A letter from Carol Dolezal-Ng in Lebanon
July 28, 2009
Al salaam a’alaykum!
I just returned from the Presbyterian Women’s Gathering in Louisville, Kentucky. It was a treat to see so many old friends of the Near East School of Theology (NEST) and to make new friends! Dr. Mary Mikhael is touring the United States this summer presenting worships on the Bible study she authored for Horizons, about the book of Joshua.
The academic year at NEST begins in October. On June 20, NEST graduated five students. A tradition at NEST. is for students to take turns leading daily chapel. Prior to graduation, students give what is called a “goodbye chapel.”
Dr. Mary Mikhael and Yacoub Sabbagh.
I am grateful that recent M.Div. graduate, Yacoub Sabbagh, has permitted me to share his “goodbye chapel.” Yacoub is from Syria and a member of the National Evangelical Church, which is our Presbyterian sister church in the Middle East. Take a glimpse into this young man’s journey at the NEST.
Goodbye chapel
Like all students who studied at NEST, it is now my time to pack my stuff and go forth to ministry. It was three and a half years ago when I arrived at NEST as a student, but more accurately, it was three years ago when I became aware of this tradition: the goodbye chapel. Ever since then I have been thinking, what would my last words in chapel be and what should I be speaking in my goodbye chapel?
I used to be inspired from my learning every now and then and think maybe I would speak about growth in faith, maybe about community, maybe about Christian maturity through experience … as you know, people leave unlike the way they arrive … we absolutely grow … maybe I will be talking about this experience of being here…the experience that others teach us and as we also teach others, an experience that we can never lay a hand on or feel but at NEST. Or maybe about my story at NEST. I am perfectly aware that every graduate spoke at least a few words about their story at NEST, so why should not I too?
I remember last year in a general assembly for the students, Dr. Mary carried for us an impression of someone who visited NEST. Someone who comes to NEST realizes that there is a great similarity between this community and the early church that we read about in the New Testament. Isn’t that true? We live together, we pray together, we study together, we argue and dispute together, we eat together, and we sleep together (in separate rooms though). And more or less, this is what we read about the early church. Like the early church, NEST happens … it happens because God created it, and it is molded in the image of Christ … and this is what I am quite certain about.
My youngest sister is thinking quite seriously to come to study here after she finishes her studies at the Faculty of Arts, Aleppo University. Once I was sitting with her and friends and one asked me about NEST. I said NEST happens and it is molded after the Christ Event. This terminology was new to them and so my sister asked me to elaborate.
I told them that the community of NEST causes growth. It loves, it cares, it shows grace. In the classes you sit and listen, and learn … you learn salvific truths, you learn about God whom we experience .... We experience his righteousness and faithfulness from generation to generation in such a way that you can never imagine or even grasp outside of NEST. In the chapel, you listen to God and you pray and sing, you listen to the Word of God, and indeed you pray that you may dwell in the house of the Lord forever ... because it is the most sacred place where you experience God taking you in his arms.
In the library, you sit and read and get the feeling that the whole world is present for an instant, and you desire it to last forever. You go upstairs and they feed you, and after lunch you are together with the community. You socialize. Sometimes it brings you joy, other times healing, other times challenges and rebukes. In the evening you study, and you have fun. You see people who sacrifice for your sake, and you see people fighting with you and with one another too. NEST is modeled after the Christ Event because this is what the Gospel tells us about him, isn’t it? He leads to growth. He loved, he cared, he taught, he rebuked, he prayed and he fed … he revealed saving truths, he sacrificed. He brought healing and showed grace, and I believe this is what people need—healing and grace. Jesus Christ socialized and brought joy as we experience the forgiveness of our sins. He challenged us and shook our entire being with revelations about what the love of God means and what love of neighbor means. And God’s self-revelation in Christ caused problems for certain people, challenges and bitter disputes.
He challenged us with the cost, the cross-carrying, which inside NEST was often acrimonious and unbearable for me ... a thing that used to make my spirit fade and pucker. But overall he challenged us with his resurrection in which we saw God’s answer of assurance in which we live, move, and have our being. And he promised us one thing that is never forgotten, that never fades: hope. He caressed our cheeks and held us in his heart.
Therefore, being at NEST with such a diverse community is experiencing the flooding, flamboyant presence of Christ...
As a not-yet pastor, I am called to be molded in the image of Christ, and therefore I am called to be Yacoub who has been at NEST and is about to graduate from NEST. I will go forth and help people mature. I will teach. I should care. I have to love and show grace. I must pray for healing and forgiveness of sins, pray for hope … simply point to Christ whom I experienced and saw here. And thus I will be faithful to God’s deposit of faith that I saw in you, and I trust that you will continue the ministry you started to have with me.
Near East School of Theology faculty, board, and graduates at the conclusion of the June 20 commencement service.
May God continue to bless faithful servants like Yacoub and all the NEST graduates going forth to serve. And may we all continue to be touched by the “flooding, flamboyant presence of Christ.” I look forward to a day in the very near future when I may worship in the church Yacoub will be called to serve. I return to Beirut in October.
If you would like more information about what’s happening at NEST and how you might walk with students like Yacoub, please contact me anytime. I have a fun way you can “have coffee with the NEST” this fall and help contribute to this ministry. I’d love to tell you more! Thank you for your prayers and support for the Near East School of Theology and for my call to serve.
Salaam,
Carol Dolezal-Ng
The 2009 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 346
