Notre âme attend le Seigneur

Launching our activities...

The last days, we have spent a lot of time preparing and planning: On the one hand, as you will read below, the refugee children we will help to take care of will arrive tomorrow morning. On the other hand, we are searching for opportunities to get to know young people and their spirituality, and - maybe - to pray with them.

Fratelli 

So far, we have spent our mornings at the Fratelli's Association preparing the program as well as the school building for the arrival of 450 refugee children. These children come from Syria, Jordan or Iraq and live in an around Rhmeileh now. Often, they have survived horrifying traumatic events. But - maybe even worse - in many cases, it is very difficult for them to regain strength or to overcome those experiences well because those who could help them cope - family members or caretakers - themselves are strongly traumathised or have died. This is why the brothers and team members of the Fratelli Association consider it to be so important that children like this can have a place where they can, little by litte, rediscover friendship and trust.
We will divide them into groups according to their age. In different teams, we worked on different activities and plans for the weeks to come: Some composed a hymn that everyone can identify with, others prepared a screenplay reflecting the topic "Searching for the treausre" that is going to bring all the age groups together every day, one group relfected on how different values - such as respect, friendship, but also hygiene, can be communicated to the children within their classes, and others designed a list with various activities and workshops for the afternoons. Finally, we spoke about our own values for our work with the children. Tomorrow, together with Lebanese teachers and other volunteers, we will start working with them in different classes, and we are looking forward a lot!

Exploring the school and its outdoor areas.

Last week, these soccer fields have been created for the refugee children by the Fratelli Association.

Well prepared to welcome the children...

Praying

We are very happy and thankful to be able to help refugee children - as little as our help might be for them. Next to this social activity, we would like to get to know as many communities and parishes as possible here in Lebanon. In order to get closer to the mystery of God, we would like to learn about how they pray, how they see God, and what is important to them in life. And we would love to pray with different communities here, to celebrate our mutual friendship and solidarity, and to express our hope for peace in this region. We have already found some occasions to put this into practice, but in general, we still need some patience and creativity at the moment.
In our village, we attend Maronite and Melkite services regularly, and are estonished about the diversity of people praying during these celebrations. It seems that people's approach of participation in those services varies strongly - some sing along very actively and seem to be very committed, some are more passive, and some others leave and reappear. But what we love about this diversity is that it seems to be so normal - nobody seems disturbed by the others' way of praying.

Evening mass according to the Melkite rite in the grotto of Maghdouche.

The grotto of Maghdouche. More information follows in the next days!

Sunday morning mass according to the Maronite rite in the chapel under the statue of Mary in Maghdouche.

At the same time, we love how joyful and powerful people celebrate God and life here. Coming back from an evening mass, we encountered two families preparing for a wedding:

 

Summer camp in Kfar Houneh

It is hard to find young Lebanese Christians in their parishes in summer. In July and August, most of them organise summer camps for children. So there is one way to get to know young people in these days: Go to their camps and just participate!
Yesterday, we got to know Rodrigue, a friend who grew up in the north of Lebanon and studies in Lisbon now, who will join us for some of our activities during the coming weeks. Together with him, we went to Kfar Houneh, a village in the mountains to the east of Saida, and participated in one of these camps for an afternoon. Around 50 children spend five days together in the midst of very beautiful nature, far from their home in busy Beirut. We were very happy to join them for an afternoon, play with them, and participate in a rallye through the old monastery they are accommodated in. We became friends immediately. After a moment of joyful dances and songs, we were invited to teach them a song from Taizé in Arabic. We are very thankful that we had the privilege to get to know these wonderful children.

Travelling to Kfar Houneh, we passed by breathtaking landscapes in the Lebanese mountains.

In this house, an old monastery, we met around 50 children and their caretakers that are spending five days together here.

The central meeting point within the monastery where most of the camp's animations take place, here during lunch time. Out of respect for personal rights, we do not post pictures of the children. But we can share with you that they entered our hearts immediately and sang "Confitemini Domino" in Arabic very powerfully!

After lunch with one...

...and the other half of caretakers.

We were amazed that the children seemed to feel so much at home, and that they all spoke either English or French fluently. So during the washing up, but especially during the following dances, songs, and the rallye, we were able to get in touch with them.

Saidoun

On the way back, we passed by Saidoun, the village of Rodrigue's grandmother who welcomed us for dinner, fruits and home-made sweets in great hospitality. She was so joyful to see her grandson and his guests that we were very sad to leave her place so quickly! Few metres from her house, a young priest conducted a workshop in the church. In the end of this event, we were invited to present ourselves briefly and concluded the sharing with a small prayer.

Every day, we enjoy the hospitality of our Lebanese hosts - here, it was Rodrigue's wonderful grandma...

...who welcomed us in the town of Saidoun.

In the evening, we were able to present ourselves in the main church of Saidoun, and to have a little moment of prayer there.

Back home.