Baptists in Beirut endangered as violence escalates

Posted: 1/26/07

Baptists in Beirut endangered as violence escalates

By Robert Marus

ABP Washington Bureau

BEIRUT (ABP)—An urgent communiqué from a Lebanese Baptist leader warned that escalating violence is threatening the Beirut Baptist School.

Nabil Costa, executive director of the Lebanese Society for Educational and Social Development, sent an e-mail message Jan. 25 to friends and colleagues at Baptist institutions worldwide requesting prayer for Lebanon and for the school, which serves preschool through high-school age students. It is located near Beirut’s commercial and cultural heart.

“The security situation deteriorated sharply this afternoon in the vicinity of our Beirut Baptist School,” wrote Costa, whose organization runs the school and the nearby Arab Baptist Theological Seminary. “‘Til this very hour some of our students remain at BBS, unable to go home because of the shooting in the streets.”

The conflicts were outgrowths of a weeks-old protest that supporters of Hezbollah, a Shiite Muslim political party in Lebanon, and its allies have waged against the Sunni-led government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora. The unrest followed a devastating bombing campaign by Israeli fighter jets and naval vessels in July and August of 2006, mainly aimed at Hezbollah-friendly areas of the country.

During the Israeli attacks, the nation was shut down and much of its infrastructure destroyed, killing hundreds. Israeli officials said the attacks were in response to a cross-border raid by Hezbollah guerillas and Hezbollah missile attacks on northern Israel.

During the Israeli bombing campaign, both Beirut Baptist School and the seminary housed hundreds of Shiite refugees from other parts of the nation. However, the schools remained relatively safe.

But Costa noted the latest conflict has led to minor conflicts all over Beirut—and is an unpleasant reminder of the war between Sunnis, Shia and Christians that ravaged Lebanon between 1975 and 1990.

“Watching today’s clashes on the television brings to mind the civil war that Lebanon labored under for almost two decades. God forbid that we be heading in that direction again,” he wrote. “Please pray that God may intervene and calm the spirits of the two main conflicting groups.”

Costa also requested prayers for Lebanon’s diverse Christian community, which is among the largest in the Middle East and encompasses Catholics and Orthodox Christians as well as multiple kinds of Protestants. During the civil war, many Christians allied themselves with one of the two Muslim factions.

“Pray that the Body of Christ in Lebanon refrains from taking sides, but maintains its focus on the Lord and seeks amidst this difficult time to bring about a spirit of reconciliation and peacemaking,” he wrote.

Costa, who also serves as the general secretary of the nation’s alliance of evangelical schools, requested guidance “as I seek to lead the decision-making process in relation to when we should open or close our schools during this delicate period of time. The lives of our students, faculty and teams are an enormous responsibility. Moreover, each decision we take stands the risk of being misinterpreted to be a political stand.”