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Costa recounted a story involving a Baptist youth minister who met the father of a 17-year-old Shiite youth killed in an Israeli air strike on a southern Beirut suburb. During the burial ceremony, Israeli jets attacked the funeral procession and sent mourners scurrying to safety.

Later, the father asked the youth minister, "Why are Christians helping Muslims?"

The minister shared the story of the Good Samaritan and asked, "Who was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?"

The father responded, "The one who had mercy on him."

The youth minister then recited the words of Jesus in Matthew 5: "But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven."

Touched, the father of the deceased boy said, "We have many Christian friends. But we never knew that you have these teachings."

Seminary provost Haddad said the Holy Spirit also worked on the hardened hearts of some Christians. "We served others that we never thought possible," he said, "people we were brought up to hate."

"We built relationships, and we loved them and learned to trust," he added. "We want this to continue. We plan to keep following up [with] these people."

Christians were also among the suffering. Thirty congregants from a church in the village of Deir Memos, about nine miles north of Israel, sought shelter with the Baptists. One Sunday, displaced villagers of all faiths were invited to join in prayer together. It was the first time they had met in one church and prayed. The village is 80 percent Christian and 20 percent Muslim.

The Schneller School in West Beqaa focused on helping children aged 15 and younger face the trauma of war. They distributed toys and invited them to watch a feature film on a big screen. A psychologist was on hand to help the children address their fears, deal with the stress from the bombardment, and grieve for relatives killed.

Evangelicals, like Youth for Christ Lebanon director John Sagherian, and other volunteers visited refugee centers in Beirut's southern suburbs to play with Shiite kids. "We had the best time on the basketball court with young boys and teenagers. We prayed that our love and smiles would reflect him. They know that we are Christians."

But Kassis and other Lebanese evangelicals expressed concern that their very witness as Christians in the Middle East may be undermined by perceived Western, particularly American, evangelical support of Israel and its military actions against Hezbollah and Hamas.

"We evangelical Christians are working for peace and reconciliation in our land—also for understanding and tolerance. This war has shaken us to pieces. I was shocked to see some of our American brothers and sisters supporting Israel's disproportionate response," Kassis said.

"The father of one of our students, a 10-year-old Shiite girl, was shredded into pieces by a bomb that exploded at a mosque. How can I say to that girl that many evangelicals in the U.S. support what Israel is doing?" he said. "We are in a very hard position because of the killing of so many civilians."

"We support the war on terror, but it seems to be mixed with other things," Kassis said. "These other situations must be addressed separately. This was our problem here."

YFC's Sagherian said the situation in Lebanon and the Middle East is complex. He urged evangelicals in the West to realize that "there is an active evangelical church in the Middle East which needs prayer, understanding, and support."

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October 2006, Vol. 50, No. 10