Women

“A Bible study by a Nigerian? Conversation with an Australian? Workshop by a Palestinian? Dinner with a Canadian? . . . I had had the privilege of interacting with Baptist leaders from around the world; now it was time to share this rich experience with others.”

at the Forefront Maxwell explains, “In some sense it was like I was passing

on what I had learned to my students. I had had the privilege of interacting with Baptist leaders from around the world; now it was time to share this rich experience with others.” Among others, Maxwell’s student Mikayla Warren was thankful for the opportunity to participate in such a meaningful event. “Getting to share life and experiences with people from all over the world was such a remarkable and eye-opening experience for me,” she affirmed. “The trip was full of a lifetime of stories and memories and friendships.” Stories, memories, and friendships – now not Maxwell’s alone, but imparted to her students as well. In God’s strength, Maxwell has used her past experiences to shape a new generation of believers for influence today and into the future. Will other global Baptists do the same?

u ALIA ABBOUD: Standing in the Gap for Refugees

Baptist-affiliated Lebanese Society for Educational and Social Development (LSESD) brings many skills to this job. These include program development, management and evaluation, community development, strategic planning, research, capacity building, fundraising and proposal writing. These skills, coupled with a strong Christian faith, make

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Above: Melody Maxwell (back row, right) with her students and other Baptist leaders from Texas at the Baptist World Congress in Durban, South Aftrica, in 2015

understanding of ministry more than 10 years earlier. It’s an honor as well as a responsibility for me to relate to today’s students at another Baptist school,” Maxwell says. Part of Maxwell’s duties include teaching a Baptist identity class, in which she draws on information she has learned from her involvement in the Baptist World Alliance over the past decade. In 2015 she also took students to the Baptist World Congress in Durban, South Africa, for an International Missions Practicum course. She reflects, “interacting with Baptists from 80 different

countries was an unbelievable experience for our group. Every day we would gather and discuss how our perspectives had widened from talking with members of the global church. A Bible study by a Nigerian? Conversation with an Australian? Workshop by a Palestinian? Dinner with a Canadian? These types of experiences were daily occurrences that taught us far more than we could learn in a classroom.” The congress was particularly significant for Maxwell because of her previous participation in the BWA’s Emerging Leaders Network. She was one of approximately 40 young Baptists selected to take part in this group that met during BWA Annual Gatherings from 2006 to 2009, culminating in the Baptist World Congress in 2010.

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Abboud an effective advocate for the suffering and the vulnerable. This calling has roots in her experience while growing up. A Lebanese, she grew up in Sierra Leone in West Africa before returning to Lebanon “as a teenager to pursue her interest in empowering the Arab Church to be transformative in society.” The stability of family life was affected by the Lebanese Civil

War, which raged from 1975-1990. The family fled as refugees to Syria’s capital, Damascus. She told World Magazine that, with snipers ruling the streets of Beirut and its environs, she remembers her father saying to her and her siblings, “run as if your life depends on it – because it does.” Having experienced life in vulnerable situations, she

committed to assisting those in similar circumstances. “I know what it’s like to be dependent on others,” Abboud stated. She worked with World Vision Lebanon for 13 years, from 1990-2003, as communications officer and then operations manager, doing development work on the behalf of the vulnerable, especially children. Abboud took up her current position with the LSESD in 2003, working more directly with the Baptist and evangelical community in Lebanon and the wider Middle East and North Africa.

In her time with LSESD, also known as the Lebanese Baptist

Society, she has seen more than her fair share of refugees and displaced persons, from Lebanese affected by conflicts in Lebanon itself, to Iraqi and Syrian refugees crossing the borders into the country. The current civil war in Syria is especially grave. “The needs both in Syria and in Lebanon are staggering and the situation gets more complex by the day,” said Abboud. On a monthly basis, Lebanese Baptists offer assistance to more than 2,000 Syrian families and 400 Iraqi families in Lebanon,

lia Abboud is at the forefront in the fight to meet the needs of Syrian and other refugees in Lebanon. The director of development and partner relations for the