February 1-10, a team of seven from Common Ground Midtown traveled to Beirut, Lebanon with plans of providing a retreat for the Youth for Christ (YFC) staff along with some funding for a Youth Reconciliation Center. Armed with $11,500 raised from the Midtown congregation during our 2016 Redistribute campaign, the team was ready to provide practical assistance and prayed that they would see more clearly how Common Ground is being invited to partner in God’s work in the Near East.

Our Common Ground team led the YFC staff on a retreat where they learned to lie down and rest, be still and refresh their souls. The staff comes from varied backgrounds and carries heavy burdens. From a Muslim refugee who fled Syria, to being raised in a boys home, to marital problems tied to ministry loads, the staff needed care and refreshment. Redistribute funds made it possible for the staff to receive from God, and respond to His love.

In addition to the retreat, the team visited and prayed over the Youth Reconciliation Center, which is currently under construction in a Beirut neighborhood that is filled with Lebanese and Syrian teens, gangs and drugs. The center, slated to open this spring, will offer a forgiveness curriculum developed in Belfast, Ireland, as well as life skills training and a coffee shop.

This is only a glimpse of the work accomplished and there is so much more to share! If you’d like to see more pictures and learn more about the work in Lebanon, please join us for lunch on Sunday, March 19 from 12:30-2 in the Community Room at Midtown. Registration is open to individuals and families, and we ask that you register via this link by March 13. Have questions? Please send us an email.