A Pebble in the Ocean

She confides it to me while we’re standing in a mosque that memorializes the thousands of Palestinians who died in the 1982 massacre in the Sabra and Shatilla Refugee Camps here in Beirut. Everything is so overwhelming, she says, so much to do. “We’re just a pebble in the ocean.”

She is Ms. Sylvia Haddad, the Lebanon Director of the Department of Service to the Palestinian Refugees of the Middle East Council of Churches (DSPR), one of our Global Ministries partners.  She is in her 80’s and has been leading in this role for already 25 years, but her ideas for new programs are endless, more than the capacity or resources she has to realize them. She shares story after story, is quick with her opinions, and shows no sign of retiring anytime soon. She is an absolute delight.

DSPR was founded after the “Nakba” of 1948, when the State of Israel was founded and  native Palestinians were expelled from their homes and land and fled violence, becoming refugees in an instant.  That was 76 years ago. Refugee ‘camps’ that started with temporary make-shift shelters, trusting at the time that Palestinians would be able to return to their homes soon after, have become something much different in the decades since. Approximately 500,000 Palestinians are refugees residing in Lebanon, living in these incredibly congested ‘camps’.  Structures are piled on top of one another, nowhere to go but up in this tight space with too many people. There are no green spaces anywhere. A mess of electrical wire is strung everywhere overhead like spaghetti noodles, a dangerous hazard all on its own.  Most here still hope they can one day return to their beloved Palestine, even while a generation of Palestinians have already died here before seeing those hopes fulfilled.

DSPR is the only Christian organization still working in the camps, Ms. Haddad proudly tells me. Their centers are like oases, a bright place of learning and nurture and empowerment in a context where every day is a mighty challenge.  Illiteracy in the camps is high, but DSPR’s programs with children combat that & strive to carve a path to a brighter future for the children.  The children I met in one classroom proudly stood and told us their names before resuming their lessons; they were Palestinian, Lebanese, and now refugees from Syria too.

In another classroom in this multi-floored, cramped building older teenagers are learning how to fix electronics like cell phones and computers, eager to get their diplomas and find work. In another space, young women learn how to cut hair and give manicures, another economic empowerment project aimed at equipping these young people for their future.

Sylvia wonders sometimes in her constantly overwhelmed state whether they are making a difference.  But as quickly as those doubts creep in, a million stories of her Centers’ students and their successes come to mind. She knows it’s a matter of one person, one change, one possibility at a time.

A very precious pebble in a very big ocean.

Grace and peace,

Shari

The Reverend Shari Prestemon began her service with the national ministries of the United Church of Christ in January 2024. As the Acting Associate General Minister & Co-Executive for Global Ministries she has the privilege of supporting several teams: Global Ministries, Global H.O.P.E., Public Policy & Advocacy Team (Washington, D.C.), our staff liaison at the United Nations, and our Gender & Sexuality Justice Team. She previously served as a local church pastor in Illinois and Wisconsin, the Executive Director at Back Bay Mission in Biloxi, Mississippi, and the Minnesota Conference Minister. Her call to ministry grew, in part, from early Global Ministries experiences, especially service as a Peace & Justice Intern in Dumaguete City, the Philippines.