I’m going to Lebanon later this year, with some friends, to work with a national pastor who’s loving on the Syrian refugees there. While I was asking God about confirmation about this trip, he took me to Mark 7:24, where Jesus was also visiting what we now call Lebanon (Tyre and Sidon). In my NIV it says, “he entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet he could not keep his presence secret.”

It’s no secret that the war in Syria has been devastating, and that somewhere between 1.5 million and 2 million refugees are now in Lebanon, a country of about 6.5 million. Said another way, every fourth or fifth person is displaced, unable to stay, unable to return home.

In the midst of all of this, we have the reality of the kindness of God, his present love and care for each of us now, and that he wants to bring hope, life and healing. He just can’t keep a secret.