BLESSED

The Benevolent Lebanese Evangelical School for Special Education and Development

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

Newsletter dated 10 September 2000 

Dear Friends of the Lebanese Evangelical School for the Blind,

We thank God for supporting us through a very difficult year, which also brought us great blessings. Our friends reached out to us at our most difficult times. They supported our needs, and brought us great encouragement. We went through a large variety of problems and difficulties. At times, we did not know what tomorrow would bring. Our Lord was with us through your prayers, encouragement, and support. We thank you all, and praise his holy and precious name.

The first few months of the last academic year were spent rearranging the set up of the school-building, developing and experimenting with some new programs, building on old ones, and getting to know our students, residents, teachers and staff. It was not easy for all concerned. I was new, not only to them, but also to the ministry to blind people. Sometimes there was room and space for learning, yet at other times decisive action was necessary. God blessed us with a wonderful team of dedicated individuals, and together we went, each doing his part, in the slow and uphill struggle towards restoring the school to an acceptable program and a healthy social and spiritual life.

First came the new beds and mattresses kindly donated by Hilfsaktion Märtyrerkirche of Switzerland. As we are in Lebanon, there had to be a hitch. The size of the mattresses did not match those of the beds. The dealer tried all the tricks of his trade to convince us that they were a perfect match. We insisted that the situation must be corrected, and after a month of haggling, our demands were met.

As developing new programs was our first priority, we had to try new ideas. We began with a massage treatment course. As we could not afford a fulltime physiotherapist, we employed a part-time one. This restricted the number of students who could attend. We gave the priority to our girls who did well. We will try to offer a follow-up course this coming year if our finances permit.

We are very grateful to the Sunday-school children of the National Evangelical Church in Beirut, for donating the cost of one of the examination tables used in this course.

November 1999 brought another positive development, which was the return of our school bus. The Lebanese Evangelical School - Louizeh, was using the bus. As we needed it, we requested it to be returned. We got it back and it made an enormous difference in our school. The only side effect was the noise a group of exited students can produce during a school trip.

The Christmas season was also an active one. Ladies from the National Evangelical Church in Beirut volunteered to help us open the school-shop in Jdeideh in which we sell products and items produced in our workshops. They decorated some baskets with dried fruits and sweets and put them for sale. This attracted some customers to our shop through the Christmas season.

We also had a lovely Christmas dinner for our students, residents, members of staff and their families. We began with a service of lessons and carols and had a wonderful fellowship later. Although holidays are resented by many of our students and residents, we insist that all must go away for the holidays in order to keep close links with family and relatives.

Miss Brenda DeSmith who had done wonderful work in our school left us in January 2000. Anne Weymouth, who is serving with her husband Rick at the Mediterranean Bible College, kindly volunteered to help our girls with the wool program. She quickly established a wonderful rapport with the girls and her help is very highly appreciated.

Rev. Fouad Saddi had to undergo Slipped Disc surgery on March 28, 2000. We are thankful to God that all went well. He had a full recovery.

From the beginning of the academic year, BibleLands U.K. provided very kind support to our school. A delegation from our school attended the Project Partner's Conference held by BibleLands on Saturday November 6, 1999. Mr. Hugh Boelter and Mr. Andy Young hosted the conference. For the first time we were able to meet other partners, get to know them, hear their ideas and share problems and concerns. It was a blessed idea and was certainly a great success.

Our partnership with BibleLands was developing. This was reflected in their support to us in prayer and encouragement, through correspondence and regular visits.

Ms Maureen Burnley along with Ms Janet Blades and Ms Jane Bisson visited us on November 25, 1999. The visit was very much appreciated by our students, teachers and staff.

BibleLands kindly sent us a Braille thermoform machine from the U. K. on April 17, 2000.

Hattie Joly of Henry Heald & Co. instructed one of their agents to clear the machine from the airport. She also had a nice surprise for us. She paid the custom duties and all the clearance charges. We were all delighted to receive the sturdy British-made machine. Mr. Haddad was very happy to part with the old overworked thermoform machine, which needed to be covered with a blanket to keep the heating chamber hot enough to operate well.

The arrival of the machine touched our students with nostalgia for the good old days of our school. It gave them hope for a better future. Biblelands and Henry Heald & Co. gave them the assurance that they were not forgotten, and that there are those who care. That was an important turning point in the life of our school.

Andy Jong and his wife Fiona visited our school on Thursday May 18, 2000. Fiona led the chapel service. They spent some time with the students and teachers and got a first-hand report about the current situation of the school and its needs. They also enquired how partnership with BibleLands could assist our school in achieving its objectives.

June 20^th 2000 was a very special day for our school. We were delighted to hear from Mo Burnley, Head of Overseas Programs of BibleLands, that the trustees approved a total grant of £7,500 towards buying a Braille Embosser (£5,600), the Solar Water Heating system (£1.300), and the balance required for buying the heavy-duty washing machine (£600). "DONOR" had kindly sent us the initial payment for the washing machine. We very badly needed the three items. The Braille embosser will certainly help us move forward in the new programs, especially in producing the school's Braille magazine. The solar system will reduce the running cost of our building (drastically reducing our electricity bill).

The Solar Panels for hot running water have been installed. The heavy-duty washing machine was delivered, and we will receive the Braille embosser in September.

The Beirut Rotary Club organized an exhibition of products made by handicapped people, from 2 May to the sixth, in the New Sea-front Exhibition hall opposite Phoenicia Hotel - Beirut. Our school had one of the thirteen stands available. The exhibition was held under the patronage of the minister of social affairs, Dr. Michel Moussa. We sold products from our cane workshop and woolen items made by our girls. Although the number of visitors was very low, it was a good opportunity for promoting our ministry to blind people. 

David and Margaret Judson who served our school for 19 years (1969-1988) visited us on Friday 12, 2000. All were delighted to see them again. David delivered to the school a donation of U.S. $ 1905 towards the fees of none-Lebanese students. The donation was from MECO (Middle East Christian Outreach).

Our school choir visited the International Congregation of All Saints' Anglican Church in Beirut on Sunday May 14. One of our students spoke about the school, the needs of blind people, and their expectations from the community. Another talked about the importance of faith in Jesus Christ to a blind person. The choir sang a hymn. During the service, the Rev. Nigel Schibild and a representative of the ladies group presented the school delegation with a cheque for U.S.$ 1000. The ladies group of the International congregation had raised the money in a church fair. We will use it to buy paint and brushes for decorating some of the rooms of our school building. We also had a table in the church hall on which items made in our workshops were displayed for sale. The response of church members was wonderful. We sold most of the products, and that was a great encouragement to all our students. 

Rev. John Carrick, U.K. director of MECO (Middle East Christian Outreach), accompanied with a team of filmmaking professionals visited our school.  They were working on a promotional video, which will show the fruits of the partnership MECO has with many institutions in Lebanon. They shot video footage of our school and interviewed students and members of staff.

Evangelische Ausländer Seelsorge of Germany sent us a donation of DM 2000 in August. Rev. Josua, Judge Funk, and Mr. Matthias Beilharz who are old friends of our school arranged this.

Our school will receive a CMS (Church Mission Society) work-group early October. They will be painting parts of our school building and visiting some sites in Lebanon. We are very grateful to Rev. Nigel Schibild and his wife Linda, of All Saints' Anglican Church - Beirut, for arranging this visit. We highly appreciate this kind gesture from CMS and pray that the visit will be a happy and fruitful one. 

Our school faced very serious difficulties during the third term. As we did not have enough funds, we were unable to pay salaries for two months. That very serious problem was resolved when the Lebanese Evangelical Society provided the necessary funds to meet our needs.

Trouble also came from the school building, which is in a bad state of repair. Blockage of the main sewage pipe almost led to the temporary closure of the school. For two weeks, plumbers tried to resolve that very serious problem but failed. Our students also gave it a try one evening but nothing seemed to work. We finally had to accept the final remedy of having to install a completely new sewage system, which reconnected our building to the main municipal pipes. This was an extra expense, which we did not anticipate.

After a very long year of joys and difficulties, many things are much clearer now. The most important one is the absolute need for the ministry our school is providing to blind people in the Middle East. Lack of funds is forcing us to concentrate on Lebanese students whose fees are paid by the Lebanese government. Yet, we clearly see the enormous needs of blind people in the Middle East and hope that one day we will have the necessary funds to meet some of them. We only have a few students from Syria, but we hope we will be able to receive more from Syria, and also from Jordan and Iraq. We will highly appreciate donations towards this important dimension of our ministry.

We now understand that our ministry to blind people will have two levels. First, the vocational training programs that will enable blind individuals to support themselves. Second, we want our school building to be a center for blind people who need residence in Beirut. We aim to have all the necessary equipment that will assist blind students studying in schools or universities. We will also receive young blind individuals who are employed in Beirut and need a place to stay. We aim to make our building a comfortable Christian home for those three groups. 

We need to bring our building to a state of repair that will enable us to fulfill this aim. The very kind donations we received from our partners last year, especially form BibleLands, helped us enormously. A lot more needs to be done. Out first priority is the renovation of the school toilets and showers. The estimated cost is U.S.$ 10.000 (Ten Thousand U.S. Dollars). The second priority is equipping our basement with some sports equipment that will enable our students and residents to do some exercises.  This will benefit them both physically and psychologically.

Please check our needs list attached and help us meet some of our needs.

We are working with the Beirut Cosmopolitan Rotary Club on new vocational training programs. We hope to bring you good news soon. Please follow up our news on our website at: http://justus.anglican.org/lesblind/ 

We need your prayers and support. We appreciate your kindness and love in whichever form it comes. Whether you only pray for us, or you pray, visit, and support us financially; we are very grateful. We very much appreciate your support to blind people. They very badly need it. May God bless you all.

I finally want to close praising God and thanking all those who supported us last year.

A very special warm and hearty thank you to BibleLands. Without you, we would not have been able to make to the end of the year. Your prayers, regular visits, correspondence, and your very generous donations enabled our school to go against all odds. You pulled us through our darkest hours, and you gave us hope for a better tomorrow.

Many thanks to Henry Heald & Co., to MECO (Middle East Christian Outreach), to the Beirut Rotary Club, to All Saints' International Congregation, to the International Church of Beirut (Church of God), to Evangelische Ausländer Seelsorge, to the CMS work-group, to the Sunday School children and the Ladies group of the National Evangelical Church in Beirut, to Hilfsaktion Märtyrerkirche - Switzerland, to the "DONOR", to the Samaritan Purse, to the Lebanon Evangelical School - Louiseh, to the Lebanese Evangelical Society, and to all our friends. Your kindness, support and love truly bring glory to the precious name of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Sincerely,

George D. Haddad.

Rev. George D. Haddad

Beirut September 10, 2000 

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