During the second half of the year 2012, the Assyrian Support Committee (ASC) was established by a group of Assyrian youth in Lebanon. They all agreed on the necessity of supporting and developing our Assyrian community’s abilities on different levels, namely the cultural, social, and national.
This coincided with the events in Syria, displacing many Assyrians into Lebanon as refugees, which prompted our committee members to step up and take responsibility towards Assyrian people.
This was no easy task and was a heavy burden on the youth of the committee, who were nonetheless committed to helping Assyrian refugees in Lebanon, dedicating their time to tasks for the cause. In light of this, the Foundation Advisory Council decided to put on hold all the previously dealt-with projects and narrow them down immediately to support Assyrians coming from Syria into Lebanon.
The committee received much support from His Eminence Mar Melis Zaya during his visit to Lebanon in February 2013. He recognized the committee’s authority in helping and following up with the Assyrian refugees in Lebanon in the name of Church of the East, as he considered the plans during this critical stage to be serious and of great importance.
Since then, the ASC has evolved to become a church-backed Assyrian initiative that supports the marginalized and underprivileged members of society. We are reminded of our own experiences as we take on more responsibility to help as many people as we can.