Lebanese Christians open church, homes for refugees in south

Lebanese Christians are opening their churches and homes to refugees from the south of the country, Evangelical Focus reported Thursday.

Churches and Christian organizations in Lebanon are offering help as thousands of families fleeing the south of the country seek answers to their forced displacement.

Truvain Baptist Church in the city of Zahleh in Lebanon's Bekaa province is working closely with German Christian NGO Himmelsperlen to provide medical assistance and clothing to refugees. The church also runs a school for 600 refugee children, but classes have been suspended for security reasons.

According to the German news organization Idea, at least 30 families, totaling 150 people, have found shelter at the Baptist church after fleeing attacks in southern Lebanon. They are staying at the school, church facilities, or in the homes of church members.

Fighting between the Israeli army and Hezbollah militias has hit the city of Zahleh, especially the area where the Troubine worship site is located, but the area is still safer than southern Lebanon.

Margret Meyer, Himmelspullen's president, told Idea that the leadership of Troubadour Baptist Church serves families from Muslim backgrounds and that “it is a privilege to be able to serve Shiites in the name of Jesus.”

Currently, German mission agencies are preparing to send a container full of relief supplies to Lebanon by sea.

There are 32 Baptist churches in Lebanon, totaling 1,600 members. The majority of Lebanon's population is Muslim, but about 30 percent identify as Christian.

Psalm 36: 7-9

How priceless is your unfailing love! Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house; you give them drink from your river of delights. For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.

🙏 Pray for

1. Praise God for His hand in connecting refugees to the church in Lebanon. May this be a time of grace, taking them under Your wings, comforting them as they wander without a home, and blessing them to realize that their source of life is in You.

2. Protect from all harm the Lebanese churches who are opening their churches and homes to serve refugees. Pour out faith and Your love so that more churches will join in and serve more boldly. Provide the necessary materials without lack. Through the loving service of the Lebanese church, may the love of Jesus overflow throughout Lebanon, so that the time of greatest suffering becomes a time of grace.