Let Us Experience More Than a Sufferari: personal thoughts on approaching displaced communities

It is interesting how some people engage with suffering.  I am not talking about those who endure suffering, but rather those who engage other people’s suffering.  We have no shortage of suffering in Lebanon at the moment; the Syrian Civil War has left millions displaced into horrific conditions of vulnerability and insecurity.  Many refugees have taken residence in tent settlement communities throughout the country.  These makeshift accommodations offer rudimentary living conditions that are deficient in space, water, sanitation, electricity and protection from the elements.  Many other refugees have sought refuge in urban centers where provisions and security are often elusive and sparse.  To experience the challenges of forced displacement is to experience a very real and pungent form of suffering.  Yet for some outsiders, an experience is exactly what they want.

Many are mobilizing to help the victims of the Syrian Civil War, the greatest humanitarian disaster of the 21^st century.  Individuals, organizations and churches throughout the world are eager to be part of the response, and foreigners frequently travel to Lebanon to see the situation firsthand.  Oftentimes these outsiders are connected to local aid and relief organizations that are involved in various forms of relief and development initiatives among refugees.  These hosts, or guides, escort the visitors around the country and often budget time in the itinerary for a visit to refugee settlements and families.  I have begun calling this particular encounter a ‘Sufferari’ because of the way it bears a disturbingly similar resemblance to a Safari.  Here is how I (tongue firmly in cheek) see it playing out:

A group of foreigners and their local guide navigate the rugged landscapes in large vehicles to experience an ‘authentic’ encounter with refugees in their natural habitat (rural tent settlement communities are widely considered prime locale). Sometimes participants are content to merely observe from a safe distance; others prefer to personally engage with the refugee and experience the ‘real deal’ of displacement.  This usually involves entering a refugee family’s home and sitting on the floor while drinking small glasses of sweetened tea.  The guide will help navigate communication between the parties so that refugees can express in their own words how terrible it is to flee war and take refuge in another country. The foreigners may try to offer some uplifting words or simply sit quietly, listen and observe.   Oftentimes the displaced young will put on a lively display of energy, youthfulness and warmth, much to the delight of the tourists who find these little faces especially charming objects of photography.  After a short time, Sufferari participants return to their comfortable accommodations feeling as though they have tasted the bitterness of displacement misery.  Thoughts will be shared in emails and status updates, pictures will be posted abundantly on social media, and financial ties will be strengthened between outside parties and local organizations.  Meanwhile the refugees remain. Their suffering drags on.

The Sufferari is by no means limited to visiting displaced Syrians; one can travel the world in search of casual encounters with suffering.  Such recreation can take place in urban slums and shanty towns, official refugee camps, impoverished rural communities and many other areas of marginalization.  Celebrities, dignitaries and common-folk alike have found such excursions edifying.   I personally have been part of a number of Sufferari-like experiences, sometimes as a paying tourist, sometimes as a student and sometimes as a guide. 

One must ask, “Is such an activity wrong?”  I would not say so.  There is an unrelenting amount of suffering in this world; it is proper to be aware and exposed to the needs of others.  While one can learn much from news reports or correspondences with others involved in the situation, a personal experience continues to be the most powerful way of wrapping one’s mind around the realities facing the poor, the displaced and the oppressed.  Additionally, many relief, aid, and development organizations are dependent on outsider funding in order to provide support to those in need.  Arranging personal experiences is an effective way to profile services and engage donors.  Such activities often happen with good intentions, yet we must all look critically at our practices and examine their implications.

The question of a Sufferari is not “is this right or wrong?” but rather “is this consistent with how we normally approach another’s suffering?”  I strongly believe that we would never think of engaging with other forms of suffering the way we engage with displacement.  Could you imagine taking a guided tour of a cancer ward at a children’s hospital in order see for yourself the situation of children and their families fighting cancer?  How would feel about a group visiting a shelter for battered women and then posting pictures online of the people they met?  Would you ever be comfortable visiting a tornado-ravaged town in order to share a fifteen minute conversation and Coke with a family whose home lies in wreckage?  Clearly we would consider all these to be insensitive to individuals enduring very severe forms of suffering and loss.  Yet when it comes to the refugee, many do not seem to have an issue with casually approaching and displaying another’s traumatic form of suffering.

I am by no means advocating that we keep our distance from those in need.  We should not turn our eyes away from those who suffer; scripture is very clear that true faith requires an active concern for the poor and oppressed.  The more I personally engage with the phenomenon of displacement the more I see that this is a matter that God cares about, and so should His people.  Our challenge is then engaging with refugees in ways that do not ‘package’ their experience but rather uphold individual dignity.  The following are points to keep in mind to guard against Sufferari operations.

-          Do not objectify the refugee.  Yes, refugee status is a particular classification that denotes a specific situation, but we are all first and foremost individual people.  We should never present or define others by their current statuses.

-          Keep the individual, rather than the situation or circumstance, at the center of the relationship. This means we must ask the questions, “If this person were not a refugee, would I still care for her?  Would I still give her of my time, attention and resources?  Would I still be interested in visiting or bringing visitors to this home?”  If the question is no then we need to examine our own hearts and motivations.

-          Never include the distribution of money or aid with personal visits.  This sets an unhealthy precedent that can create many complications on various levels.

-          Avoid short in-and-out visits.  Do not make a refugee settlement or family simply another stop on a tour; be prepared to spend considerable time.  The purpose for such visits must be to make real, human connections with others, which cannot be achieved in a mere 30 minutes or less.  If you cannot afford to give quality time then it is probably better that you not go at all. 

-          Be very careful about posting pictures of refugee people and places on social media.  Never objectify suffering by making it a background for self-presentation and display.

-          Conduct visits only within the context of consistent, ongoing relationship.  For me this means only taking visitors to refugee families that I know personally.  These are individuals with whom I frequently share my life and occasionally take visitors to meet.  If we are not spending time with displaced individuals on our own then we should not spend time with these individuals while hosting visitors.

-          Finally, always consider how you would want others to interact with you if you were enduring an extreme type of suffering.  If you are not comfortable with having your own personal suffering on display then do not seek to display the personal suffering of others.

I cannot overstate the current need for healthy, holistic care for the many millions suffering displacement in Lebanon, the Middle East and throughout the world.  Each one must ask what role he or she can play in addressing this enormous need.  Nonetheless, we must be mindful of the implications our actions have on those we seek to help.  Do not allow the work of serving the poor, distressed and oppressed turn into a type of industry and never use another’s suffering as strategic means to professional ends.  All interaction with refugees must navigate complicated sensitivities in order to forge healthy, balanced relationships between individuals.  In summary, let us experience more than a Sufferari; let us experience authentic opportunities to honor others and uphold their God-given dignity in and through all situations.

Family Wedding

Last weekend we celebrated my cousin Ahmad’s marriage.  There is a lot I could say about a Bedouin Wedding, but it's better if I just show you.

The feast starts its preparations the night when the sheep and goats are slaughtered.

Cooking the lunch that will feed hundreds.

Signature Platters come with fully cooked sheep heads.  

Convoy of servers.

Special guests eat in the salon

The Bride and Groom

I guess we can call this the wedding party.

Father of the Groom.  He only has one son left to marry off.

Uncle Jed is in town to enjoy the celebration

A mother's joy

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The dancing goes on for hours.

Not all marriages start in the fast lane.

Sometimes Teaching...Always Learning

It is not uncommon to be taught by the children; quite often it is the younger showing the older what belief and faith truly looks like.  This has certainly been the case this past month. One of the boys I supervise faced a very challenging situation at the start of the new school year. He is born and been raised in Lebanon but is not Lebanese, which proved problematic as we (DEA administration) attempted to enroll him in secondary school. After taking into account a number of considerations, including finances, location, and academic performance, it was decided to place him in a nearby public school. Unfortunately that was not easy. As is well known, Lebanon has experienced unprecedented influx of foreigners in the past few years.  This increase has added to the already high rates of foreign residents in this little nation.  The impact of these developments is massive; institutions and services across the country are overwhelmed, including the public schools.  This year the government took a necessary step of restricting non-Lebanese from enrolling in public schools due to its inability to meet the high demand for classroom places.  That left our boy stuck.  I visited the public school no less than five times hoping to make an enrollment, and each time I was told, "it's not possible now, check back in a few days and we'll see if the government has changed the order." Each rejection brought the realization that the door may never open and we needed make other arrangements or else risk real possibility of losing a year of school.

The best solution seemed to be enrolling in a private school though this presented some complications as we struggled to find a school that met  our criteria.  Naturally geography limited our options as did the need for an English curriculum rather than French.  Unfortunately our budget cannot afford what most private schools charge and our boy did not meet the academic standards that many required.  The school search runaround was difficult for all, especially our boy as he watched doors close and prospects fade.  Being in limbo is hard for anyone, especially a young man who simply wants to continue his education and reach for his dreams.

I was personally quite pessimistic.  This nation is experiencing some big challenges and the little lives at DEA are quite insignificant in light of it all the big problems.  I understand that tough times call for tough measures; our boy isn't a refugee but he is a foreigner and that has significant ramifications in Lebanon at the present.  We care a lot for this boys regardless of their status, but I didn't expect others to.  I mistook being pessimistic with being realistic, and it took a young man to show me otherwise.

Throughout the whole experience our boy never lost hope. Yes, his spirits did drop at times, but then they would rise and he'd continue to talk about plans, ideas and aspirations for the year ahead in the yet-to-be-determined school.  He kept saying that thing we teach our boys over and over again, "God cares about me and I know He'll work everything out somehow." I didn't doubt this, but I did doubt it would work out the way we wished. In the end doubt is doubt.

Fortunately we have a director who isn't like me and who simply reminded our young man, "we don't give up on our boys."  The school search eventually led to a small and reputable evangelical school in Beirut.  Our case was shared and received favorably, but the principal was concerned about past academic performance and needed to do some inquiry about our young man to see if indeed the grades do not tell the whole story.  If our young man was to be accepted then he would be accepted on the account of grace.  A week went by until we heard the good news: Accepted!  Within minutes we were on our way down to the school (already two weeks in session) to register and buy uniforms and books.  Within moments the situation changed dramatically. Our boy now has a fine school that provides an ideal learning environment at a generously discounted tuition rate.

He never said it to me, but our young man would have been justified in telling me "I told you so."  It turns out that we at DEA aren't the only ones who care about little lives who need extra support in this country.  There are others too who put compassion above expectations and extend mercy rather than judgment. We are thankful for this particular school and the many others who support us as we support our children.  In this I’m reminded that we have a God who cares with a fatherly heart of mercy, compassion and love.  There is a big story being written, and it is a story of good.  His promises are not simply encouraging and sentimental, they are Truth.  Sometimes we need unlikely teachers to remind us of this hope.  Yes, our boys need to learn many, many things from this ministry, but so do I.

New School Year, New Students, Same Goal

This week kicked off another year at the New Horizons Center literacy program with a group of new students.  These children come from Lebanon’s most marginalized Gypsy and Bedouin communities.  Each of them faces extreme challenges that prevent an opportunity to experience formal learning; our program is perhaps their last chance to receive a basic education.  And basic it is.  The first week has been spent with practical lessons on washing hands, brushing teeth, sitting properly at a table, holding a pencil, walking in lines, understanding basic classroom rules, and other general items that are new to this group of first-time students.  By all measures it has been a great start with the children showing real excitement for their teachers and school.  We’re blessed to have such a committed and caring staff who truly love these young lives.

Our experience is revealing the impact the New Horizons Center has been making these past four years.  The new students are all relatives and fellow community members of former or continuing students, and it is easy to see positive influences have rubbed off on their conduct and attitude towards school.   Ultimately this is the goal of the center: to impact a few individuals so that they can rub off a positive impact on their community.  Through practical teaching and nurturing in Christ’s love we aim to see lives and communities transformed.  This year we hope to take the literacy program forward in different ways and implement initiatives that will work towards this goal.  It’s been a good start and we anticipate good things to come, not just for the year ahead but the generations ahead as well.

Sports Camp: Learning for the big and then the small

We are extremely blessed this week to have some excellent individuals join us at Dar El Awlad for a sports camp.  The heart and mind behind the program has been Alan and Tim from Northern Ireland and Charlie from Egypt.  They have helped coordinate clinics and activities for DEA home and school children as well as dozens of refugee children from the surrounding areas.  Overall, over 60 children have received top-notch coaching on football and, most importantly, living a life with God.  As valuable as the experience has been on the children, it has been even more helpful for staff and volunteers who are gaining firsthand experience on how simple sports camps and sessions can be to develop character in youth.  I’m confident that the training we are receiving will help us build on this camp long after our guests have gone.  It is encouraging to see how dynamic yet straightforward children’s ministry can be.  No doubt this week will continue to have meaningful impact on the ministry in the times ahead.  We’re so thankful for people who have passion to share their gifts with us here at DEA, and we thank God for friends like Alan, Tim and Charlie.

The Sports Camp Team

Getting coaching about what matters most

Volunteers like these guys demonstrated how much potential we have around us.

Camp Season Comes to a Close

Our summer camping season has come to a close.  Last weekend Ruth and I wrapped up the Christian Missionary Alliance Church teens camp after enjoying a great week of fellowship, teaching, and activities together.  This is the second camp I helped direct this summer and once again I was surrounded by a great team of leaders and campers.  The camp was held in the pristine Qadisha Valley of the north Lebanese, a mountain setting that has boasts some of the oldest churches and monasteries in the world.  It is the kind of scenery that alone can minister to our hearts in powerful ways.  We’re blessed to have such environments accessible. 

Throughout the week of camp we explored the theme of “Selfie.”  First we looked at God’s Selfie; how He is beyond our knowing and comprehension, yet in Jesus we have a selfie of what God ‘looks’ like. (Col. 1:15)  Secondly we discussed our Old Selfie and New Selfie and the transformation we experience in Christ’s redemption. (2 Cor. 5:17).  Then we thought about the Group Selfie, how God desires us to be part of His community of believers and agents of love to a hurting world.  (Mat. 5:13-16)  The camp was wrapped up with a reflection of how we can balance our Selfies by placing Christ in the center of all we are and do.  Hopefully the campers walked away with a whole new concept of the Selfie as they pondered the living God and experienced His love and grace.  We pray that the camp sustains the teens and the church youth ministry in their journeys of faith.  

The Camp Team

The view of the campsite at the appropriately named Beit Monzer 

Holding meetings under the tent.

Eggs breaking on heads...just has to be done in some way or form.


I recommend every camp include devotions at a 1600+ year old monastery.

 You cannot have a Selfie camp theme without having loads of Selfies!

The First Graduate

We experienced a milestone among relatives this past week; my cousin Ahmad became the first of our extended relatives to complete a university education.  The achievement is a result of significant endurance, devotion, and support from him and many others who help make this possible.  Ahmad’s Bedouin community in the Bekaa Valley of Lebanon suffers from severely low rates of education that have contributed to a cycle of poverty.  I recently did an ethnographic study on his particular community and found that of the estimated 800 individuals in the area only five have completed a Grade 9 education.   You can imagine how few university graduates the community boasts.  As a young boy Ahmad showed the desire and potential to continue in his studies, and my father committed to support him in his academic pursuits.  It was a long journey that had many bumps in the road, but he maintained on course until finally arriving a graduate.  The accomplishment is more than one young man receiving the tools to build a better future; it is about a marginalized community producing an example of the value and possibility of education.  I’m proud of my cousin and privileged to have journeyed with him on this road through university.  Unfortunately I could not attend the graduation ceremony, but I know the achievement will require more than a onetime celebration.  It’s a lift to my spirits to hear Ahmad with such thankfulness and gratefulness of the many people who have helped him reach his dreams.  Success is rarely an individual thing, and many of us are feeling good about this milestone! 

My Cousin Ahmad and Aunt Hamda.  She never had the chance to learn to read and write but now she can at least say she's the mother of a university graduate.

Camping Season! Round 1

It is surprising the things I get myself into when you say ‘Yes.’  Back in 2008 I was asked if I would help with the Youth for Christ (YFC) Lebanon summer camp, and I said ‘Yes.’  Since then I have volunteered each summer I’ve been available and enjoyed being part of a dynamic ministry doing excellent work.  Due to a number of circumstances this year, including expansion of camps and a birth in the National Director’s family, the senior camp was in need of a camp director.  I was approached about taking on the role.  In weighing the decision it was clear to me that I did not have the time, the creativity, and certainly not the experience to qualify me to direct.  Yet the need was there and someone believed in me, so I said ‘Yes.’  That was months ago, and since then I had a nervous feeling in my gut about planning and implementing a one-week event for many dozens of 15-19 year olds.  As it turns out, I need not have worried.

 

I knew from the start that there was a great team assembled to run this camp but they still managed to surprise me.  Many of them are friends and people I have served with before.   Others came with high report and praise.  As the planning stages proceeded I saw many individuals take initiative to assure that all the bases were covered.  I was hardly needed at all as people applied their creativity and crafted their portions of the camp.  When it came to camp week I simply found myself playing the role of conductor; I waived my hands and kept time as everyone executed their designed parts.  There were a few times when we needed a quick executive decision, yet even then it was a team effort that contributed to the outcome.  Overall I had people at all levels, from campers to helpers to leaders, doing their part and making my job as director as trouble-free as can be expected.

In the end it was a blessed time.  We were a total of 75 people, six days, and 0 hitches.  It was a week filled with fun and friendship, honesty and challenge, and life-changing decisions.  All of us involved were ministered to in some way or form as God revealed greater insight of His love and the great hope of a life in Christ.  We walk away from the camp with a lot to learn and areas for improvement, but the testimonies in the lives of the campers assure us that God was King of this camp and His grace is rich.

I’ll get another chance to lead a camp in August for the teens of our church and sister churches.  This time I’ll have Ruth with me as co-director, which automatically makes everything better for everyone!  I look forward to experiencing more of God’s faithfulness demonstrated in summer camp ministries.  It’s wonderful to have these opportunities to be part of the special things God is doing in Lebanon.  Experiences like these make me want to keep saying ‘Yes!”

Where have you been, Brent?

“Where have you been, Brent?”  That’s the question I heard frequently these past three weeks during the few moments I found myself at Dar El Awlad.  Starting in the middle of June I was daily occupied with activities at the nearby Arab Baptist Theological Seminary (ABTS).  For one week I attended the Middle East Consultation organized by the Institute of Middle East Studies (IMES), an annual conference gathers people from the region and world to explore faith topics relevant to the Middle East today.  This year’s consultation examined the topic discipleship in a way that raised questions, stimulated discussion challenged conventions, and inspired hope in the incredible ways Christ is revealing Himself across this region.  Visit this IMES blog post to hear more about this year’s conference.

Following the conference I immediately jumped into my fourth and final graduate school two-week residency with MRel.  During this course we have studied the important topic of Middle East and North African Christianity.  The Middle East is the birthplace not just of Christ but the global phenomena of Christianity.  Much to the surprise of many outsiders, the Church in the region has maintained a 2,000 year presence through the perseverance of the in ancient Eastern Churches.  The story of Christianity in the Middle East is one of faithfulness to Christ in the midst of incredible challenges, both from within and from without.  During the two-week residency we met with leaders from numerous traditions, discussed the dynamic narrative of Eastern Christianity, and visited monasteries, holy sites, and churches of different kinds.  Throughout the time we explored the rich traditions of Eastern Christianity and asked how we in the 21^st century can work in wisdom, humility and service to see God’s people united in faith. 

These three weeks have flooded me with so much information and experience; my heart and mind are in overdrive trying to process it all.  Both events, the consultation and the residency, have raised big questions about what it means to be the Church, what it means to be Christian, and what it means to follow Christ.  These are questions that many in the Middle East are wrestling with in a new way, and it was extremely worthwhile to consider these matters seriously.  Though the study took me physically away from DEA, it was very much relevant to what we are trying to do in this ministry.  We are part of a much bigger story here.  God has done amazing things in this region and He continues to do so. What an honor it is to be here and see mere glimpses of what is happening in God’s Kingdom.  Trust me, it is far more than any of us can understand.

Examining manuscripts at a Greek Catholic monastery.  One of these pieces is 700 year old.  Another is the first ever gospel printed in Arabic.

A Rum Orthodox monastery in the North of Lebanon

A Maronite monastery built into the mountainside.

Monk's quarters.

A cave now used as a chapel at the monastery where we spent an evening.  Caves in the mountains provided sanctuary for the Christian tradition during times of intense persecution. 

Year 1 in the record books

My first year at school has come to completion.  To celebrate our initial term together, the all of us at the New Horizons Center embarked on a special activity: a journey in the cable cars!  The boys and girls had never before imagined themselves suspended in the air, and we were all quite amused to see their nerves on edge as they drifted up from sea level to a mountain top.  It was a fitting conclusion to a challenging yet inspiring year.

The New Horizons Center experienced a number of setbacks with the children during the year.   Some left the program as they continued their nomadic heritage and traveled to other lands.  Others were sucked into the challenges of their communities and stopped attending the school.  It is heartbreaking to see these young lives lose a valuable opportunity and it is even harder to be unable to intervene.  Our comfort is in knowing that Christ’s hope which we shared with them over the past years is the hope that can reach them wherever life directs.

Despite the disappointments, there are many more reasons to celebrate a positive year.  The children made significant progress in their academics and behavior.  Exciting developments have taken shape in the program and new dynamics are being developed to help us better serve the communities. Most importantly, we've shared the joy of seeing young lives make personal decisions of faith.  

I must confess that I've done very little at the Center this year.  At least it feels this way.  My weekly trips have mainly consisted of taking care of a few administrative tasks, picking up small duties here and there, and sitting back and watching our great staff do what it does so well.  We've been blessed with a wonderful team of teachers; each one has taught me so much about ministry in this introductory year.  My understanding of the context has deepened and I've gained greater insight of the opportunities and challenges in front of us.  We have some ideas we hope to implement in the year ahead to make the program even more effective.

Although my mind has grown significantly over the course of the year at the New Horizons Center, it is my heart that has undergone the greatest change.  I confess that in my early weeks with the children it became quite apparent that I did not like them very much.  They were a challenge and I knew that I needed prayer that God would teach me to love.  Over the months a love has grown within me and I have come to see these lives with a softened heart. They truly are precious individuals with tremendous potential and courage.  Life has not been kind on them, but they possess a lively spirit that serves as great inspiration.  Their prayers have touched me deeply as I listened to them speak to God in a way that so sincere and authentic.  Each I have no doubt that it is God who is teaching these children, not us.  I look forward to a year ahead with new children, new strategies and new opportunities to take the center forward.  May God continue to direct us in his enduring faithfulness.

What's our Strategy?

“How do we respond to the greatest humanitarian crisis of the 21^st Century?”  That was the question in the back of our minds as staff from Kids Alive Lebanon sat down with our Global Director for two days of discussing our Five Year Strategic Plan.  The Strategic Plan meetings had a simple, yet not easy, objective: recognize where we currently are as a ministry, identify where we want to go, and explore the steps we can take to get there.  Even in ‘normal’ conditions this is a challenging process; nothing is ever straightforward or simple when it comes to serving at-risk children in any context.  The reality of the ongoing Syrian political crisis makes the challenges all the more daunting.

The three year bloody conflict in neighboring Syria has impacted Lebanon at nearly every political, social and economic level.  A real tragedy is that innocent children who are suffering the most.  The numbers are staggering: over 1 million official Syrian refugees in Lebanon (with many hundreds of thousands more unregistered), 2,500 new refugees registering with the UNHCR daily (over one person a minute!), and nearly a quarter of Lebanon’s population now consists of Syrian refugees.[i]  I live here and see the reality of this phenomenon daily yet I still cannot wrap my mind around the scale of the crisis.  Lebanon now has the highest concentration of refugees in the world!  Here’s a visual presentation of how much this situation is affecting the country:

It would be one thing if the Syrian refugee crisis were the lone urgent humanitarian situation we face.  Unfortunately Lebanon has a long history of chronically vulnerable communities that put many children at risk.  It is easy to understand why Syrian refugees have garnered so much global attention (and funding) but there are tens of thousands of pre-existing at-risk children who have only seen their situation worsen in the past three years.  We cannot abandon serving our current children in order to serve an emerging at-risk population.  We must expand our capacities. 

The question that was discussed by this small group from this small organization is “what do we do and how?”  Not surprisingly, we do not have a clear answer.  None of us understands the situation fully nor do we have an idea of what the future years could hold; each couple of months brings new developments that seem to add new dimensions to the problem.  None of us have the top-notch skills, training, expertise, and qualification to approach such a complicated situation with the kind of competency that this humanitarian crisis requires.  Finally, we certainly do not have the amount of resources (neither human nor material) to launch the scale of effort this ongoing disaster demands.  It feels like we are really out of our league on this one.  Personally, this is a feeling that can be overwhelming and even paralyzing; my enthusiasm to tackle the beast head-on can easily turn into feelings of confusion, frustration and despair.

Yet in the midst of it all there is hope.  Every problem that is too heavy for our own hands is but a feather in the hands of God.  Every place where we are weak and unable, He is strong and His grace is sufficient.  Most importantly, every battle that is wearing down our hearts, perplexing our mind and draining our spirit, He has already won!  We are not called to save the world.  That is God’s job and, by the work of Jesus Christ, He does it perfectly well.  We are called to simply be His vessels, His aroma, and His children of light.  God is doing something here that is bigger than any of us; He will have His way in the end.  These strategic plans are less about deciding what we want to do or become and more about discovering what God is inviting us to be a part of.  Our success will not be determined on the number of children we care for, the performance of our programs, or the expansions of our services.  Our success will be determined by our faithfulness to the Lord.  If we can be faithful in all things, starting with the smallest, there is no underestimating what God can do through us.  Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen. (Ephesians 3:20-21)  God will always be our best strategy!

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[i] All statistics from the article Million Syria refugees registered in Lebanon – UN, BBC World News, April 3, 2014. Access article at: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-26864485

A Fun Outing

For many months I have been promising the children of the New Horizons Center a trip to Dar El Awlad.  Since Christmas they had been pestering me about when we would make the hike from their homes near Sidon to our site in Mansourieh.  It was easy to delay the event with the explanation that we’ll wait until the spring and the better chances of good weather, but they didn't always agree with the logic.  They were itching for an outing! The outing finally happened on the eve of our Easter/Spring break; anticipation could not have been held back any longer.

The boys and girls were dressed in their finest and eager to go when I picked them up in the morning, and the excitement stayed with them all day until I dropped them off in the evening.  During their visit they participated in baking, painting, performing at a school assembly, playing and simply hanging out in a new environment.  It was special to see the DEA staff and boys welcome the boys and girls, and I know I’ll have to work hard to make the next outing even better.  

 Staff member Sara prepared a baking activity

 Ruth led the children through a painting activity

 Each class shared a special song during the school assembly (though some tried to hide behind their classmates!)

Developing a Beautiful Thing

A wonderful little development years in the making has recently reached a milestone.  My cousin’s wife Zayoun always had a natural touch as a beautician.  Ladies in the community would often come to her before wedding or engagement celebrations to receive some make-up or hair work, and she gained quite a reputation for her skill.  My mother noticed this and recognized that there was potential for a small business, so she began hunting outlets, thrift stores and personal contacts in the U.S. to gather a collection of cosmetics to be sent to Lebanon.  I remember returning from my 2010 U.S. visit with a fair number of pounds of Mary Kay and other products in my suitcases.  These supplies were enough to get Zayoun going with a little home-business, and from time to time her house was transformed into the neighborhood beauty salon. 

The success of this understudy encouraged Zayoun to take her skills more seriously and pursue formal training.  With the support of her husband, Sami, and my parents, she enrolled at a technical institute in a nearby city and began working towards an official certificate.  This qualification would allow Zayoun to expand her services and do bridal make-up, which is another level of skill, prestige and profit potential.   It’s one of the few cases of anyone from the community receiving advanced formal education/training, and she did it all while balancing the demands of home. (During her time as a student she and her husband had their third child, who they named Becky!)  After a lot of work Zayoun had her certificate in hand.  The next step was the biggest: opening a beauty salon.

Again, with support from Sami and my parents, work began this past fall to build a salon above Zayoun’s home.  It took a number of months to finalize the project and the financial investment was significant, but there was always a lot of excitement and good-will about the venture.  The huge milestone was reached last week when a small gathering was organized to mark the official opening of Salon Zayoun!

In the field of international development there is a model called assets-based community development (ABCD).  ABCD approaches poverty alleviation by looking at the assets (skills, resources, etc…) available within a community and working in partnership with locals to design and execute projects.  One of the advantages of ABCD is that it focuses on a community’s offerings rather than needs, thus leading to programs that are high in sustainability and low on dependency.  Many times development processes are extremely sophisticated with extensive amounts of time, money and expertise invested into applying the best practices.  Sometimes, however, development just happens.  There was no strategy, theory or analysis for Zayoun’s situation.  It was simply a matter coming alongside people to see a goal achieved.  I personally had a good feeling about the venture when,  shortly after receiving her initial cosmetic supply, Zayoun informed me that we do not need to send any more.  The income from the start-up supply was allowing her to buy her own make-up.  That’s a good indicator that things are starting on the right track.

We can look at Salon Zayoun in verious terms of success.  One is the economic benefits.  A family has now expanded its source of income and created a more stable financial situation.  The community has its first salon for women; therefore, the local economy will be strengthened as money remains within the community.  We could look at it as a testament for education.  Zayoun lives in a community of around 800 people, of which only five individuals have achieved a grade nine education.  Many people think that they have one chance at school, and when it’s lost, it’s lost forever.  Now we have an example of someone in her 30’s with a family of her own going back to school to continue her education and build her future.  Salon Zayoun could also be seen as a breakthrough in women’s empowerment.  While cultural tradition may limit women to a role in the house, Zayoun and Sami have demonstrated how the home can become a vibrant place of business, innovation and asset utilization.

All these takeaways are on base, but I personally see something more simple and sincere.  Salon Zayoun is a testimony of a family who believed in a little dream just enough to make it happen.  It is an example of what can happen when a few people (mainly my mother) make someone else’s dream their own and put a little bit of action into their belief.  Ultimately, Salon Zayoun is evidence that good things are happening in this little community of people that I dearly love.  The fact that I can play a very, very small role in it all is a great personal pleasure.  Life is not about being part of the biggest or the best; it is about the precious and the sincere.  Beauty salons are by their nature concerned with the pursuit of beauty, Salon Zayoun just happens to go deeper than skin.

The Grand Opening of Salon Zayoun

Ribbon Cutting Ceremony

A first look a the nearly-completed salong