A Brief History of the Nazarene Evangelical School – Sin el Fil
The school and church were founded by the International Mission of the Church of the Nazarene in Sin el Fil (a northern suburb of Beirut) in 1976. The first acting principal was Mr. Abdo Khanashat. The school started as two floors, one for the students and one for the pastors. In our first year, we had 26 students. The second-year saw 60 students. Few years later, the pastors left the building, and the school expanded into the second floor.
Our principal managed to get an official license for the elementary school in 1973. During that year, we had 300 students. Sadly, the civil war started shortly in 1975, and the school closed from 1976 till 1979. During those three forlorn years, our building was bombed and brought to the ground. In a historic moment for both Nazarene church and school in Sin el Fil and Lebanon, Mr. Abdo Khanshat stood alone at the entrance of the building. The missionaries had left the country. It was then that he decided to stay and continue faithfully serving God in this part of the world.
The school reopened in 1980. By 1985, we had managed to procure a license for a middle school, all the way to grade 9. During that same year, Miss. Marlene Mshantaf became a teacher at the school. She is currently the principal. Mr. Khanashat still drops by to give advice and greet the staff.
Since 2011, the school has actively served with the Lebanese community, a considerable body of Syrian refugee students. The school sits on the outskirts of Sin el Fil, bordering Nabaa, the northern slums of Beirut. We are happy to serve mainly poor students from diverse nationalities and religious backgrounds.