First Safe Spaces School to Open in October in Lebanon

Group led by local United Methodists will welcome 210 students

Since early 2017, Rev. Rachel Baughman and a small group of United Methodist members and clergy have been working to create the first Safe Spaces school in Lebanon. In October, the group will welcome 210 students comprised of Syrian refugees and children from Palestine and Lebanon.

The school will be the first, hopefully, of many schools to come, but it was a great feat to bring the first one to life.

It is hard enough to create a nonprofit in the United States, so imagine what it was like for Rev. Baughman and her team to create two nonprofits: one in the United States and one in Lebanon.

“We were lucky to have met incredible people on our first trip that became invested in our collective mission,” said Rev. Baughman, who is the senior pastor at Oak Lawn UMC.

In April 2018, Safe Spaces Lebanon started the intensive renovation project under the guidance engineer Ghaleb Charif. Four months and many project meetings and updates later, the school is set to be fully renovated in early September.

Along with Rev. Baughman, notable United Methodist members of Safe Spaces Lebanon include Rev. Stephanie McKellar, a Provisional Deacon appointed to the Missional Wisdom Foundation in the Central Texas Conference, and Beaux Wellborn, a member of Lovers Lane UMC.

To donate or learn more about Safe Spaces Lebanon

Published: Friday, August 17, 2018