Meet Fatme
In honor of Women’s History Month, we’re continuing our series highlighting three of the many inspiring women we’re privileged to meet as we partner with local churches around the world. Today, we’d like you to meet Fatme.
Fatme grew up in a slum in Syria. Her journey has been full of darkness and pain, but today, she has hope because of the love she and her two daughters have experienced through Tyre Church in Lebanon.
We invite you to take three minutes today to watch her story:
A little more background on Fatme’s journey
Fatme’s father passed away when she was 9 months old, leaving her mother to raise her and her siblings alone. She lost many family members and friends when war broke out in Syria. Fatme and her two young daughters came to Lebanon as refugees with her husband.
However, he became abusive and eventually threw them out, leaving them to live on the streets.
Years of loss, violence and abuse, often from people claiming to want to help, left Fatme in a constant state of fear and mistrust.
One day, another Syrian refugee family agreed to take them in for two weeks and worked with them to try to find a place for them to live. That’s when they heard about Tyre Church. Fatme and her daughters, Cidra and Jouri, now live in an apartment near the church, the girls are attending school, and the staff is working with Fatme to help her heal and take steps forward.
“When we came to this church, we started feeling we were humans with value. If they see a stranger who needs help, they would offer help without expecting anything in return. Not like the other people that abused us before, for their personal desires. Here they just practice kindness for the Lord. I saw that with my own eyes… ” — Fatme
The ministry of Tyre Church, Lebanon
Home to less than 5 million of its own, Lebanon has recently served as a refuge for 1.5 million people fleeing from civil wars in Syria, Iraq and Yemen. South of Beirut, Tyre Church provides education, medical care, counseling, emergency care, homes, family and spiritual hope to orphans, widows and refugees in their communities.
We are privileged to play a small role in the work of Pastor Mohammad and his team. Along with a growing network of churches in Jordan, Egypt and Syria, they are bright lights in their communities.
* This post is one of a 3-part series featuring women of The Global Orphan Project.
Meet international needs
Support our local church partners in Lebanon and around the world who are caring for children and families like Fatme’s. You can provide the basics every child deserves and help keep families together by giving to our International Fund or by meeting specific, real-time needs through our online platform CarePortal.