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Shortly after the recent Israel-Hezbollah war broke out, Riad Kassis, the head of the J. L. Schneller School, a 146-year-old evangelical Christian institution in West Beqaa, Lebanon, wrote an internet commentary appealing to Western readers: "Imagine being forced to suddenly leave your home. Imagine that you do not know when you will return home and are unsure whether you will find a heap of rubble instead of a sweet home."

The subsequent conflict killed 1,300 Lebanese and 160 Israelis, and wounded thousands more. But after missiles and rockets stopped in August, Lebanese Christians realized the bloody conflict had renewed their deep commitment to the displaced. Habib Badr, pastor of the National Evangelical Church and perhaps Lebanon's most recognizable evangelical, told Christianity Today that his church's four schools took in 1,000 refugees. "We hope we were good witnesses of the love of God to those displaced." Dozens of Christian congregations in Lebanon welcomed displaced people and others in Jordan and Syria provided aid.

Lebanese Christians, during and after the conflict, opened their lives in an unprecedented way. Nabil Costa, who heads the Lebanese Society for Educational and Social Development, said, "This war was like a wake-up call. It completely changed our agenda and showed us that God has a different vision for us."

"When the war started, at first we complained about our summer vacation," Costa admitted. "As things got more serious, we asked: How could this be happening when Lebanon was finally booming after years of civil war and Syrian domination?"

Costa said that although he and other evangelicals in Lebanon were taught they ought to love everyone, they felt they had been looking mainly after themselves until the massive influx of Shiite refugees caused them to look beyond their own needs.

"All of a sudden, we had refugees from different religions in our homes, our schools, and our institutions. Of course, Muslims have always studied in our schools, but this was different. We fed hundreds day and night, set up bathrooms and showers, provided everything from A to Z for them," he explained.

About 1,000 of the displaced were housed in the Beirut Baptist Center near downtown Beirut, while Christian volunteers visited people daily at shelters, including five camps in Mansourieh, near Beirut.

Eli Haddad, provost of the Arab Baptist Theological Seminary, worked alongside Costa in relief operations. He said, "We suddenly found ourselves in the middle of a huge crisis with nothing prepared.

"It would have been natural to run or hide. But we were challenged to go on the offensive—not militarily or politically, but spiritually and on humanitarian grounds."

Twice daily, Christians gathered for prayer and worship at the Mansourieh-based Baptist seminary. "We prayed for people by name," Costa said, "and then went out into the different refugee sites to serve those who had to leave everything behind."

Baptists worked alongside Church of God, Armenian Evangelical, Brethren, Alliance, and Presbyterian leaders to reach as many of the needy as possible. They found that it wasn't easy ministering to desperate people who had lost everything.

The refugees expressed frustration with having to live with 30 to 40 strangers in a single room. "They were stuck with each other, and sometimes they fought," Costa said.

"We helped them solve their problems," he added. "We earned credibility. We didn't just bring food and water and say goodbye. We wanted to make a difference in their lives." Besides offering relief, volunteers listened, offered Christian-based entertainment, and provided counseling.

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October 2006, Vol. 50, No. 10