Weekly devotion: Creating Stories of Hope
The Library & Community Centre in the heart of Dbayeh Refugee Camp in Lebanon - an invaluable safe space offering a wealth of fun, educational and community building activities
This week we pray for all who work at and visit a special community library in Dbayeh Refugee Camp near Beirut, Lebanon. The library not only provides access to books and study space, but also brings people together for fellowship and learning.
The term ‘refugee camp’ sounds like a temporary place, where displaced people survive until it is safe to go home. But generations of Palestinian Christians have spent their whole lives in Dbayeh Camp on the northern outskirts of Beirut, where overcrowding, poverty and lack of opportunity make it a tough existence. Within this marginalised community, one place provides stability and hope – a library run by our partners, The Joint Christian Committee for Social Services in Lebanon (JCC).
For 15 years, the library has enabled children to discover their favourite stories and do their homework in a calm space, while adults can browse books they would otherwise have no opportunity to read. Its work has expanded to offer a meeting space, computer facilities and educational workshops for all ages, turning it into a popular community hub. Teenagers go there to meet friends and help out with the activities, while elderly people can find companionship and warmth within the library walls. The most important thing, however, is still to give children access to the world of books, broadening their horizons and inspiring them to create new stories for their future. Please pray for this refuge within a refuge, that it will continue to be a vital resource for Dbayeh Camp’s refugee community.
Bible reading
‘For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.’
Romans 15:4
Thought
The library in Dbayeh is a living reminder that words shape lives. Paul’s letter to the Romans emphasises that the writers of the past leave words of encouragement and hope that can transform how we approach the future. Even when many centuries or many miles separate us from one another, we can find common ground and shared experiences in the pages of books. When a child in a refugee camp reads a story and finds characters who survive challenges and gain wisdom, this encouragement and hope thrives and grows.
Ask yourself: What words – either from the Bible, from other books or from your own thoughts – can you use to encourage and strengthen others this week?
Prayer
Heavenly Father,
Thank you for the gift of words and books that teach and encourage. We hold before you the Dbayeh Library and Community Centre and everyone who enters its welcoming space. Bless those who work hard to sustain this life-changing project and let it continue to be a place of light and learning for people living in difficult conditions. Help us, too, to use our words to encourage and comfort those we meet this week.
Amen
Share Your Words of Hope
You can support and encourage a survivor of military child detention in Palestine
Find Your Next Story of Hope
Inspirational resources available from Embrace to read individually or use with a study group
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