I am supported by two Christian denominations in the United States, the United Church of Christ and the Disciples of Christ and their joint mission board which is called Global Ministries. Global Ministries has partners all over the world who can request
missionaries, advocacy and funding. I
will be working with two of Global Ministries’ partners in Lebanon.
The first is the Our Lady of Faith Dispensary for Iraqi
refugees. The Dispensary belongs to the
Middle East Council of Churches. It
provides medications and medical services to poor Lebanese citizens and Iraqi
refugees. In addition to the clinic, the
Dispensary works with a Christian NGO (Non-governmental organization) called
Heart for Lebanon to distribute food portions to 550 families, 275 each
month. The Dispensary also hosts Bible
studies and fellowship gatherings for the Iraqis.
The second organization that I will work with is called the
Forum for Culture, Development and Dialogue (FDCD). My first week has been spent at the
Dispensary so I do not yet have any experience at the FDCD which makes it
difficult for me to really explain what it is all about but I will copy here a
description of the FDCD’s mission from one of the organizations brochures:
FDCD represents a faith-based, integrated initiative rising
from the community and aiming to restore dignity to marginalized, oppressed,
and dehumanized individuals and communities.
We strive to empower religious groups, both Muslim and Christian, to
work alongside civil society organizations to address the challenges that face
their communities, individually and collectively. This is done through a process of dialogue,
interfaith solidarity and cooperation among communities in the Middle East.
So now I have explained a bit about the partners I will be
working with over the next year.
However, I am still not able to explain exactly what my role will be in
these organizations. I have spent this
first week at the Dispensary, just observing and learning, asking lots of
questions. Tomorrow morning I have a
meeting at the Middle East Council of Churches where I will learn more. Next week I will go to a three-day conference
with the FDCD about helping victims of trauma.
It seems I will be in a different office every day, learning many new
things and doing many different types of work.
There will be a lot of room for creativity, growth, challenge and of
course, God’s will and guidance.
