That’s the principle Heart for Lebanon stands on in the deeply divided Middle East. 

“The question you want to ask (is), ‘How can you get people on a Sunday morning to sit in one room and worship Jesus Christ?’” says says Elio Constantine with Heart for Lebanon. “(Keep) in mind that these people have been programmed and brainwashed for centuries and centuries that from a human perspective, they should be enemies.”

(Photo courtesy Heart for Lebanon)

Heart for Lebanon’s Middle East Center for Justice and Missions advocates for biblical responses to injustice, for the glory of God. They want people to discover how to break these cycles of violence and hatred.

“The answer is easier said than done: It’s through Christ and Christ alone,” Constantine says. “How do we do that? Through unconditional love, patience, grace, and mercy.”

Their team goes out and befriends families from different ethnic backgrounds in Lebanon — whether Syrian, Kurdish, Lebanese and others. They spend countless hours visiting, offering prayer, giving aid and showing true friendship. 

Their love has led to hearts opening to the gospel and two diverse churches gathering. 

These principles of love are Christ-centered. Constantine says they can be applied anywhere in the world.

(Photo courtesy Heart For Lebanon)

“That’s what The Middle East Center for Justice and Missions is here to advocate for. We’re here to show the picture, to show our experience, what we have done in Lebanon, how we — now, God never tells us any indicator of success — but what our hard work has yielded,” Constantine says. 

Would you take this unfolding story into your own heart? Consider who you perceive as an enemy, or who you have been taught is your enemy. Then, commit yourself to obey Christ and show your “enemies” the same love He has given you. (See 2 Corinthians 5:11-21 about this “ministry of reconciliation.”)

“That is the only way to move past and break the cycle of hatred and despair that we’ve been living in globally,” says Constantine.

“Anywhere on planet Earth, the answer is simple. But the work is much harder. We need to have the intention and the discipline to show love unconditionally to anyone we meet along the road.”

Header photo courtesy of Heart for Lebanon.

But there is another long-term consequence that isn’t always so quickly seen, though it is just as devastating: loss of education.

David Durance with TeachBeyond says, “As they go through this initial crisis, what we have found is that education stops. Usually, it’s that three- to six-month period where the triage of essential needs — in other words, food and water, and shelter — are starting or trying to be met.

(Photo courtesy of TeachBeyond)

“Then the question is, ‘What do we do now that we’re in this situation?’ It’s that phase two where education becomes a major question.” 

TeachBeyond steps in as people reach out for insight and resources. 

“That (phase two) is where we start responding and start thinking about how we can start delivering education that is timely, relevant and able to actually deliver on what is needed in that context,” Durance says. 

Koshe/Korah, Ethiopia (Photo courtesy of TeachBeyond)

Education is a major intervention to prevent the cycle of purposelessness and violence across a generation and nation. 

“God redeems the world, often through education. This is one of the ways that he does (what) we call ‘big T transformation’ — in other words, becoming all that God intends,” Durance says. 

“You go to countries where the education system has been broken for a whole generation, and that next wave of youth — guess what? They’re following in their parents’ footsteps. The violence is perpetuated, the hatred is perpetuated and the jobs aren’t there. Here we are, many, many years later, still suffering in places like Syria and in countries in Central Africa. We’re praying against that in Haiti and Ukraine, but we’re seeing some of that happen, and we’re so concerned about this.”

You can be a part of this redemption with TeachBeyond by praying and taking action.

“We’re just one of many missions, but missions like TeachBeyond are actively prepared to deliver education in some of these contexts that we’ve been talking about,” Durance says. 

“God can redeem this (global situation) as people respond in prayer and then look for ways to be involved. That can be everything from using your skills — if you’re an administrator, an educator or whatever God’s put on your heart — or funding some of the people that go respond to these things. It’s not hopeless, that’s my point.”

Connect with TeachBeyond on social media or their website to be informed on how you can pray. Learn how you can GO with TeachBeyond here. 

Header photo is a representative stock image taken in a refugee camp in Iraq, courtesy of Jonathan Ramalho/Unsplash.