When the 3 o’clock school bell rings to end the school day in Alabama, it’s already 11 p.m. in Nabil Costa’s world. But even though he’s eight hours further into the day, his schoolwork is just wrapping up, too.
There’s a lot of preparation to be done when all 1,200 students at your school need to experience the real love Christianity has to offer.
“What they see in the media does not reflect real Christianity,” Costa said of the students at Beirut Baptist School in Lebanon. His role as executive director of the Lebanese Society for Educational and Social Development (LSESD) puts him over the school also. “We want to show them in a practical way what real Christianity is. In our situation, we have an opportunity to live in front of them and show what the core of Christianity is.”
Of all the kindergarteners through 12th graders, probably 1,100 of them come from non-Christian backgrounds, Costa said. The other 100 are culturally Christian, meaning they don’t attend church and are most likely Catholic or Greek Orthodox.
“We feel called to live here and be true witnesses where God wants us to be,” he said. “This is our origin. This is where we were born, and this is where our ministry should be.”
Costa will share the story of his ministry in Lebanon at an upcoming conference at Shades Mountain Baptist Church, Vestavia Hills, in Birmingham Baptist Association. The conference, Understanding the Middle East from the Inside Out, is sponsored by Samford University and The Alabama Baptist.
Costa’s lecture, “LSESD’s Ministry in the Middle East: Making a Difference,” will give him the opportunity to shed light on the way things truly are in his nation.
“You only get to hear the bad news, the scary news and the hopeless news about what is going on in the Middle East, but I am going to be sharing the good news of what is truly happening in Lebanon,” he said. “We still can be a real example not only of how to survive but also live happily with people from non-Christian backgrounds.”
Topics presented by other speakers at the conference, set for April 27 from 9 a.m.–3:30 p.m., will include Understanding Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations, Political Dynamics of the Middle East and Christian Education in a Muslim Culture.
Costa said it is important for Alabama Baptists to understand life in Lebanon and other countries of the Middle East in order to be appropriately involved in helping meet the great need.
“People in the United States are very busy in very legitimate things, but when they come to our country and see the minorities there, they are moved to get involved,” he said. “When they know about what’s going on here, they can recognize the opportunities and see for themselves that not every Muslim is a terrorist. They can see that we live together in a very civilized way and we help each other.”
Samford has established a connection with Baptists in the Middle East, according to Samford President Thomas E. Corts.
“Generally Americans have had little contact with the Arab-Muslim world, and our lack of knowledge and understanding makes us fearful and cautious beyond reason,” he said, adding that Samford hopes to one day send students regularly to that part of the world.
To register or receive more information, contact Ron Wilson at 205-726-4200 or jrwilso1@samford.edu. (Sondra Washington contributed)
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