January 7, 2020

Lebanon Brief – January 2020

The Ambivalent Attitude of the Lebanese Towards The Return of Syrian Refugees by Chaden Hani News The topic of Syrian refugees in Lebanon has been exhausted, and the issue of their return to Syria has been discussed at length behind closed doors and within international circles. In the past few […]
June 15, 2017

What the Poor Have Taught Me?

By Rupen Das* A 2009 study by Tomas Rees on the relationship between poverty and religiousness found that personal insecurity (due to stressful situations, such as poverty) was an important determinant of religiosity.[1] The poor tend to be more religious. I find the faith of the poor both intriguing and challenging. […]
March 4, 2016

Syrian Refugees and the Church in the West: Some Practical Suggestions

By Martin Accad In recent months, I have received a number of invitations from the West to speak about the crisis in Syria, and particularly about the massive refugee migration into Europe. The question that keeps coming is: ‘How should the church in the West respond to the massive refugee […]
June 12, 2015

Touching the Heart of a Refugee

by Kathryn Kraft A few weeks ago, I was sharing with a friend at my church in London about my research with churches in Lebanon. As Rupen Das described in a post several months ago, many churches in Lebanon are providing assistance including food, blankets, clothing, or education, to refugees, most […]
February 26, 2015

Capoeira: A surprising source of social transformation

Lugging a big wooden drum, about a dozen tambourines, and an assortment of other percussion instruments, we walked onto the big green astroturf. Some members of our team got to work assembling berimbaus, the staple instrument of a Brazilian dance/music/sport called Capoeira. Others began assembling several dozen young Syrian boys […]
December 18, 2014

“If You Pour Yourself Out for the Hungry”: A Call to the Church amidst the Ongoing Suffering of Syrian Refugees

By Ashley Wollam* “But where will I get food for my children? What can we do?” It was one of the few moments I was glad that my Arabic is still far from fluent. One of my Lebanese brothers or sisters on the ministry team would have to find the […]
November 26, 2014

There Are Happy Stories, Too!

By Kathryn Kraft* I love a good story. Stories can make me laugh or cry, burn in anger or melt in love. I tell stories when I’m trying to make myself understood, and I understand other people so much better when they tell me stories. So I am always on […]
September 19, 2013

You – Yes YOU Can Influence the Future of Syria!

By Martin Accad I witnessed, last weekend, the physical transformation of a Syrian young lady sitting in my living room. As my wife and I helped her and her younger cousin complete an application for a university grant for Syrian refugees, they had just returned from a last-minute visit to […]