By Pauline Nasri and Sarah Jennings
“My prayer is not for [believers] alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me, and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” – John 17:21
When we are more than one, we can help carry the burden of others, express our thoughts, suffer together, and celebrate together. This is exactly how the disciples and apostles worked together to lay the blueprint for missions.
In this spirit of unity, 20 different churches and ministry institutions from the Beqaa Valley gathered in July to learn, exchange, and evaluate best practices for sustainable development. Evangelical church leaders in Lebanon currently face a heavy responsibility to the growing needs of their communities. Yet they are also operating in a tense, complicated environment because of the economic crisis and pandemic.
The Arab Baptist Theological Seminary (ABTS), MERATH, and Heart for Lebanon saw a need for capacity-building within the Evangelical community, as humanitarian needs often outstrip the training required to execute.