All of her life, Kathryn Traws hopes and dreams have been aided by prayer and fueled by an unbound passion to serve others.
Those traits led her to attend college in southern Lebanon, a land filled with millions of refugees who have fled war-torn Syria and other hot spots.
If a Christian wanted to make an immediate impact, to spread the gospel and reap the rewards, Lebanon would likely not top the list.
But that is precisely why Traw chose Lebanon or in her mind, why God put it in her heart to serve the Lebanese, in the heart of the Middle East.
TRAW, 19, is the granddaughter of Iolan Steve Traw and daughter of former Iolan Michael Traw and wife Tara. She lives in Kansas City, and is a sophomore at American University of Beirut, where shes studying business administration.
Upon returning to AUB in August as a sophomore, Traw will continue her rigorous coursework, while remaining immersed in a student ministry group on campus. Then shell spend every weekend doing missionary work 12 hours a day with Syrian refugees who have poured into Lebanon in nearby Tyre.
Because Lebanon is the only democratic Muslim nation in the MIddle East, its the only place Christians can safely practice their faith (or as safe as one can reasonably expect to be in that part of the world).
But trouble lurks around every corner.
Hezbollah, a terrorist organization formed in nearby Iran and fully devoted to Muslim extremism, casts a large shadow throughout Lebanon as a political party.
But while menacing in stature, Hezbollah doesnt act out against the Lebanese Christians because of Israels even larger shadow to the south.
Its a balance of power right now, Traw said. Hezbollah hates Israel and wants to take it out, but they cant start a war because Israel would wipe them out. Nobody wants to mess with or upset the scales and risk another war. So Hezbollah is trying to become more of a political power.
The high-stakes stalemate has led to a tenuous peace, where Lebanon has become a destination for refugees, to the point the countrys population has nearly doubled in recent years.
Traw estimates the 4 million Lebanese are joined by nearly 3 million Syrian refugees, and another half-million or so from Palestine.
And youre talking about an area three-quarters the size of Connecticut, she said.
