"IN 1977, LEBANON was a killing field, Mariam Nour whispers. "Brother was killing brother in the streets, and everybody had guns." Nour shakes her head to clear the memories from her mind and returns to her laughing gaze. An hypnotic storyteller, Nour straightens her bright red apron, smoothes a stray gray lock back into her ponytail and moves rhythmically across the room to the television console in one corner. She stands in front of the set, gesturing to an invisible camera.

"In Beirut, I had my own TV show called The Woman's Revolution. It was very popular with men as well as women. I talked about healing foods and showed people how to make simple, low-fat vegetarian dishes. I told them they could take their health back into their hands by walking into the kitchen. Can you imagine macrobiotic Lebanese food?"

During a Mother's Day broadcast, Nour urged her viewers to put down their guns and celebrate the day with food instead of bullets. After that show, Nour received a telephone call from a nun begging her to cook healing foods for a sick sister. The nuns were living in Beirut's worst slum and eating donated food. They lived in poverty in order to never forget what it was like to be poor, they said. Nour brought food until the nun was well.

Mother Teresa founded the order that Nour helped. When the venerated woman heard about Nour's healing foods, she insisted on meeting her. "I cooked for her," says Nour. "When we finished our meal, she touched my forehead, and I saw a flash of light." Mother Teresa allowed Nour to interview her for a story in a local newspaper. When Nour asked her what it was like to be called a saint, she looked at her for a long time and said everyone is a saint and should discover the saint within.

When inspired to leave Beirut for the United States, Nour sought Mother Teresa's advice. How would she be able to serve God in the world's richest country? Nour asked. "Don't worry," Mother Teresa wrote her. "They need you in America. Many people live in big houses with only one or two people occupying them. Even their dogs and cats are lonely. They need your healing foods to realize that life is nothing without love and community."