Meeting Spiritual Needs in the Wake of Loss

Naomi* is familiar with loss. The war in her native country in the Middle East took the lives of her husband and one of her daughters; and when she fled the violence of this land, she lost her home as well.

But now, as a refugee, she and her remaining children have the opportunity to find practical help and lasting hope through the Arab Center for Consulting and Training Services (ACCTS). At sewing classes offered at the ACCTS community center, Naomi has learned skills that increase her chances of finding employment and being able to provide for her family. But even more valuable has been the opportunity to experience the love of Christ through the women there who’ve befriended her.

These friendships have touched her life beyond her time at the community center. When two believers serving through the ACCTS visited Naomi and two of her daughters in their home, they were able to address not only this family’s need for income and connection, but their spiritual needs as well.

These women listened as Naomi’s daughters shared their struggles. The older, who’d married as a teenager, was wrestling with health issues that sapped her of the energy she needed to keep up with her two active children and with the many demands of life in her new home. The younger, in the midst of high school exams, was overwhelmed with the stress of taking a test that could determine the course of her future. Her anxiety was keeping her up late every night in tears.

Together, the women from the ACCTS brought each daughter’s needs before the Lord, lifting up the challenges they faced to the One with the power not only to intervene but to grant lasting peace. In the name of Jesus, they asked the Lord to work in these young women’s situations and calm their hearts. When they finished praying, Naomi and her daughters tearfully thanked them.

Through the ACCTS, many women like Naomi are finding hope and help in the wake of loss. This project was founded by a Christar worker in 2012, and exists “to see the Arab community living in peace and harmony; empowered spiritually, psychologically and physically.” The ACCTS community center, one of the many outreaches of this project, serves as a place of safety and stability as it empowers and equips displaced people through vocational, educational and social integration programs and gives them opportunities to experience God’s love.

“ACCTS continues to make a holistic difference in the lives of refugees and vulnerable peoples through the community center,” Christar worker Erica, who serves at the ACCTS, shares. “Christ’s love surpasses the tangible needs and reaches to the spiritual.”