'God's at work, this should not surprise us': new Christian refugees find opportunity to give back in Beirut

Once on the receiving end, Christian refugees are now giving back to their neighbours in Beirut, Lebanon after the explosion.

A Christian ministry, Heart for Lebanon, has seen refugees coming from nothing, now working with their team to help clean up after the devastating blast on the port on August 4.

Tom Atema is the co-founder of Heart for Lebanon and has been working in the Middle Eastern country for ten years.

He says, "The whole country has economic problems, a food crisis, political unrest, COVID-19, and this explosion which I believe has led to a sixth issue, the uncertainty of tomorrow. But as Christians, this is another opportunity to show the people that we're certain about tomorrow. We might not know physically what tomorrow's gonna bring, but we do know who holds tomorrow."

One recent story of hope that Atema shares is when he was cleaning up an elderly man's home, putting a tarp over the window when the old man took him to a back room to show him something interesting.

"He points to a cross on the wall beside some cracks and he looks at our team and says, 'Remember, the cross still stands no matter what happens'."

The team has been helping people rebuild and survive since roughly 300,000 people are displaced since the blast.

"We want to be there to help them physically, especially in a Muslim culture, because that builds the bridge to the conversation and gives credibility to the conversation."

While they are helping people with physical needs, their focus is on making disciples of Christ, according to Atema.

"That's why we don't just hand out stuff. You got to do that, in our opinion, with Jesus, with stories, with conversations, so ultimately you can have a transformation."

The Heart for Lebanon team has been giving hope are now on the receiving end of hope, as a recent action from refugees has shown them the transforming power of God.

Atema says "Syrian refugee volunteers from our Bible study groups and students from our Children at Risk Initiative are helping with cleaning up debris and with packing thousands of food and non-food items; packages essential for the survival of affected families. Families and individuals who have benefited from our ministry programs are now giving forward to help others in great need."

These refugees don't have much to offer, but they willingly giving everything they do have, according to Atema.

"Last Sunday was the first Sunday they could meet back in person. After the first song, one of the Muslim people stood up and said 'I think we need to take an offering for the people in Beirut.

"Syrian refugees are illegal, they're not allowed to work, they live on the side of a farmer's field, and are scraping by. And now they want to give the little bit they have to help somebody else out. I think that's significant."

Alongside offering some money to the displaced in Beirut, these refugees are giving their time helping clean up.

"Now we have forty-one people who are Syrian refugee background, all believers in Jesus Christ, volunteering with our team in downtown Beirut.

Heart for Lebanon has been working with the local churches and have helped 780 families so far. Each family goes through a screening process so the organization knows they are actually in need of help.

"The aid consists of food supplement items, non-food items, plus making their homes secure."

The reason Atema's team works with the local church is that they have influence in the area.

"You don't need another church in a crisis. You need to empower the churches that are already there."

The other group Heart for Lebanon is working with during this time are 5 Christian schools.

"What we're doing for the Christian schools is making them secure with windows and new doors, but we're [also] paying one-third of the school scholarship so the kids can go back to school."

The schools pay a third leaving parents to only pay the last third to send their child to a Christian school this fall. The public schools have Muslim influence.

"God's people have been absolutely fantastic. We've been blown away by the finances that come in and God's timing is excellent."

The project for Beirut that Heart for Lebanon is working on will cost a total of $1 million and everything has been paid for, except for $150,000 of that.

"Prayer is the biggest thing we need, far more than financial support."

Atema is asking that people pray for three things.

"Pray for wisdom. Out of 300,000 people, who do we say yes to and who do we say no to. Number 2, the team needs strength and good health. And lastly, pray that we'll have opportunities to share Christ as we clean up these houses."