For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing.


— Leviticus 10:17-18


Defending the Cause OF REFUGEES & ORPHANS


For many of us these words may seem like distant instructions


to far off people. The plight of widows and orphans may weigh heavy on our hearts, but what does it really look like to love the foreigner residing among us? Perhaps we think of this as a social question or a political concern, and yet this is God’s Word, given to us as the only infallible rule of faith and practice. This is not a suggestion or a nice idea. These verses describe how believers are supposed to live and act. But what if the foreigner residing among you was an enemy? What if his people had attacked your people in the past? What if they had burned your houses, stolen your harvests, and occupied your land for more than 30 years? How would you respond when someone who might have once taken your life, now comes to you for help? That’s the very real and present dilemma faced by Pastor Jihad Haddad of Zahlé Baptist Church in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley. With a congregation of about 50 people, Zahlé Baptist has seen their community change before their very eyes as countless Syrian refugees have flooded into their land. These are families; father and mothers, sons and daughters, widows and orphans who have fled the war and violence of Syria in search of shelter and safety. But these are also old enemies. These are Syrians. These are the people who invaded and occupied Lebanon during its long civil war. The natural human response is to feel that finally justice has


been served. Those who once brought death and destruction are at long last reaping what they have sown.


happening


But something strange is in


the hearts and


lives of Zahlé Baptist Church. Instead of longing for revenge, God has filled their hearts with


compassion. They have reached across the old lines of animosity and are providing food and assistance to those displaced by war. These 50 believers are now serving more than 500 hundred families. Through such acts of mercy, Syrian refugees are learning about the love of Christ and are discovering that God is not distant, but is present and deeply concerned for them. The gospel is being proclaimed in word and deed and the Holy Spirit is bringing many to faith! Zahlé Baptist Church has seen God multiply their efforts far beyond what they could have imagined. And this is just one story of one small church. The need in Lebanon and Syria is great and God is rising up faithful men and women to meet the challenge.


Excerpted from a report from Middle East Bible Outreach, a ministry of the Lebanese Baptist Society.


Syria


Baptists in Syria


(Photo courtesy of the EBF)


18 BAPTIST WORLD MAGAZINE


Instead of longing for revenge, God has filled their hearts with compassion.


Through such acts of mercy,


Syrian refugees are learning about the love of Christ and


are discovering that God is . . . present.

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