Newsletter
By Camille Melki
Going back to school should be an exciting time for most children! But not the case in Lebanon – a nation facing huge challenges from ongoing cross-border shelling, political violence, and economic collapse. In acute crises, innocent children are the ones who suffer the most. They suffer silently as they lack a sense of security and are deprived of a safe environment to learn and grow into the person God created them to be. At Heart for Lebanon we serve with the intention to turn the tide around. We work hard on changing the forced outcome on young children, from despair to hope in Christ.
This upcoming school year, more than 350 students will participate in our morning cycle. Students in Southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley will have the opportunity to learn Arabic, English, Math, Sciences, Arts, and Music. Chapel and Bible classes are the highlight of every week. Students will learn Biblical character traits such as forgiveness, generosity, kindness, servanthood… Our highly skilled teachers will incorporate Christian values and character formation in every lesson.
Children-at-risk, refugee kids who were deprived of an education due to displacement and economic struggles will finally find a safe place at our Zahleh and Ghazieh Hope Centers to learn and grow both intellectually and personality wise. Marginalized children, rejected and despised by society at large will experience the joy of being loved and cared for by our teachers.
Heart for Lebanon’s non-formal educational program offered during the morning cycle is highly valued by many. The academic curriculum is well rounded. It is meant to take a student who has never had the opportunity to be in a classroom before into an intellectual journey that is enhanced by hands-on learning experiences that widen the mind and enhance the child’s confidence and self-worth.
In addition, another 200 students will benefit from our afternoon program. This program focuses on school dropouts and young girls ages 13-17. The objective is to offer our students tools to help them navigate life after school. Character formation and life-skills development are the two main components. Understanding the cultural complexities of being a refugee child and the many economic and political challenges our region is experiencing are keys for the success of this program. Heart for Lebanon’s desire is to help lead young people from the despair wars and conflicts create to hope in Christ alone. This can only be achieved when children feel valued, loved and cared for.
Our educational journey continues once students graduate from our two programs. Heart for Lebanon offers 650 scholarships to help support students in their continued education. These are extremely bright students who have a promising future but are severely limited in their educational opportunities due to lack of financial resources. Every scholarship is a chance to further invest in the academic and spiritual development of our students. Every scholarship is an opportunity to further impact a child’s life and another opportunity to point them to Jesus.
School is starting again! I invite you to pray for and invest in the lives of the more than 1,200 students Heart for Lebanon is called to serve. By helping us and praying for these children you are leaving a legacy of hope!
For $39.00 per month, you can help provide a Biblical education to a child in our H.O.P.E (Helping Overcome Poverty through Education) Educational Program. For $1.30 a day, (or $39.00 a month or $468.00 for the year) you will help us sustain a yearlong Biblical/Value based education for a student, which includes a full academic curriculum, Bible classes and Chapel. We are praying to maintain 1,200 students (the maximum we can hold) in our 2024/25 academic year.
