First Time Women Graduates Recognition of TEAM Scholarship Recipients

For the first time in its 85-year history, two women from the Middle East and North Africa

Union Mission (MENAUM) territory graduated from the Department of Theology at

Middle East University (MEU) one earning a Bachelor of Arts in Theology and the other in Religion. Their remarkable journeys bear witness to God’s continuing work in calling and preparing both women and men for ministry and mission across the MENAUM, regional leaders from the Seventh-day Adventist Church said.

One of these graduates is Lila, from Lebanon. Although she attended an Adventist

school in Beirut, she had never truly been introduced to the Adventist faith. Growing up,

Lila loved church and faithfully attended Sunday school. Even as a child, she had a deep love for God and a curiosity about His Word. Yet it was not until one particular school year that God began leading her family in an unexpected way.

During that year, a volunteer Bible teacher noticed Lila’s growing interest during Bible

class and invited her to study the Bible personally. Without hesitation she gladly

accepted. While other students spent recess in other ways, Lila spent her breaks studying the Bible through the It Is Written Bible Study Guides. Day by day her love for Scripture deepened. She became eager to learn, full of questions, and increasingly drawn to know Jesus more personally. Looking back, she believes the Holy Spirit was quietly working in her heart.