From Holland to Beirut: A Young Missionary Couple's Journey - Part 2
Episode Summary
Listen to part two of Rashidah's inspiring conversation with Jan and Clasina, a young missionary couple from the Netherlands who have been serving in Lebanon since 2020 among refugees. In this segment, they talk more about what God is doing in Lebanon and lessons and insights they've learned along the way.
(This is part 2, Listen to part 1)
Subscribe to Crescent Project Radio
Transcript
Rashidah: Hi! I’m Rashidah and you’re listening to Crescent Project Radio, where we believe we have a hope worth sharing. Welcome to part two of my conversation with Jan and Clasina from the Netherlands, who are serving as missionaries in Lebanon among refugees. So can you tell us more about your ministry? What types of projects are you involved in?
Clasina: So we do relief ministry and we have a community in Beirut that we care for—around 400 families. But then we also receive containers, and we work together with Christian organizations and with churches in the country so that the resources that we receive that we can share it with others. And that is mainly my job. So I keep contact with the donors—the people that send us resources for the funds—and also with our partners in Lebanon so that we can work together. And something new is that we are not only. . . We don't only want to give people aid or a food coupon or something short-term, but we're hoping to adopt a few more families so that we can help them to learn some new skills. So, for example, now this summer we will do a pilot with 6 women. And they will be trained at a church in sewing so that hopefully then they can later on work at a company to do sewing. So this is something new we work on.
Rashidah: Oh, awesome. And how many people are on your team?
Jan and Clasina: Yeah, so it's three staff and then we have a group of 6 volunteers.
Rashidah: Awesome. And the rest of the staff and volunteers--where are they from?
Jan: So our volunteers it's mainly so they're coming from Beirut and we have some Armenians, like 3 Armenian guys. Also, a mixed background; it's like Lebanese-Armenian. Now we have 1 girl from Syria. She's living here for 6 years, I think, or 8. And we have one Lebanese on our team—no, two Lebanese. We also had some guys who already left the country. So it's a mix of Lebanese, Syrian, Armenian, Dutchies. . . What else?
Clasina: Yeah, that’s it.
Jan: Yeah, so it's an interesting group because we have like well-educated people but also some people who are not educated, who are not able to write and to—at least not in English—but some people really can't write and read. So it's, that's really interesting, but it's also nice because, yeah, of course, the story of the disciples in the Bible. They also had big different backgrounds. So it's funny sometimes working united.
Rashidah: So, can you tell us some stories about what God is doing in Lebanon? When I was there, there were many surprises for me, and there were many things that were more beautiful than I expected. There was a lot of hope that I saw . . . God doing so many things. And I believe that even some people on your team have testimonies from a Muslim background, coming to faith in Christ. So can you tell us some stories that exemplify what God is doing in the country?
Jan: Now I think you know already this story, but it's always a story that's really strong for us still. So we have Amira, who is from Syria. She’s part of our team, and she has a Muslim background. So the story is that, after the blast, we did home visits to a lot of families who were in need for help, for fixing their houses, but mainly to share food with them, to pray with them. And so we met a lot of people. But this family, during that time, they were believers already. And then we heard the story of her father, which still is really special because he was an imam. So, he was an Islamic teacher in Syria and, during that time, they lived in hard circumstances in the war. And a local church was distributing food and they were in need, so this guy, this father, went to this church. And somehow ISIS got to know that this Muslim teacher went to a church. So they took him and they brought him to the jail or a place where they kept all the people, and he got a penalty to die. Did I say this right?
Rashidah: Death penalty.
Jan: Yeah, a death penalty. So they said, “Okay. Next week.” I forgot the time, but they were planning to execute him. And the night before then, this man, Muhammad, got a dream. And in this dream, God, Jesus, spoke to him and he said, “Hey, I'm going to free you tomorrow during the execution.” So he woke up the next day, and he was brought to the place where he should be executed. And then during the moment that they were shooting or they were making it ready, there were riots on the place. So somehow it became really unrestful and they had to refocus. So, they focused on the problems, and Muhammad was able to escape and they were even shooting after him. So the family, they were home and they were not Christian yet. So he came home and they were able to escape. . . I forgot the details, but they were able to reach Lebanon, and the father he became a believer. So that's already a great story. . . Then he shared it all with his family—with his wife, with his kids—and so they all came to faith. And the last part of the story. . . and maybe you didn't hear this . . . because last Christmas the father told me that in Beirut he met one of the guys who tortured him in prison. So one of the ISIS guys who tortured him. And he met him in Beirut. And the thing was that even this man became a believer somehow. So yeah, I can't imagine how it should be like that. But he told me that they were able to connect, also to forgive him and to become friends. and yeah, it's yeah, it's a yes.
Rashidah: Wow! That’s amazing. . . Only in the Kingdom of God does this happen. Really.
Jan: Yeah, it’s an unbelievable story, and I always say they can write a book about this.
Rashidah: Yes, between their two stories they could!
Jan: So his daughter. . . She's now part of our team and she's really doing great. You know her. She's really faithful, and she's really humble and she's giving everything, so it's special to realize, “Wow! This is part of this story and now she is sharing with others”. Yeah, and we have more stories like that if you want to hear them.
Clasina: Yeah, when I was thinking about this question of what is God doing in Lebanon. . . like people are really under a lot of pressure. I think that you can feel it on the streets, right? There's not a lot of joy, and the people are not so hopeful. But then we have our discipleship groups. . . So we offer Bible studies with women and also with men. And every time that we start this, I'm amazed with how the women open up whenever they have a chance to talk and to breathe and to share with each other. And in this I really see the hand of the Lord because it gives them some healing, I think, and some time to let go of all the pressure that they're under. And it opens—at least this is what I can see—it opens their hearts to the message of the Lord. And I am thankful for these moments and that I can be part of these groups and what is growing here in Lebanon. . . that people cry out to the Lord and He listens.
Rashidah: That's awesome.
Jan: And maybe one note about that because it's a lot of Syrian people we meet. So they were already in big need, but nowadays there is a lot of pressure in the country about everyone wants—at least the government and a big part of the society—they’re tired of the Syrian people here. They want to get rid of them and for them to go back to Syria. That's a big opinion. And now like last week we see the police on the streets. They're having checkpoints and you have to show your papers. And if you don't have legal papers, they take you and they bring you back to Syria where you can serve in the army. So, for example, this morning I heard that one of our volunteers— also a Syrian—he was in the church with her and he was taken—a guy from 18 years. And they didn't hear anything from him. . . So there are lots of stories like that. There's a lot of fear now to go on the street. They have to go because they have to work, but, at the same time, they are really scared to be taken. So the hopeful message is . . . So we can help them a bit with some food, but we always said like, yeah, we can share a bit of food but after a couple of days it's gone. But what we really like to share is the message of hope. Like, “Hey, God is seeing you, God is hearing you, and He wants to care about you.” And this is the real hope and it doesn't solve all your problems straight away. But He you will hear you and, yeah, that's great to share and it's great, too, that a lot of Syrian people want to listen to this message. Not all of them. There are also people who are just sad and yeah, not so open. That's also part of the story. But, yeah, for the ones who open their hearts, it's great.
Rashidah: Yeah, I was also impressed with the Lebanese churches that we worked with—just how much they were doing to serve the community and share the love of Christ in tangible ways. I mean, honestly, that church in Beirut that opened a medical clinic during the pandemic. . . That doesn't even seem possible with my Western mindset of how things should work. . . that in the midst of all that was falling apart in Lebanon that they were able to build a medical clinic that serves hundreds of people for free every month. Like it's mind-blowing and it's humbling, really.
Clasina: Yeah, yeah, it is definitely.
Rashidah: Yeah, I was not expecting that at all. And another thing that surprised me was the young people. You know we met a couple of young college students who are from a Muslim background who have to wear the hijab because their families are still Muslim. But they are boldly sharing their faith and they're involved. Can you talk a little bit about what God is doing among young people—whether they're from a Muslim background or not in Lebanon? I know that's not what you're focused on in your ministry, but just in terms of what you've seen.
Clasina: I think I have to think about the student ministry. . . how this is actually growing, right? There's more and more youngsters I think that they reach out to and they. . . yeah, I don't know all the details.
Jan: But we can say what we know of this ministry. . . that it is growing and also with people from a Muslim background. They are open to it. And we have some stories also in the south that are reaching out to their Muslim families. Yeah, we are not really in the youth ministry a lot, so it's hard to really have a clear answer about this. but I'm sure God is. . .
Clasina: Yeah, but when I think about our own church in Beirut. It's such a young community and like we are one of the older ones. And it's actually a lot of people with a Muslim background and they just were searching online for biblical teams. And more and more they started exploring and then they came across our church. And they just walked in without their families knowing of what they are doing. Yeah, I think God is working especially under the younger generation here that is still hopeful and longing for a better future for the country.
Rashidah: Yeah, you know, for me, as a mother of a teenager going to Beirut, I thought, from the context that I'm from, there would be very little to have hope in in Lebanon if I were 18/19/20 years old. Many of the things that young people here look forward to like, “Oh, I'm going to get a job, a good job, that pays.” Or, “I'm going to be able to travel and see the world.” Or, “I'm going to be able to start a business”. . . Many of the things that young people put their hope in here. . . they're not possible, they don't exist under the current situation in Lebanon. But I still saw hope in young people. But their hope was in God. To me, I didn't see a whole lot else to have hope in but in God in Lebanon. . . And that's in some ways a really hard thing, but in other ways it's a very beautiful thing for people to. . . You know, there's a difference between optimism and hope. And in places where, you know, you turn on the faucet and the water's there and the electricity's always on and all those things. . . and there's jobs and, you know, your currency has value and there's banks and all of these things. . . It's very easy to mix all of that up with hope. And when things are really hard, then you find out what real hope is . . . and that, you know, hope is being part of God's story and that, you know, God is real and He is very present with those who are hurting. . . And He can take horrible things like an explosion and bring beautiful things out of it—bring healing and bring community and love and bring people together who would be otherwise strangers.
Clasina: Yeah, exactly.
Jan: I was just saying to Clasina. . . what we have seen in the past years with all the crises. . . And so you were mentioning the example of the church who is doing health clinics. And I think there are lots of Christian NGOs—also non-Christian NGOs. But there are so many ministries happening now, and also a lot of young people who are involved in that. So that's already great. And I think what I noticed—just to compare it with Holland, with our background—people are more used to talking about God and to living the faith and that's something I sometimes I forget. But I realized that when I came here that they are used to talking about God, to spending time with God and to really being open to speak together about God. And yeah, that's something great. Yeah, the circumstances are maybe tough but the faith is big. . . and that's something great.
Rashidah: Yeah, it is. Yes. So what are some of the important insights that you feel that you've learned about being an effective witness to Muslims and sharing the gospel with them through all of this?
Clasina: I think it's very important to build relationships, strong relationship, first. Like not directly go and tell your story but take your time, drink coffee and listen and then find the openings to share. But also, a friend of ours was always saying like it's also good to just share boldly. There's no need to be shy because there is a difference with what we are used to in the Netherlands. There is more shame, I think, to talk about your faith, but here it's not like that. People are happy to discuss and to hear what you have to say about your faith and to find the similarities or the differences. So this is something really nice here. . . that there's a lot of openness to the Gospel.
Jan: Yeah, so it has 2 ways. Like relationship is really important, and again comparing to Holland, we first focused on the relationship. And if the relationship was really good, then we felt the freedom to share about Jesus. But here sometimes it’s also really straight away. They come to our place, we share food, and we share a message of hope—this is always what we share as an introduction. Then quite fast we share about Jesus. So yeah, it is boldly and without shame. And sometimes I feel like, “Hey, we should take it easy a bit,” but somehow they are okay with it—the families who are coming. And then I realized, “Yeah. Why not?”—if they are open for it—"Why not sharing and being open and transparent about what we're doing. what our biggest faith is, and in whom we trust?” And they like to listen to it. And I think for us sometimes also it's a challenge. . . So we can’t always share a message. . . Sometimes we talk in the team also about how sometimes our attitude is more important than our words. Because, yeah, we're human beings and we're doing a lot of ministry—2 times a week we're doing distribution, we have the discipleship moments and so on. So sometimes it just becomes ministry. We have like 50 people coming to our center, so we have to make sure that we don't forget why we are there. So, for example, starting our time with God before the families are coming. And we have time to pray together, to get connected with God, and not be there with our own strength. And it's not always going good. Sometimes we are annoyed by small things and we are not always united, but I think attitude is important and to be connected to the root, like to Jesus, like the John 15 story. Without Him, we can’t bear any fruit and that's even in our personal lives. When we forget this, then we easily get annoyed with each other or as a family. So it's always the base of the ministry but in personal life, as well.
Rashidah: And what are some of the biggest lessons that God has taught you, in general, through your time in Lebanon?
Clasina: Yeah, I think patience is a big one. I was expecting, I think, like to be effective right away, but it wasn't like this. So I had to really learn to be patient and trust in the Lord and not focus too much on what my abilities are but more like what's important is how God looks at me. And then I think another one that was, that is important to us still, is that we as a family should stay strong and stable. Because the work is sometimes hard, the circumstances are in the country. But then if we focus too much on these things and we are not giving priority to our marriage, for example, or how we interact with the children, then this is just not good. . . You notice it in the atmosphere in the house. So we always try to have things stable and rolling at home, and then work from there, do the work from there.
Jan: Yeah, and it's not always going well, of course. But we notice it directly. For example, when we have a fight and one of us should go to the field to do ministry. Yeah. . . You can't really do ministry well with knowing, “Hey, we have an issue to solve.” So yeah, it has a lot of impact in our life to stay united Yeah, what else? Yeah, we thought about endurance, like it takes time. I think we didn't talk about Arabic. It's, for us, really a big challenge.
Rashidah: Yeah, please talk about Arabic! Lol.
Jan: Yeah, and we both are different in it, as well. I always say Clasina is more disciplined and she also has more skills. But it's a challenge to learn the language. And it's important because, if you don't have the language, it’s hard to communicate with people, to talk in their heart language. So, to be honest, I'm not where I hoped to be in my Arabic, so sometimes that is a challenge to accept myself in this. I blame myself a lot sometimes, but I have to say something like, “Hey, it is what it is. We have a family. We have our own skills, our own history and just do whatever you can do and do it the best you can as if it is for God.” But that's a challenge sometimes—to accept yourself not functioning as you, as we, did in Holland in your own language and your own culture. Yeah, so endurance— it's something we learned and we’re still learning to keep on running.
Rashidah: And so what are some of your goals and dreams for the future?
Clasina: I think at some point we will move back to the Netherlands. And then, for me, I'm hoping to use the things that I've learned here—the experience I have with the Arabs, the language—to use it at maybe an NGO or the government in a position. But my hope is that I can use the things I've learned here again in this field.
Jan: Yeah, same. I'm also sometimes thinking, “Hey, what's next? If we go back or if we go to another place?” I'm hoping that I will at least go where we think God is guiding us. And then, two, I know my desire is to. . . I still have a heart—I think I always had a heart—for the people on the edge of the society. So I hope—wherever we go—that I will keep focusing on that. And I realized I have a heart for communities, churches. And if we go back to Holland, I hope that somehow I can help my own church or the church in general to reach out to the people on the edges of the society . . . Because I see how much it can also impact the church itself. . . Like when we have a living faith by doing the things we're talking about, it can be so nice. . . and we are united as a church, united with God, and reaching out to the people, that's great for everyone.
Rashidah: Yeah, it's a beautiful thing.
Jan: So I hope that I can have a role in this somehow, without knowing exactly what role. But I hope God will use me in something like that. Yeah.
Rashidah: Yeah. . . Well, thank you so much for your time to come on the podcast and share so honestly about your journey and what you've learned, what you've seen, and what you're a part of. . . Yeah, it was such a pleasure to meet you and your girls in Lebanon and, yeah, definitely your family has a beautiful light that God uses. I think people can see Jesus in your family and that's something really special. So thank you so much. Clasina, will you close us in prayer?
Clasina: Yes, sure. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for your faithfulness, for your listening ear, your helping hand when we feel weak and we feel like we can’t continue. We know that you are our hope and that we can trust in you and that you will build us up. And we continue to ask, Lord, for your blessing on all of us—not just our family and Rashidah, but also to the listeners. Lord, we thank you that we could share a bit and we ask for your blessing over this community. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.
Rashidah: Amen.