30 Years: The Story of Stand by Me Begins
It was 1983 when I found myself in the middle of the Lebanese civil war. There amongst the crumbling buildings and devastation of war, a small team and I had begun to repair a sewer system at an orphanage, digging with the little equipment or expertise we had.
At the time Lebanon had already suffered seven years of intense fighting, and gun fire, bombings and ethnic cleansing were a regular occurrence. Most of the boys living in the orphanage had lost their families and some had even witnessed their parents killed by snipers. They were happy for our help and when I look back on God’s call for me to go to Lebanon and the legacy it began, I will never regret answering ‘yes’.
After this first visit, I returned home to Essex and back to teaching, I had done my bit for humanity, or so I thought. But I was wrong, I had changed and was so affected by my trip to Lebanon that I returned alone at Christmas to care for eight orphaned Muslim boys. We had fun in our makeshift bomb shelter and watched The Jungle Book at least 17 times. Christmas day arrived and as I had some money in my pocket, I decided to take the boys out for dinner.
Later that day as me and the boys were about to enter the restaurant, from the shadows emerged a high-ranking Christian militia officer demanding to know who I was. “David” I replied, knowing we were in trouble.
He asked why we were there. “Celebrating the birth of Jesus” I answered. “Do you know these kids are my enemy?”. There was an ominous silence and my heart was beating loudly.
Suddenly, and to my amazement, he commanded his soldiers to escort us into the restaurant and brought us all an amazing Christmas dinner. Before long that battle-hardened officer was walking around the table, picking up each boy in turn, giving them a hug as tears streamed down his face. “Why is he crying?” I asked his bodyguards. “Five years ago his wife took his boys to Germany and he hasn’t seen them since, you being here caring for these kids has spoken to his heart” one explained.
As we left the restaurant, the officer turned to me and said “Remember these kids may grow up and want to kill me. Tell them their enemy bought them Christmas dinner today.”
I could never have afforded that meal, but God didn’t need the money in my pocket, he had better plans. That Christmas day I learnt that what God wanted was my willingness to say ‘yes’ to Him.
A few days later, after a night of heavy fighting, I was on my way to the airport and home. My driver took a wrong turn and, suddenly, we were approaching a Hezbollah militia check point. There was no turning round and I knew this time I was in serious trouble. My heart was beating and once again I was praying.
A young militia fighter pointed his gun at my head and asked who I was. I explained and shared that I had come to Beirut to care for Muslim boys. “Why?”. “Because God wants me to” I said. He then asked me if I knew the Queen and about London and Manchester United! After 20 minutes of interrogation he said I was lucky and he was letting me go.
In the space of just a few days from both Christian and Muslim militia men, I and those I loved had witnessed mercy, compassion and love, our lives and freedoms had been spared. I came home changed. I knew I had to act, and despite not having the means, trusted God. I was committed to help care for the 60 boys in the orphanage and continue with my teaching career.
Once again, God had different plans and so I eventually I resigned my headship and started Stand by Me in the shed in the bottom of the garden. I never imagined that my small steps of faith would have led Stand by Me into six countries caring for thousands of children from war torn Myanmar to Ethiopia and Colombia. It has been 30 years of God’s amazing faithfulness.
The legacy of Stand by Me has been built on the willingness of people, from our staff to our supporters, to respond to the call, take a step of faith and help those in need, never anticipating the impact they could make.
My willingness to say ‘yes’ to God has taken me all over the world, into some dangerous places where I have prayed for my own life. But God has protected me and provided for the children I have met, blessing Stand by Me in unexpected ways so that we could be a blessing to the children he has entrusted to our care.