Reflections from My First Days as a Venturer in Beirut, Lebanon

by Julia Wallace

Clockwise from top: Julia’s second day of work, with Wissam Nasrallah (COO) and Nabil Costa (CEO); Destruction from the explosion in Beirut on August 4, 2020.

(© Hussein Malla/AP)

I arrived safely in Beirut last Friday, August 14—exactly 10 days after the explosion. This past week I was able to see firsthand the damage to the city and meet with people who were directly affected. As I began to move around the city and meet new people, a common response emerged; when I disclosed that I arrived after the explosion, I was met with quizzical looks and some variation of the question, “And you still decided to come?”

If you have kept up at all with global news the past few months, you know that their question comes as no surprise. Lebanon is in an unprecedented time of hardship marked by months of political, economic, social, and health crises. To top it all off, they were rocked by a massive explosion that killed around 180 people and injured over 6,000 more. These numbers included men and women; adults and children; locals and refugees.

This national trauma has left an already-hurting people in greater grief. It has also exacerbated their health, economic, and political struggles.

During one of my conversations with a Lebanese man this week, he said “You have come at the wrong time. Or maybe you have come at the right time. Depends on your perspective.” I’m sure there are many who think moving to Lebanon in the middle of a global pandemic after an explosion was the “wrong” decision, and on a surface level, I can see why. But I know without a shadow of a doubt that God placed this call on my life and opened the doors, and that any other choice would have been disobedience to God’s will. Isn’t that the beauty and mystery of our faith, that it compels us to act in ways that don’t always make sense?

Ten days in and I’ve already seen how God is working through the Church to meet the needs of those who are vulnerable and comfort those who are downtrodden. I’m honored to be serving alongside an organization that has already taken an active role in emergency relief through organizing shelter for the displaced, food for the hungry, and support for the hurting.

To all the people in Virginia who have made my move to Lebanon possible through your support and prayers: thank you. I am happy to report that God is multiplying your gifts—to both me and the Lebanese Society for Education and Social Development—for the love of others and the glory of his name.

For more information about Julia and the Venturer program, and to donate to Julia’s ministry in Beirut, visit BGAV.org/ Venturers.

Julia Wallace is a BGAV Venturer in Beirut, Lebanon.