Christmas 2010, in one of the poorest areas of Beirut, the light inside my friend’s heart could not be extinguished, despite the dark street he was traveling on. In a large sack he had counted ten bags containing among other things candy and chocolates intended for the children of ten poor families. With him was an elderly French religious sister as well as his four-year-old son who had asked to come along for the ride.

After their tenth visit, the nun, “Soeur Therese”, casually asked, “Is there more?”; Without thinking, my friend volunteered with a spontaneous “yes”. And lo and behold he dished out a bag he was not expecting to find! As they went through one house after the other, the nun kept asking the same question “Is there more?” and that “multiplication” would happen five other times that evening! At which point, my friend decided that it was time to go home to his wife because his young son was feeling increasingly hungry as they went through the streets rife with the smell of cooked food at dinner time. After that, Sister Therese left, and in his bewilderment, my friend failed to tell her about the extra candy they were provided with! He then tells how similar experiences would happen to him again through the years; and as he shared casually about what he was doing, other members of our group asked to join him in what soon would develop into a communal effort.