Dr. George Sabra, president of the Near East School of Theology
As conflict in Syria continues, the world is watching to see how the crisis affects its neighbouring countries. Given its strained history with Syria, many are concerned Lebanon will soon be swept up by the Syrian crisis. The Near East School of Theology in Beirut has weathered 80 years of Lebenese history. During the Lebanese Civil War from 1975 to 1990 enrollment dropped to a third of it’s original size. Still, the school kept its doors open. Though modest in student and faculty population, NEST has a wide impact: many of its graduates go on to lead Arabic ministries in North American cities or become prominent church leaders in the Middle East. This past year the school promoted its academic dean, Dr. George Sabra, to president.
In October, he spoke with the Record by phone and through email:
On how the instability in Syria is affecting the lives of NEST’s students:
Our seminary is an interdenominational Protestant seminary serving the region of the Near East (Lebanon, Syria, Israel-Palestine, Jordan), so we get our students from all these countries. We have some Syrian students and at least one Syrian faculty member. Most of these reside in Lebanon at the moment, but of course their hearts and minds are in Syria in these troubled times.
We also have one Syrian graduate student who commutes every couple of weeks from Syria to study at NEST. He is an ordained pastor, and has recently been appointed pastor of the city of Homs. His church has been badly damaged in the fighting, but he still manages to gather some of the members of his congregation in a seniors home belonging to the church.
We also have Syrian students residing at NEST; these go to neighboring universities. Of course they are worried about their families and friends, and they often cannot go home to visit. Some of their parents are unable to send them money regularly to support their studies and their stay at NEST.
In July we had our annual continuing education seminar for the graduates of NEST. Not one alumnus came from Syria to participate, although in previous years, the Syrian participants were the majority.
On the electricity crisis in Lebanon:
Lebanon has been suffering from electricity shortages since the beginning of the Lebanese war in 1975-76. The recent events in Syria affected us because the electrical power that Lebanon used to buy from Syria is no longer available. Officially there is a rationing of three hours per day in Beirut—in other areas of the country it could go up to 12 or 18 hours. Recently, however, Beirut has been experiencing cuts of more than six hours a day.
NEST has its own generator, but it is over 20 years old; it does not generate the needed power, and it is beginning to break down. We have launched an appeal to our friends and partners to raise money for purchasing a new generator.
The Presbyterian Church of Canada generously contributed $6,000. Local churches contributed some funds and so did the PC(USA), but we are still short of some $6,000.
On recent kidnappings:
A few weeks ago [in September] there was a wave of kidnappings that has now subsided. The Lebanese government took serious measures to combat that. There were two types of kidnappings. One was for purely financial reasons. Kidnappers asked for ransom money. Some of the kidnapped were Lebanese, but also some Syrians who had been coming to Lebanon to escape the fighting and who brought their money with them. The other type was political. There are some Lebanese who were kidnapped by the Syrian opposition, mainly because they were accused of being helpers of the regime in Syria. So, their relatives in Lebanon kidnapped Syrians here so as to exchange them with the ones in Syria. But all of this has now died down.
We caution our students, of course, about going some places in the country; we make sure they tell us where they are going, but there are no great worries about [them being kidnapped] at the moment.
On NEST’s relationship with the PCC:
The relationship goes a long way back. We have had faculty members sent to us by the PCC; Rev. Dr. Ted Siverns was one of them. He (and Betty) came here in the midst of the Lebanese conflict, and both rendered us a great service for which we are forever grateful.
The PCC has been a strong supporter of NEST and its ministry over the years; they have always come to our aid in difficult times. We have received many visits from the church and we hope to reciprocate some day.
On the future of Lebanon:
So far, it looks like the Lebanese politicians, some of whom are pro-Syrian regime and others pro-Syrian people, are determined not to let the Syrian crisis spill over into our country. The future is unpredictable, however. We may not be able to control the developments, but the sooner the Syrian crisis is resolved, the safer Lebanon will be.
