Lebanon Project
2026-2029

A letter from Founding President Kurt Richardson

Dear Friends and Partners,

I recently returned from seventeen days in Lebanon, where I met with educators, university leaders, scientists, journalists, pastors, priests, disability advocates, and civil society leaders serving their nation under extraordinary strain.

Lebanon continues to endure economic hardship, political instability, displacement, and the ongoing effects of war. Yet beneath these realities I encountered another Lebanon, one rarely seen in international headlines: a Lebanon sustained by remarkable men and women who continue serving others despite immense sacrifice.

I had the privilege of meeting with leaders whose work is helping sustain the country’s educational, religious, scientific, and civic life:

• Dr. Martin Accad, President of the Middle East School of Theology, helping form a new generation of Christian leaders throughout the region.
• Dr. Riad Kassis, International Director of Langham Partnership, whose work in biblical scholarship and leadership formation has influenced churches and institutions around the world.
• Dr. Richard Maroun, Vice President for Research at Saint Joseph University, preserving scientific excellence and innovation amid national crisis.
• Dr. Mohammad Sammak, one of Lebanon’s leading advocates of Christian-Muslim cooperation and national solidarity.
• Ibrahim Rida and his colleagues in Nabatiyeh, educators serving children, including disabled and displaced students, despite the devastation affecting southern Lebanon.

Again and again I encountered leaders choosing solidarity rather than sectarianism, service rather than grievance, and hope rather than despair.

One conviction became increasingly clear throughout my journey.

I did not go to Lebanon merely to observe a crisis but also to support the people who are helping hold the country together.

For more than twenty years, my work as a Christian theologian and founder of Abraham’s Bridge has focused on building relationships among educators, scholars, and leaders throughout Lebanon, Israel, Iran, and the wider Middle East. This recent journey strengthened my conviction that one of the most important tasks before us is to stand alongside those leaders who continue serving their communities under immense pressure.

For this reason, Abraham’s Bridge is launching the Lebanon Project 2026–2029.

Our first initiative is a documentary project that will introduce audiences throughout North America and beyond to some of Lebanon’s most courageous educational, humanitarian, religious, scientific, and civic leaders.

Our second initiative is the Abraham’s Bridge Lebanon Leadership Fellowship, which seeks to provide thirty outstanding leaders with research, administrative, and program support that will expand their capacity to mentor emerging leaders, strengthen institutions, develop community programs, and increase their long-term impact.

These leaders do not need rescuing.

They need partners.

As I reflected on these meetings after returning home, I found myself thinking often of the Apostle Paul’s collection for the believers in Jerusalem. Paul understood that Christian generosity was more than charity. It was koinonia—a sharing of life, burdens, and hope across geographic and cultural boundaries.

That remains our vision today.

We invite you to become part of this fellowship of witness, solidarity, and hope.

Pray for Lebanon.

Share these stories.

Introduce us to potential partners.

Support the documentary initiative.

Support the Leadership Fellowship.

Help us strengthen those who are strengthening Lebanon.

No single project will rebuild the country.

Together, however, we can encourage and strengthen a remarkable fellowship of leaders whose work represents one of Lebanon’s greatest resources and strongest hopes for the future.

Thank you for your friendship, prayers, and partnership.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope.

With gratitude and hope,

Kurt Anders Richardson

Kurt Anders Richardson, DTh
Founding President