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s2smodern

The Ignatian Leadership Programme reaches Lebanon with a lot of energy and purpose

“We focus on the flower that is growing, not the destruction” said Fr Fouad Nakhla SJ, the JRS Syria director, “At the frontiers, what is truly important is hope.” With these words, Fr. Nakhla gave a clear statement on what it means to really lead an organization in the midst of a crisis, at the physical and spiritual frontiers of our world.

It was exactly this word: “frontiers”, the one that accompanied the participants of the Ignatian Leadership Programme throughout the whole 4th module named “Leadership for Frontier Mission”. We have already talked about the important relation between “leaders”” and “mission” in past articles (see: Link) and in this module participants had the chance of seeing this relation in action by meeting and hearing the story of several real life leaders like Fr. Fouad Nakhla SJ (JRS Syria), Kim Issa (Arc en Ciel), Fadi Halisso (Basmeh & Zeitooneh), Fr. Michael Zammit SJ (JRS Middle East), Fr. Estaban Velazquez SJ and Fr. Dany Younès SJ (Provincial of the Jesuit Near East Province).

The place for this module was also very carefully chosen, it was in Taanayel, Lebanon (the Near East Province), very close to the Syrian frontier, a place of big challenges but a lot of hope. Right in the border participants had the chance to visit a Refugee Camp of 40 people (25 children and 15 women). “We have already been 5 years in this camp. Each day here is difficult, the only thing that keeps us moving forward is our kids and working to provide them with a decent future” said one of the women in the camp with watery eyes that expressed the difficulties of living in those conditions and at the same time a constant smile that gave her children strength, peace, and hope, key elements to be able to build the future that their mothers are looking forward to giving them. 

This module also tried to reach back to the first module that put emphasis on how from our vulnerabilities we can grow to become better leaders, the first week of the exercises. In this module we focused on how we can help those who are most vulnerable, thus, closing the circle.

Furthermore, it was not devoid of several input sessions on Ignatian Leadership at the frontiers, Adaptive Leadership, Stakeholders, Creativity and Innovation, Ignatian Freedom, Change Management, etc. Sessions that gave participants tools to implement once they went back to their respective works.

After the whole week, the general feeling was of consolation, many participants were able to reflect on how much they have grown these last two years and how has this helped their works and their personal lives.

We finish this article with an excerpt from the letter of GC36 “Witnesses of Friendship and Reconciliation”, a message and a prayer for Jesuits living in zones of war and conflict:

“You risk your lives daily in order to reach out, humbly yet persistently, for what sometimes seems impossible, namely the peace and reconciliation longed for by Jesus Christ. […] We take this opportunity to acknowledge the testimony of humble service of all who have given their lives in such situations. […] Yours* is a testimony to the power of the Gospel; to the beautiful but painful fragility of human life; to a commitment to a ministry of friendship; to the need to witness, even to the point of death; to the fact that suffering, risk and the call to courage are part of our Jesuit lives and of our Christian vocation”.

*On the original document the word “Theirs” is used but it was changed to “Yours” to make it more suitable to the lines chosen.

Stay tuned for a future article on the whole Ignatian Leadership Experience!

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s2smodern