BLESSED

The Benevolent Lebanese Evangelical School for Special Education and Development

Ghabeh Street no. 62, Karm El-Zeitoun, Achrafieh, Beirut - Lebanon

News page of the Academic Year 2001 2002

Summer Holiday

Friday June 28 was the last day of the academic year 2001/2002. Children and students went home after a year full of great blessings and achievements. Most were happy to go home, others had mixed feelings, and a few displayed symptoms of anxiety. The fact that it was the day to say goodbye to Debi Calvert, who is returning to the U.K. made everyone sad. We praise God for a wonderful year, full of blessings, excitement, challenges, and achievements. We thank our partners and friends for helping us through this year. The thing that we are most grateful for was the clear indication on the last day of school that BLESSED is a true Christian family sadly breaking apart for the Summer holiday.

Busy Day at BLESSED

Thursday June 27 was a very busy day at BLESSED. Miss Therese and the St. Luke's children decided to prepare the traditional Lebanese salad: Tabuleh for lunch. They wanted to enjoy it with the dinner our cook, Sabah, prepared for them (hamburgers and chips). The bakery team of the Bartimaeus program were much busier preparing bread in our new bakery for the first time. The French bread produced was good. Although it was a very tiring day, the remark of two of our girls participating, that it was the happiest day of their life was very encouraging indeed.

New Email Address

In order to facilitate communications for our mission volunteers with friends and loved ones at home, we reserved our old email address for their private use.

We acquired the following new email address for the general use of the school:

blessed1@cyberia.net.lb

We kindly ask you to send your emails to the new address. Thank you for your cooperation.

Mr. Collin White & Mrs. White at BLESSED

Mr. and Mrs. White visited our school on Wednesday June 19, 2002. They were very happy to see the changes at BLESSED and everyone was delighted to see them. The Whites are very famous having spent a life time career in Lebanon. They returned to the U.K. after Mr. Collin White retired from his lifetime ministry as principal of LESGB. They are now in Lebanon for a short visit and it was very kind of them to visit our school. Many of us at BLESSED are graduates from LESGB (LESB/LESG) so the visit was a short reunion with our well loved and much admired principal. LESGB was operating for a year during the war in the same building which is now BLESSED. We are very grateful to the Whites for this lovely visit and for their kind donation.

Special Party to Thank Debi and Vicky

Students of the Bartimaeus program and children of St. Luke's program prepared a special program on Thursday 13 June, 2002. Its purpose was to thank Debi Calvert and Vicky Leadbitter, CMS Make a Difference volunteers, who have been at BLESSED for the last eight months. St. Luke's children sang hymns and songs. Then Hala Sukkariyeh, representing all students and staff, thanked Vicky and Debi for their wonderful support, kind friendship, dedicated service, and Christian love. Another hymn was sung by the Bartimaeus students, then Toni gave a short funny act imitating some students and members of staff. Vicky and Debi were later presented with gifts made by the children, and Rev. Haddad concluded with a thanksgiving prayer for their wonderful Christian witness which touched the life and hearts of everyone at BLESSED. Debi returned to the U.K. to follow up her education, but Vicky will spend Summer in the U.K. to return for another term next year. We express our most sincere gratitude to them, their families, their supporting churches, and to the Church Mission Society (CMS).

Day at the beach for St. Luke's Children

As the weather was getting very hot in Beirut, it was decided to take the children of our St. Luke's program to the beach. The trip was on Wednesday June 12, 2002. Unfortunately the sea was rough so children were unable to get into the water. They had lots of fun watching the waves break and playing on the sandy shore. All returned with a nice tan slightly disappointed that the rough water restricted their fun.

Rotary Delegation at BLESSED

A Rotary delegation comprising of Mr. Fahed Assaf, President of the Beirut Cosmopolitan Rotary Club, Mr. Toni Asfour, and Miss Lina Moukhaiber, visited our school on Monday June 10, 2002. They officially presented us with the bakery equipment which the Rotary Foundation kindly donated to our school. Rev. Dr. Issa Diab, Director of the Lebanese Evangelical Society, was present with Rev. George Haddad welcoming the Rotary Delegation and thanking them for their very kind donation. Rev. Haddad explained that the aim of this new project is to bring new ideas of vocational training for the visually impaired which are suitable for our modern times. Outdated vocational skills no more allow individuals to earn enough money to support themselves. New ideas must be explored using technologically advanced machinery which allow visually impaired people to do things they were unable to do before. The bakery is one such project, and we commend the Rotary Foundation, the Beirut Cosmopolitan Rotary Club, and the Rotary Club of Royal Oak, Michigan, USA. for their outstanding vision and charity in bringing this very important project to realization. The Rotary delegation later toured the school visiting classrooms and workshops. We express our sincere gratitude to the Rotary Foundation, the Beirut Cosmopolitan Rotary Club, and the Rotary Club of Royal Oak, Michigan, USA, for allowing one of our dreams to come true.

A Generous Gift from The Yaghdjians

The Yaghdjians (Tamar Yaghdjian's family) surprised us on Wednesday June 5, 2002 with a wonderful gift. They sent us a band saw and a circular saw for our carpentry workshop. When we equipped our carpentry workshop, we did not have funds for heavy machinery, but now thanks to the Yaghdjians, our workshop is fully equipped. We express our sincere gratitude to our very dear friends, the Yaghdjians, and we praise God for His overwhelming blessings.

Miss Hazel St. John Visits BLESSED

Miss Hazel St. John, former principal of B.L.T.C. (L.E.S.G.) and Eastwood College, visited our school on Monday June 3, 2002. She lead the chapel service and gave a wonderful meditation. She went around the school visiting classrooms and workshops, and was delighted with the changes since her last visit to our school, four years ago. She was very happy to see old acquaintances, and they were thrilled to see her. She accepted our invitation for a simple school lunch and everyone had a wonderful time of reminiscing and fellowship. She surprised us with a kind donation to which we are very thankful. We very much appreciate her very kind visit, support, and encouraging words.

BibleLands Project Partners Conference

BibleLands project partners conference was held on Saturday May 25, 2002 at Haigazian University in Beirut. BibleLands Chief Executive, Mr. Andy Jong, hosted the conference with Miss Sonia Sislian, Principal of the Armenian Evangelical Central High School chairing the proceedings. Rev. George Haddad and Miss Therese Khoury attended the conference. Mr. Jong presented the annual report, then each partner organization presented a headline news report of achievements and difficulties in the past year. Common themes from reports were explored, and the future development of the partners conference as a formal consultative structure were discussed. The implications of the annual cycle of BibleLands funding for projects were explained, and the need to encourage new work and people in Christian ministry was reiterated. Finally ideas were exchanged about celebrating BibleLands 150th Anniversary in Lebanon among partners. An ad hoc committee was elected to prepare for this important event. The conference concluded with sad news of the retirement or departure of some BibleLands staff whose vision, kindness, friendship, and support were very much appreciated by all project partners in Lebanon. Lunch was hosted at 1.00 p.m. All returned better informed, and many representatives worked out plans for future cooperation between their similar organizations.

New Bakery Project by the Rotary Foundation

Equipment for our new bakery project was delivered on Thursday May 23, 2002. The bakery equipment was donated by the Rotary Foundation: Beirut Cosmopolitan Rotary Club, and the Rotary Club of Royal Oak, Michigan, USA. This wonderful project was kindly arranged by Mr. Toni Asfour, a dear friend and a staunch supporter of our school. He arranged for us to receive a heavy duty General Electric dryer last year, and has also arranged for us to receive Standalone Reading Machines and a screen reader for our program for the visually impaired. The funds for all those projects came from the Rotary Foundation. We express our sincere gratitude to the Rotary foundation, Beirut Cosmopolitan Rotary Club, the Rotary Club of Royal Oak, Michigan, USA. and Mr. Toni Asfour for all those wonderful projects.

We also express our sincere gratitude to "DONOR", MECO (Middle East Christian Outreach), the English church in Ostend - Belgium, and Mr. and Mrs Smeaton, for their kind donations that allowed us to do the repair work and renovation in our building for the bakery, the carpentry workshop, and the cane workshop.

ACS Jazz Band at BLESSED

The ACS (American Community School) Jazz band gave a performance of Jazz music to our students and residents on Wednesday May 22, 2002. They first gave a brief introduction to every musical instrument they were playing and then they played a few pieces. Everyone enjoyed the music and the children were thrilled and exited. Refreshments followed and then the band rushed to another appointment. Thank you Debi Calvert for arranging this visit, and a very special word of thanks to every member of the band.

Andy Jong of BibleLands Visits Our School

BibleLands Chief Executive, Mr. Andy Jong, visited our school Tuesday May 21, 2002. It was a good time for him to catch up with developments in our school, and to see changes in our Bartimaeus program for the visually impaired, and the new St. Luke's program for mentally challenged children. He visited classrooms and workshops, and was so happy to see Miss Therese Khoury whom he knew from the time she worked at St. Luke's Center for the Mentally Retarded in Kahale. Mr. Jong was also happy to see the new Arabic version of the gospels of Matthew and Mark in Braille. BibleLands are the sponsors of our new project to emboss the new Arabic version of the New Testament in Braille. The gospels of Matthew and Mark have been embossed and distributed, and we are currently embossing the gospels of Luke and John which we will be distributing in a few days. Thank you BibleLands for your continued support of our school.

Bartimaeus Group in Mount Smash Club - Farayya

Wednesday April 24, 2002 was the day for the Bartimaeus group to visit Mount Smash Club - Farayya. Mrs. Nada Zogheib welcomed them with juice and cake. She later introduced herself to them and asked everyone to introduce himself/herself. They then headed to the snow near by and had lots of fun. A delicious lunch was served. It was followed with a time for music and singing. Then everyone changed to swim suits, and those who were not prepared were provided ones by Mrs. Zogheib. All had great fun at the pool, and enjoyed the steam bath, Jacuzzi and sauna facilities at the club. Tea and cakes were served later in the afternoon, and all returned to school thrilled and refreshed. We express our most sincere gratitude to Mrs. Zogheib and Mount Smash Club for the wonderful hospitality and Christian love. We also thank Vicky Leadbitter for arranging those wonderful visits.

The Bartimaeus Group Visit Rev. Fuad Nseir

Students, teachers, and staff of the Bartimaeus program visited Rev. Fuad Nseir (former director of our school) on Thursday 18 April 2002. Everyone was worried when news that he was not well reached our school. They all wanted to visit him to wish him a speedy recovery. But as a visit from a twenty-plus bunch is inappropriate to a sick person, we waited until Rev. Nseir was fully recovered. Rev. and Mrs. Nseir received us with their typical hospitality. Everyone had a wonderful time and finally a hymn was sung and a thanksgivving prayer was said. All returned to school delighted that finally they were able to visit Rev. Nseir and find our that he is well and fully recovered.

St. Luke's Children in Mount Smash Club - Farayya

Mrs. Nada Zogheib, owner of Mount Smash club, invited our St. Luke's children to spend a day enjoying the club's wonderful facilities. This visit was arranged by Vicky Leadbitter. Therese, Leila, Vicky, Debi, Andy, Suheil, and Huda accompanied the children to Mount Smash on Wednesday 17 April 2002. Mrs. Zogheib had already planned a wonderful day. She welcomed the children with juice and cakes and later took them for a walk to the natural stone bridge in Fakra. They later visited the ancient Fakra castle. All returned to the club for a delicious lunch. This was followed with a time for music and dancing, after which everyone changed into swim suits and had a fantastic time at the pool. Finally hot chocolate was served and the children returned delighted, happy and refreshed. Mrs. Zogheib is planning to receive students of our Bartimaeus program next Wednesday. We express our gratitude to Mrs. Zogheib for her wonderful hospitality, Christian charity, and exceptional love.

Barbara Shaw of CMS visits our School

Barbara Shaw, the CMS (Church Mission Society) regional director for the Middle East, visited our school on Wednesday April 10, 2002. She arrived for chapel and conveyed to us a greeting from CMS. She went around the school visiting classes and workshops. She was able to observe Vicky and Debi's wonderful contribution to programs. She later spent some time with each of them. Rev. Haddad thanked her for her visit and asked her to convey our sincere gratitude to CMS for their prayer and continued support. Our partnership with CMS and the active participation of Debi and Vicky in our Christian witness and programs present a most wonderful icon of our Christian faith in our land.

Debi's Parents visit Lebanon

Debi's parents, Alex and Judith Calvert, visited Lebanon for the Easter holiday. Unfortunately it was raining most of the time, but they still managed to visit interesting places. They were able to see the contribution Debi is making to our school, and we were able to thank them and covey through them our gratitude to their church, St. John's - Meols, and CMS for supporting Debi. The sun did shine the last day before they returned to the U.K. and they enjoyed a bit of our warm sunshine.

BibleLands' Donation for the Good News in Braille

BibleLands U.K. kindly sent us a donation of 1000 £ for embossing the new Arabic translation of the New Testament in Braille. The old translation, known as the Van Dyke translation, is similar to the English King James version in language and form. The new translation recently published by the Bible Society uses modern Arabic, and is much easier to read and understand. When the new translation was read in our daily chapel service, our teachers and students used to ask: when will we have this wonderful translation in Braille? Soon, thanks to Biblelands, every teacher and student will have his Braille copy, and at a latter stage we will emboss copies to provide any visually impaired person who requests one. Thank you BibleLands for allowing us to achieve this very important ambition. This was a very timely Easter present!

Additional Donation from "DONOR"

Our dear sisters and brothers at "DONOR" sent us and additional donation of U.S.$ 1,500. We have been overwhelmed with their love and support. This amount will be used for the basement tiling project. We are very grateful to "DONOR" for their continued support. Thank you very much for making such an enormous difference in our school this year.

We also received through MECO a kind donation of U.S.$ 130 form Mr. & Mrs. Smeaton. This will also go towards the basement tiling project. Thank you very much Mr. and Mrs. Smeaton.

HELP Lebanon Decorate our School Building

The organization Help Lebanon was doing a wonderful job in the area of Achrafieh decorating the outside walls of buildings in order to enhance the beauty of the region. The project was sponsored by Audi Bank and SNA Insurance. God has blessed us through including our school building in this project. Over the Easter holiday all the external walls of our school were decorated with beautiful colors. This is something we never even dreamt of ever happening. Praise God for his wonderful love, and thank you Help Lebanon, Audi Bank, and SNA Insurance for the wonderful work.

Nigel And Linda Schibild Visit Our School

Nigel and Linda Schibild of All Saints' Anglican Church - Beirut visited our school on Friday March 22. Rev. Schibild lead the chapel service, and later both went around the school observing the changes since their last visit. They were happy to see our new program for mentally challenged children, the changes in our program for the visually impaired, and the wonderful contribution Vicky and Debi are making. They delivered a kind donation (75 £) to our school from the English church in Ostend - Belgium, which was sent through CMS. Thank you Ostend English church, CMS, and Schibilds for keeping us in your thoughts and prayer.

St. Luke's Children at Starbucks Cafe

Wednesday March 20 was the day for children of our St. Luke's program to go to Starbucks Cafe. Firyal Ighnatius came on time, and with the help of Vicky, Suheil, Therese, and Leila, all the children walked up to Starbucks cafe. They had hot chocolate and cakes. They sang songs accompanied by Toni on the violin. Everyone had a wonderful time and all returned safely to school cheered and greatly thrilled. Thank you Starbucks and Firyal for cheering up our children.

Bartimaeus Students at Starbucks Cafe

Starbucks Cafe, Achrafieh, invited students from our Bartimaeus program for morning coffee on Tuesday 12 March, 2002. Firyal Ighnatius, a social medical worker at the Directorate of Social Health of the Hariri Foundation arranged this visit. Students had coffee, hot chocolate, and cakes. They had great fun singing local songs with Toni and Elie playing the violins. Suheil & Vicky accompanied those who preferred taking the school bus. Firyal and Debi accompanied those who preferred walking up to the cafe. Starbucks staff were very kind to our students and made sure they were looked after. Children of the St. Luke's program are also invited. Their turn is on March 20. Thank you very much Starbucks and Firyal for your very kind invitation.

Bartimaeus Students in Local Theater

March 1, 2002 was the day for students and residents of the Bartimaeus program to go to the local theater. Tamar Yeghedjian, our schools dedicated friend, made arrangements to include our students in a show performed specially for students. Suheil and Tamar accompanied with our students drove to the theater and watched the play: Al-Hak Ma Bimoot (The truth does not die). Everyone returned greatly thrilled as it was to most a first time experience. Thank you Tamar for your continued friendship.

Joan Crooks Visits our School

Joan Crooks who taught at the Lebanese Evangelical School for Girls and lived on our old school campus in Zkak Al-Blat visited our school on Thursday 21 February 2002. She worked in Beirut from the mid seventies to the mid eighties for nine years through the terrible years of the war. She is currently volunteering to help in our school in Ain Zhalta for three months. She remembered both Randa Madani and Hala Sikkariyeh who were then young girls. Everyone was delighted with her visit.

MECO Area Leader visits our School

Rev. Peter Hayes who is the MECO mission leader in Lebanon visited our school on Wednesday 20 February 2002. He was accompanied by his wife Elizabeth. Both were visiting our school for the first time. They toured our school and observed both our Bartimaeus and St. Luke's programs. MECO (Middle East Christian Outreach) is the historic mission partner of our Lebanese Evangelical Society and are special partners and friends of our school. Rev. Hayes discussed with Rev. Haddad the needs of our school and how to further develop its partnership with MECO. We express our gratitude to Rev. & Mrs. Hayes for their visit and to all our friends and partners at MECO for their continued prayer and support. Thank you also very much for your continuous donations including the last one.

Medical Checkup

Tuesday and Wednesday, February 19 & 20, 2002 were the days for the medical checkup for all our students and residents. The mentally challenged children were anxious when they heard about it, so we decided to have the checkup for the students of the Bartimaeus program first. We allowed the children to watch Dr. Hezkial the first day, and when it was their turn the next day all went well.

A Very Kind Donation By Dr. Fuad Farah

Dr. Fuad Farah and Mrs. Mona Farah surprised us with a very kind donation. They sent us a cheque for U.S.$ 1,000 (One Thousand U.S. Dollars). The donation could not have arrived in a better time. The Ministry of Social Affairs will only start supporting our new program for mentally challenged children in March 2002, and we were running short on funds. The Farah's donation will help us manage until that time. Dr. Fuad Farah who is a dermatologist worked for many years in the American University Hospital in Beirut. He comes from Shafa Amr in Palestine from the Farah family that provided dedicated priests to Anglican Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East. His wife Mona Fares Haddad comes from a staunch Presbyterian family which was the backbone of the Evangelical Church in Ain Zhalta. We praise God for the Farah's Christian love. Although they have immigrated to the USA for over thirty years now, they still remembered our school and thought of supporting it. Farah in Arabic means Joy, and the Farahs made us joyful. Thank you very much!

Snow Trip for the Bartimaeus Program

Thursday 31 January was a lovely sunny day so students and residents of the Baritmaeus program went for a trip to the snow. Under the leadership of Vicky, accompanied with Debi, Suheil, and Andy, they headed to Dahr Al-Beidar area where they had a wonderful time. They returned refreshed to school after a long day of sledding and great fun.

Snow Trips for Children of our St. Luke's Program

The weather was beautiful so we decided to take the children of our St. Luke's Program for trips to the snow. We divided our children into two groups as we only have one school bus and it is much easier for teachers to provide care to smaller groups. The children waited with great anticipation for their turn and had a lovely time with the snow. Wednesday and Thursday January 16 and 17 were the days for the trips and the children returned refreshed and happy. We plan to organize similar trips for the residents and students of our Baritmaeus program next week if the beautiful sunshine continues.

Classes Resume after the Christmas Holiday in spite of the Snow Storm

In spite of the snow storm that Lebanon is going through these days, we resumed classed on Monday January 7, 2002. The first day was a very hectic day as our old building revealed its vulnerability and inability to handle a wet winter. Water was dripping in the wool workshop, the computer room, and in one bedroom. We managed to remedy the situation with a bucket here and a mop there, but there were other unanticipated challenges. Having been used to a lot of sunshine in winter, Huda, our housekeeper was not used to scheduling the washing over a few days period. As we only have power from the Electric Company for eight hour periods, our dryer was unable to cope with the pressure and most of our bedding was still wet by the evening. Had it not been for the extra bedding we bought with "DONOR"'s very kind donation, earlier this year, we would have been in very serious trouble. We managed to arrange dry beds for all our students. The snow storm did help us accomplish our task as it blocked most of the mountain roads and kept some of our students at home . We also had to use our reserve of blankets (army type) which the school had from the days of the war. Some residents asked for as many as six blankets and fortunately we were able to provide all with as many as requested. We have no central heating in our building so our gas heaters are helping, at least psychologically. Gas cylinders are widely available and this is something we ought to be thankful for. After all, ten years after the end of the war have not been enough to restore electric power to the country. Mind you, we should be grateful as we are the lucky ones in Beirut.

The story is different in Ain Zhalta where Nicola, Don, their two children Lizzie and Daniel, all their expatriate staff, and our Debi are trapped in school with no electric power. Off course they have central heating but unfortunately they do not have power to run it. One has to be reasonable in our land: you cannot have it all. They have an electric generator for the whole school which is huge, but what they badly need now is a small generator. We now have learnt one extra lesson. In Lebanon every institution must have a HUGE GENERATOR and a small generator too! The snow which is 1.5 meter deep imposed an indefinite extension of the Christmas holiday in the Evangelical School of Ain Zhalta, as is the case in all schools in Lebanon which are in an area of an altitude of 500 meters and above. Nicola's parents are fortunate! They will not worry about her. They came for the Christmas holiday and will be here for a few more days! Nicola and Don are taking care of everyone. They are all O.K. They have food and are also sharing small stoves. Our prayers and thoughts are with them.

Christmas Celebration

We celebrated Christmas on Friday December 21. A lessons and carols service was held in which everyone participated. The children of the St. Luke's program sang local Christmas songs and enjoyed making music. The visually impaired students also sang carols and read the lessons. At the end of the service, Vivian, a cheerful girl from St. Luke's program took the role of Santa clause and excelled in it. Everyone received a small presents and some sweets. Later on we had a special Christmas lunch and then everyone left for the holiday.

We express our gratitude to Mr. Jiryes El-Malouf whose donation enabled us to buy Christmas presents to all our children.

Staff Training By Margaret Knill

Margaret Knill visited our school to help us with on-site training. She arrived on Monday November 26 and stayed until Sunday December 9. Margaret has a life-time experience caring for visually impaired people. She started in the United Kingdom then served many years in Iran, and was until recently working in Afghanistan. She provided us with training in mobility, exercising, Braille, map layout, and life skills. We are very grateful to her for the very valuable time she spent with us. Everyone in our school learnt and benefited from her expertise. The only thing we are sorry for is the fact the she only stayed for two weeks. We hope and pray that peace will finally come to Afghanistan and that Margaret can fulfill her calling and wish to return to the wonderful work she was doing in that place so close to her heart she calls home.

Mo Burnley of BibleLands Visits our School

Mo Burnley visited our school on Tuesday November 27, 2001. She was able to see the wonderful things we were able to achieve with funds kindly donated by BibleLands. She saw the new program for mentally challenged children and the changes in the program for the visually impaired. We very much appreciate our partnership with BibleLands and their friendship and support.

M.E.C.O. Donation

M.E.C.O. (Middle East Christian Outreach) sent us a kind donation of U.S.$ 1,130. Dr. Rick Weymouth delivered the cheque to our school on Thursday 15 November 2001, bringing with him yet another blessing: two-month old baby Matthew. The money will be reserved for tiling our basement which still has a concrete floor. It will eventually be transformed into a small gymnasium. The estimate for the project is U.S.$ 4,000. It will be implement when we have the total amount.

Thank you very much our M.E.C.O. sisters and brothers. Your partnership and continued support are highly appreciated.

CMS Make a Difference Teachers

Two mission volunteers from Make a Difference program of the Church Mission Society joined our school this year. Debi Calvert arrived Thursday September 27, and Vicky Leadbitter arrived Sunday October 21.

We praise God for Christian charity and love that make young volunteers leave their homes and loved ones to come and support us in serving the Lord in this land. We express our most sincere gratitude to the Church Mission Society for the wonderful support they are providing our school, and to Debi and Vicky for coming to help us.

A Very Generous Donation From "DONOR"

"DONOR" surprised us with a very generous donation of U.S.$ 12,773.70 It was their Lenten offering. This donation certainly had divine timing, and it could not have arrived in a better time. We received it when we badly needed funds to buy equipment and make necessary adjustments in our building for the new program for mentally challenged children. We praise God for his kindness and love and we express our most sincere gratitude to our sisters and brothers in "DONOR". May God bless you all. Thank You Very Much

Major Program Changes

Our school underwent a major program change this academic year starting October 2001. We now have two major programs: The Bartimaeus Program for visually impaired people, and the St. Luke's Program for mentally challenged children.

Youth With A Mission Work Party

A nineteen-member team from Youth with a Mission started decorating parts of our school building on Monday 16 July 2001. Andy Jong, Janet Blade, and Mo Burnley, our dear partners from BibleLands, were the contact that made this visit possible. The team was lead by Kathryn Clarke and Sally Raynham. Members of the team came from the United Kingdom, the United States of America, the Netherlands, Kenya, and Malaysia. Monday was a workday when a lot of cleaning, decorating and painting was done. Tuesday July 17 was the day for sightseeing. The team visited the famous archeological sites of Aanjar and Baalbeck. More work was done on Wednesday. The team visited Sidon and Tyre on Thursday, and Friday the wonderful work was completed. A representative of the Ministry of Social Affairs happened to be visiting our school on Friday, and she also was very much impressed by the wonderful work done. Team members visited both our cane and wool workshops and bought items made by our students. They also kindly donated U.S.$ 250 to our school. Just before the team left on Friday evening, a prayer meeting was held. Team members prayed individually and fervently for our school, and everyone present was blessed by the Spirit of our loving God. Our principal and members of staff praised God for the wonderful work done by the team, and for Christian love and dedication that bring Christians together across thousands of miles to help, build, and support one another. Children among the team surprised us with the amount of work they have done. The school was transformed both in its outside appearance and in the hearts of everyone, as team members not only painted walls, windows, and doors with fresh new paint, but also painted our hearts with the pure love of our Lord, through their kindness, charity, and love. It was very hard saying good bye. We pray that God will bless them and keep them wherever they may go. Thank you very much to every member of the team: child and adult! Mission well accomplished!

We express our sincere gratitude to Mr. Raymond Tahhan and TETCO (Tahan Engineering Trading & Contracting S.A.R.L.) for the paint donated to our school.