THIMAR 25th Anniversary Celebration
David and I had the privilege of attending the ‘THIMAR’ (new name for LSESD) 25th Anniversary Celebration in Beirut, Lebanon from 27-29 September. We stayed in the Moore Conference Centre at Mansourieh, on a hilltop six miles east of Beirut, with a superb view over the city to the Mediterranean Sea. This large site houses the HQ of Thimar, the Arab Baptist Theological Seminary, Dar Manhal al Hayat (The Baptist Publishing House) and the SKILD Centre (for Smart Kids with Individual Learning Differences) as well as the conference building.
David and Dorothy at the opening ceremony.
The celebration consisted of an inspiring Opening Ceremony on Wednesday evening, attended by THIMAR staff, friends, supporters and civic guests. There followed two days of presentations and keynote addresses from a variety of speakers. There were many opportunities to network with partners and supporters from all over the world (just 5 of us from NI) and on Saturday we visited a couple of impressive tourist sites – the Shouf Cedars Reserve (with many ancient cedar trees) and the Beiteddine Palace.
The cedars of Lebanon.
Before the Celebration began, I had the chance to visit the Beirut Baptist School in downtown Beirut, attended by over 1400 children from kindergarten to end of secondary school. The school (run by THIMAR) provides high quality care and education for children and young people, including programmes for those with learning differences, with one-to-one provision as well as integration into mainstream classes where possible. Staff are deeply committed to the all-round wellbeing of all the children and, since the covid pandemic, have been offering counselling when needed to both school students and their families.
The Thimar staff and conference centre team were outstanding in their meticulous planning, generous hospitality (amazing Lebanese food!) and unstinting time commitment to all of us – around 200 partners present. It was a truly special experience – to see the people and buildings we had previously seen only on Zoom and to hear and see the work in which they are involved at first hand.
David and Dorothy along with Tomas Mackey (BWA President) and Alia Aboud (Chief Development Officer, THIMAR).
‘Thimar’ means ‘fruit’ and we heard many stories during our week in Beirut of the fruit God has produced through the faithful seed sowing of all involved. This verse is printed on some Thimar literature and challenges us all:
“Live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God.” (Colossians 1:10).
Dorothy McMillan