rubble
instead of a sweet home."
The subsequent conflict killed 1,300 Lebanese and 160 Israelis, and
wounded thousands more. But after missiles and rockets stopped in
August, Lebanese Christians realized the bloody conflict had renewed
their deep commitment to the displaced. Habib Badr, pastor of the
National Evangelical Church and perhaps Lebanon's most recognizable
evangelical, told Christianity Today that his church's four schools took
in 1,000 refugees. "We hope we were good witnesses of the love of God to
those displaced." Dozens of Christian congregations in Lebanon welcomed
displaced people and others in Jordan and Syria provided aid.
On the Spiritual Offensive
Lebanese Christians, during and after the conflict, opened their lives
in an unprecedented way. Nabil Costa, who heads the Lebanese Society for
Educational and Social Development, said, "This war was like a wake-up
call. It completely changed our agenda and showed us that God has a
different vision for us."
"When the war started, at first we complained about our summer
vacation," Costa admitted. "As things got more serious, we asked: How
could this be happening when Lebanon was finally booming after years of
civil war and Syrian domination?"
Costa said that although he and other evangelicals in Lebanon were
taught they ought to love everyone, they felt they had been looking
mainly after themselves until the massive influx of Shiite refugees
caused them to look beyond their own needs.
"All of a sudden, we had refugees from different religions in our homes,
our schools, and our institutions. Of course, Muslims have always
studied in our schools, but this was different. We fed hundreds day and
night, set up bathrooms and showers, provided everything from A to Z for
them," he explained.
About 1,000 of the displaced were housed in the Beirut Baptist Center
near downtown Beirut, while Christian volunteers visited people daily at
shelters, including five camps in Mansourieh, near Beirut.
Eli Haddad, provost of the Arab Baptist Theological Seminary, worked
alongside Costa in relief operations. He said, "We suddenly found
ourselves in the middle of a huge crisis with nothing prepared.
"It would have been natural to run or hide. But we were challenged to go
on the offensive—not militarily or politically, but spiritually and on
humanitarian grounds."
Twice daily, Christians gathered for prayer and worship at the
Mansourieh-based Baptist seminary. "We prayed for people by name," Costa
said, "and then went out into the different refugee sites to serve those
who had to leave everything behind."
Making a Difference—Together
Baptists worked alongside Church of God, Armenian Evangelical, Brethren,
Alliance, and Presbyterian leaders to reach as many of the needy as
possible. They found that it wasn't easy ministering to desperate people
who had lost everything.
The refugees expressed frustration with having to live with 30 to 40
strangers in a single room. "They were stuck with each other, and
sometimes they fought," Costa said.
"We helped them solve their problems," he added. "We earned credibility.
We didn't just bring food and water and say goodbye. We wanted to make a
difference in their lives." Besides offering relief, volunteers
listened, offered Christian-based entertainment, and provided
counseling.
Costa recounted a story involving a Baptist youth minister who met the
father of a 17-year-old Shiite youth killed in an Israeli air strike on
a southern Beirut suburb. During the burial ceremony, Israeli jets
attacked the funeral procession and sent mourners scurrying to safety.
Later, the father asked the youth minister, "Why are Christians helping
Muslims?"
The minister shared the story of the Good Samaritan and asked, "Who was
a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?"
The father responded, "The one who had mercy on him."
The youth minister then recited the words of Jesus in Matthew 5: "But I
tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that
you may be sons of your Father in heaven."
Touched, the father of the deceased boy said, "We have many Christian
friends. But we never knew that you have these teachings."
Overcoming Trauma
Seminary provost Haddad said the Holy Spirit also worked on the hardened
hearts of some Christians. "We served others that we never thought
possible," he said, "people we were brought up to hate."
"We built relationships, and we loved them and learned to trust," he
added. "We want this to continue. We plan to keep following up [with]
these people."
Christians were also among the suffering. Thirty congregants from a
church in the village of Deir Memos, about nine miles north of Israel,
sought shelter with the Baptists. One Sunday, displaced villagers of all
faiths were invited to join in prayer together. It was the first time
they had met in one church and prayed. The village is 80 percent
Christian and 20 percent Muslim.
The Schneller School in West Beqaa focused on helping children aged 15
and younger face the trauma of war. They distributed toys and invited
them to watch a feature film on a big screen. A psychologist was on hand
to help the children address their fears, deal with the stress from the
bombardment, and grieve for relatives killed.
Evangelicals, like Youth for Christ Lebanon director John Sagherian, and
other volunteers visited refugee centers in Beirut's southern suburbs to
play with Shiite kids. "We had the best time on the basketball court
with young boys and teenagers. We prayed that our love and smiles would
reflect him. They know that we are Christians."
But Kassis and other Lebanese evangelicals expressed concern that their
very witness as Christians in the Middle East may be undermined by
perceived Western, particularly American, evangelical support of Israel
and its military actions against Hezbollah and Hamas.
"We evangelical Christians are working for peace and reconciliation in
our land—also for understanding and tolerance. This war has shaken us to
pieces. I was shocked to see some of our American brothers and sisters
supporting Israel's disproportionate response," Kassis said.
"The father of one of our students, a 10-year-old Shiite girl, was
shredded into pieces by a bomb that exploded at a mosque. How can I say
to that girl that many evangelicals in the U.S. support what Israel is
doing?" he said. "We are in a very hard position because of the killing
of so many civilians."
"We support the war on terror, but it seems to be mixed with other
things," Kassis said. "These other situations must be addressed
separately. This was our problem here."
YFC's Sagherian said the situation in Lebanon and the Middle East is
complex. He urged evangelicals in the West to realize that "there is an
active evangelical church in the Middle East which needs prayer,
understanding, and support."
No Hope Lost
If the conflict has provided any benefit, it has offered Christians a
fresh chance to bring about lasting change. Baptist coordinator Costa
said overseas Christians provided $130,000 to aid local relief efforts
for Lebanon's displaced, while evangelicals in neighboring Jordan nearly
matched that amount.
Nabil Shehadeh, who manages the Jordanian Evangelical Committee for
Relief and Development, said the aid, which was raised by the Assemblies
of God and other evangelical churches, was disbursed among six
evangelical churches in Lebanon. "This aid was not meant only for
Christians. It helped those displaced from the south, mainly Shiites. We
want to minister to all these people," Shehadeh said.
Schneller School director Kassis pledged that Lebanese Christians would
carry on their witness despite the difficulties.
"The psalmist writes: 'If the foundations be destroyed, what can the
righteous do?' [Psalm 11:3]. My response to him is: The righteous do not
lose hope," Kassis said. "The righteous will rebuild the foundations
again. The righteous will work hard to let the displaced feel at home
even away from home. The righteous will continue to build a destroyed
nation and to uplift the broken souls. We will build the foundations of
Lebanon again.
"By God's grace we will have, in the near future, a sweet, sweet home
for every Lebanese!" ~ Copyright © 2006 Christianity Today.
Journalist Dale Gavlak is based in Amman, Jordan.
SOURCE:
Christianity Today
October 2006, Vol. 50, No. 10, Page 130
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