Davit came looking for a skill that could give him direction. Suha found a community that helped her hold onto her faith through difficult circumstances. Tania was looking for a place where she could feel safe and eventually discovered that her relationship with Jesus had to become her own.
Here are the stories of three young people and three very different journeys.
Through YFC Lebanon’s programs and the people who walk alongside them, each has found something deeper than what they initially came looking for. Their stories are a reminder that God is at work in the details of young people’s lives and that a simple invitation, a listening ear, or a faithful prayer can become part of that work.
Davit, Vocational Training Program, 19
At 19, Davit was looking for something to do with his life. After leaving school in fifth grade, he spent much of his time playing football or on his phone. When he heard about YFC Lebanon’s Vocational Training Program (VTP) in Bourj Hammoud, he decided to try computer programming.
“I knew I needed to do something with my life,” Davit says. “Coming here gave me another chance to learn and, hopefully, find a job.”
A year and a half later, Davit has discovered that he enjoys programming far more than he expected. He learned HTML, CSS, and coding, as well as English, AI, and e-commerce. Some things were difficult, but he enjoyed the challenge of solving problems and seeing the results. VTP also gave him the chance to explore different fields and discover what interested him and what didn’t. After completing his programming course, he was even given a laptop to continue developing his skills.
But VTP became more than a place to learn a vocation.
“The staff were always ready to listen,” Davit says. “I loved being around them, and I felt that they cared about me.”
Through the Christian community at VTP and Manara Youth Center, Davit also began growing in his relationship with God. Although he had grown up in church and read the Bible, he says he didn’t really know how to be close to God.
Then his journey continued through YFC camps. At first, Davit found it difficult when camp ended because he had been so excited to make friends. He didn’t have many close friendships, and he missed the people he met.
But this year, his perspective changed.
“I realized that it isn’t really about the people who are worshipping. It is about God Himself.”
Davit realized that his relationship with God didn’t depend on who else was at camp. Even if he never saw those friends again, God would still be with him.
“That gave me a sense of surrender to God.”
Today, Davit is still looking ahead. He hopes to find a job, continue learning, play the guitar, and upload videos to YouTube. But his purpose is no longer dependent on what happens next.
“I came to VTP looking for something to learn. I found a vocation, a community, and a new sense of purpose and, most importantly, I am learning what it means to know God for myself.”
Suha, Manara Youth Center, 16
At seven years old, Suha didn’t fully understand what it meant to open her heart to God. She only knew that something was drawing her toward Him.
Suha grew up in a non-Christian family and a predominantly majority-religion community. After her family moved to Burj Hammoud, she and her mother began attending a Kurdish- and Arabic-speaking Evangelical church. Suha understood little at first, but she kept asking questions. One day, she asked how she could open her heart to God. She was told to pray, “Lord, I ask You to reign over my life.”
So she prayed.
“And the next day I woke up a different person.”
As Suha’s faith grew, she noticed changes in herself and began learning what it meant to follow Christ. But following Jesus also brought difficulties. When her father discovered that she and her mother had accepted Christ, opposition at home meant they could no longer attend church regularly.
Through those difficulties, Suha has learned that faith isn’t only something to practice when life is easy.
“He is the only refuge that we can go to,” she says. “If I am crippled by something today, if I take it to the Lord, surely He will hear me. And surely He will lead me to the right path.”
For more than two years, Manara Youth Center has been an important part of that journey. At MYC, Suha takes part in its recreational classes, such as dancing and acting, but it is through her discipleship Core Group that she has found a community where she can grow in her faith.
The group makes space for young people to share about their lives before opening the Bible and studying together. Suha, who describes herself as a note-taker, records what she learns and brings her questions to her group leader when she encounters something she doesn’t understand.
The group has also become a place where Suha can be honest about her struggles. When problems at home began to overwhelm her, she asked her Core Group to pray for her. They reminded her that she wasn’t facing those difficulties alone.
“They reminded me that God is with me,” she says.
That support has also helped Suha respond differently to the difficult relationship with her father. During a Core Group session on reconciliation, she heard someone share about forgiving a parent who opposed their faith. The story closely reflected her own situation and challenged her to choose love and prayer rather than bitterness.
Her circumstances at home haven’t changed. But Suha’s response is changing.
Her request today is simple: “Pray for me as I maneuver the problems at home.”
And beneath that request is the conviction that has carried her since she was seven: God hears her, and He is worth following: “I think the Lord is worth it because, while I was still a sinner, He died for me.”
Tania, AXIS Youth Center, 15
At 15, Tania loves studying and dreams of one day studying Human Resources in college. She lives in Riyak, in the Bekaa Valley, with her parents and brother and is currently studying accounting in the Lebanese vocational sector. For the past year and a half, AXIS Youth Center in Zahle has become a place where she feels safe enough to be herself and, more importantly, to be honest about her struggles with God.
Tania first heard about AXIS through one of its leaders who also attends her church. He invited her to come, and she soon began noticing YFC camp T-shirts everywhere at church. Curious about the camps, she decided to give AXIS a try.
As someone who isn’t naturally very social, Tania expected to feel nervous in a new place. Instead, she was surprised by how quickly she felt at home.
“I felt happy,” she remembers. “Everything felt natural.”
She especially loved Bible Club, where young people could talk openly without fear of judgment. During one discussion about bullying, Tania shared about being bullied because of her appearance. The other girls encouraged her and told her how beautiful she was. For Tania, their words felt genuine.
“I felt that they really meant it.”
Before long, she found herself looking forward to every Bible Club. Sometimes she didn’t want to leave. At AXIS, she says, she sensed the Lord’s presence and could forget her troubles for a few hours. Eventually, she felt safe enough to tell one of the youth workers about the things she had been carrying for years.
Faith had not always been easy for Tania. Her mother is a devoted Christian, while her father does not attend church, and Tania often found herself going back and forth in her faith. She knew God had worked in her life, but she struggled to experience Him in her everyday life.
Bullying had made her guarded, and difficulties at home between her parents affected her deeply. She became increasingly sad and often listened to sad music. Although her mother prayed for her constantly, Tania felt stuck.
Then, at a YFC camp last year, she reached a breaking point. While the other campers were outside enjoying themselves, Tania was having a panic attack. She told one of the youth leaders she wanted to leave.
That evening, during a time called “My Story,” a camper shared about walking with God. Tania recognized parts of herself in the story. Later, she sat alone on a bench in the dark. Another camper who had previously encouraged her not to isolate herself came and sat beside her. She reminded Tania that God loved her, saw her, and that she mattered.
AXIS leaders then joined her and prayed.
When Tania returned home, she prayed a prayer of complete honesty.
“Lord, I won’t draw near to You. I don’t want to read the Bible. I want to live my life and listen to music. If You want me, You come close. I can’t do it alone.”
Then she fell asleep.
When she woke up, something had changed: “For the next two days, I read the Bible nonstop,” she says. Her mother was delighted. Since then, Tania has continued reading Scripture and says she now knows that Jesus will always be with her.
She also finally told her mother about the depression she had been experiencing. Her mother prayed for her, and Tania began to see things differently.
“I laugh more now.”
Jesus, she says, has also been changing the loneliness she once carried. Even when she felt she had no friends, she no longer felt completely alone because she knew Jesus was with her. She stopped listening to sad songs, too.
Looking back, Tania says AXIS has become a place where she can breathe, a place where she isn’t judged, where she can speak honestly, and where people notice when she is struggling.
Now, when Tania feels alone, she knows she doesn’t have to face everything by herself anymore.
Davit, Suha, and Tania are only three of the many young people God has entrusted to YFC Lebanon. Thank you for praying, giving, and walking with us as we come alongside young people across Lebanon.