From Deadly Bombs to a God-Led Future

Reemas was just 9 days old when her parents, fleeing from the insidious bombardment of their home village in Syria, crossed the border into Lebanon as refugees. Growing up in the immigrant and refugee neighborhood of Bourj Hammoud in Beirut, her options for getting an education were rather limited. That was until her family found out about the Adventist Learning Center (ALC), a new school that welcomed with open arms everyone who desired an education.

Now as a seventh-grade ALC student, Reemas communicates well in English and sings in the school choir, as she herself explains with a wide smile. Beside her stands her classmate and friend, Farida, a second-generation Kurdish who grew up in Bourj Hammoud. And with them, Ahmad K. and Ahmad A., also Syrian refugees and ALC students.

“Education has given these refugees an opportunity to find a way to overcome their challenging childhoods and thrive,” local church leaders explained. “Instead of roaming the streets with no purpose, these kids are set to eventually become professionals and make a positive contribution to society.”

Making Something Beautiful

The ALC began more than a decade ago as an initiative to help newly arrived Syrian refugees to overcome their war-related trauma and get an education, school principal Alexis Hurd-Shires explained. With the steady support of Adventist Mission, the Middle East and North Africa Union Mission (MENAUM), local stakeholders, teachers, volunteers, and donors, the school, which recently moved to a new building, is changing young lives from hopelessness to hope, leaders said.

On November 21 a special dedication ceremony of a new school building brought together church leaders, some students and teachers, and other stakeholders to thank God and supporters, listen to former students’ testimonies, and pray for everyone involved in the initiative. Special visitors included Rick McEdward, General Conference (GC) secretary and former MENAUM president; GC vice president Leonard Johnson, GC Education director Lisa Beardsley-Hardy, GC associate treasurer German Lust, and Global Mission Centers director ChanMin Chung.

During her opening remarks Hurd-Shires used the image of how the ocean turns sea glass smooth and beautiful little by little to emphasize that ALC students “are very different from the students that came to us in 2013 with their lives destroyed by war, with their families broken apart. They were hurt, and they were in pain.” She explained that at the ALC, teachers “got an opportunity to step into their lives, surrounding them like the sea, to strengthen them, to brush off their rough edges, and to put them in a place where they can go and be part of something beautiful. . . . Every child who walks through our doors is changed.”

Heartbreaking, Inspiring Stories

During the November 21 dedication program several students shared their experiences and provided a window into the role the ALC had in their early lives and education. These included Ezzidine Jaafar, who studied from grade 1 to 8 at the ALC and graduated in 2021. “It’s an honor for me to stand here and share my experience,” he said confidently in English.

Jaafar shared that when he arrived as a Syrian refugee, he didn’t know anyone. “But the ALC became my family; it is now part of me,” he shared. “I was surrounded by kind people, and I found a safe place to express my feelings with people who really cared about me and really loved me.”

For Reem Al Mahmoud, who graduated in 2024, “the ALC stepped up with their wonderful teachers to provide an education [for me],” she shared. “Here I learned to express what I felt, to stand up for myself. [Teachers] didn’t only teach; I learned more about how to become what I want . . . and I learned to dream big.”

Al Mahmoud added that one of the most important lessons she learned at the ALC is that “no matter what my past is, what matters is my future. That’s what I should think about, and that’s what I should look forward to.”

Former students’ testimonies also included that of Mayssam Mohammad, 22 and a 2019 ALC graduate, who shared how ALC teachers encouraged her to keep studying to finish high school and strive to enroll in university studies. “I want to become a doctor in the future, and I don’t care about age, because this is what I want to do.” Meanwhile, Mohammad began to work at the ALC in various capacities, including as an Arabic teacher.

From Bombs to Peace Forums

A final testimony showcased the story of Osman Hassoun, who arrived with his family as Syrian refugees in 2012 after managing to escape from civil war in his native country. Hassoun shared how during the war he was saved twice from dying. In one instance he and his dad hid under a grocery store shelf as bombs fell around them. “That moment changed me forever,” Hassoun shared as he recounted leaving their hiding to find relatives, friends, and neighbors maimed and dead all around him. “These are sad memories, and I still feel the weight of them,” he said.

But against all odds, Hassoun shared, at the ALC he learned that resilience, determination, and willingness to ask for help lead to success. After graduation he kept studying and volunteering at the ALC as a physical education teacher. In 2022 Hassoun enrolled at Middle East University, where he is hoping to graduate in a year with a degree in business administration.

At the same time, Hassoun has joined the International Association of Youth and Students for Peace, through which he has participated in an international peace summit in South Korea and spoken at a United Nations event. “God has saved my life twice, and I believe He has a purpose for me,” he said.

God’s Fairness in Display

As ALC vice principal, Luis Hurtado explained that he’s always hoping “for souls who are looking to have a meaningful life in a very complex area of the world. . . . The ALC is for people who want to have a meaningful life.”

Hurtado went on to explain the rationale and the theology behind the ALC initiative: “We know that in the end, everyone will confess that God is fair. And because God is fair, and God is love, He has allowed us to have a place like this, a place that shows God’s love, not only to those who are [benefiting] from this education but to those who hear about it.”

After acknowledging that the ALC has a waiting list and cannot serve all those it would like to for lack of resources and funds, Hurtado said he dreams of replicating this model in other places and with other communities of refugees across the region. “What are we missing to make this a reality?” he queried. “The human factor.” Hurtado called everyone to pray, because “God has already proven He can do anything. . . . So pray for all those who are willing to come to serve for how long God tells them.”

A Happy Place

At the end of the testimonies, McEdward delivered the inaugural address. “This has been a journey of mission, sacrifice, dedication, and God’s provision,” he said. “Let me say this clearly: God has provided for families in this ministry all through the years in ways we did not expect. And God continues to bless.”

McEdward shared about the first time he visited the ALC in an old building, to find out that it was “one of the happiest places he’d ever been.” He recounted how “kids were coming up to me with these giant smiles, and they were speaking to me in perfect English.” In fact, when free health clinics were organized, McEdward said, “ALC students served as interpreters, because their level of English was so good they could do it.”

He also reminded those attending the ceremony that the ALC “does not stand alone. It comes with the backing of our world [Seventh-day Adventist] Church . . . and the regional headquarters here in Beirut.” McEdward told students that this shows that the church “cares about each one of you and your experiences because we want to do something significant for your life.” He called everyone to “do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8).

After McEdward, East Mediterranean Region director Darron Boyd led a dedication prayer on behalf of students, teachers, and all those connected to the ALC. Pastors present raised their hands in a circle around them. “The Lord has a plan for this place and these young people,” leaders emphasized. “Thank You for allowing us to be part of Your plan.”