Doug Ward recounts his recent trip

Jenny Burr
Spur Ottawa Correspondent

Travelling to Lebanon is likely not on your bucket list right now. With the Syrian conflict barely across the border circumstances are volatile, to say the least. However, a journey to Lebanon is precisely what Doug Ward, a pastor at Kanata Baptist Church, did in June.

“There is no ISIS territory in Lebanon,” Ward explains in response to questions of safety. “It’s as safe as it could be, just as safe as crossing the street here. There is always an element of danger, but you must trust your local hosts, who live every day in these conditions and know what is what.”

Ward was on a team of six people representing Canadian Baptist Ministries at a conference on Christian-Muslim relations. The conference was held at the Arab Baptist Theological Seminary in Beirut. This year’s theme was the refugee crisis.

“It was good to hear the disparate voices coming from every possible source,” Ward says. “There were theologians, care and humanitarian workers, writers, researchers, and pastors. We were talking about the collision of Muslim and Christian values and the value of the human person. It exposed people to a wide array of views to help come to consensus on the most important issues at stake, from the gospels perspective.”

The conference was structured in a series of TED talks, giving lots of chances for participants to dialogue together about each particular views.

“The refugees are not allowed to make a permanent settlement. Their tent cities offer very little in the way of water and electricity, and no sewage treatment whatsoever.”

During his second week in Lebanon, Ward visited a church that serves more than 2000 refugees, both Christian and Muslim. The church provides food through a UN program and teaches women how to sew. They also run a school on three different shifts to accommodate all the children.

Ward also had the chance to tour a refugee tent city.

“The refugees are not allowed to make a permanent settlement. No camps are allowed in Lebanon, so they pour over the border, squatting on others’ land. These tent cities offer very little in the way of water and electricity, nothing in the way of foodstuffs, medical or dental care, and no sewage treatment whatsoever.”

The tents are roughly nine-meters long and 4-meters wide. With temperatures above 40 degrees, Ward says the heat is sweltering.

A “bathroom” in the refugee tent city. Photo by Doug Ward.

“They are expected to pay rent and child labor is the norm. Private donations, working illegally [without the needed paperwork], international programs, and local churches allow people to survive. Some have lived in there for four years.”

Another of Ward’s goals was contacting the Syrian family his church is sponsoring to come to Canada as refugees. He shares, “I was able to speak to our family for a few moments through an interpreter. They live north of Byblos, near the ocean.” Ward says it was encouraging “to introduce myself and the church and assure them of our help when they arrive.”