While there is a glimmer of hope that peace may be on the horizon in Lebanon, the war that began last month continues to grind on with targeted airstrikes across the country and an ongoing ground invasion in the south.
Just last week, a massive wave of airstrikes hit Beirut in one day, with over 100 bombs falling on the south of the city within 10 minutes. This dramatic escalation drove many of the remaining residents of the southern suburbs and nearby areas up to the mountains seeking refuge. As of this week, over 1 million people are displaced in the country, mostly native Lebanese, scattered throughout safe zones in other parts of the city and mountains.
This has meant an ever-increasing amount of need amongst the displaced population for basic items like food, blankets, bedding, medicine and shelter. Our team, alongside the local church in the mountains, continues to labor daily to help meet these needs as best they can both among people in the immediate community, as well as delivering aid down to displaced encampments around Beirut city itself.
Feeding Around 600 Daily From the Church Kitchen
The ladies in the church continue to cook hot meals each day to deliver to displaced Lebanese families sheltering in the mountains. Earlier this week, the busiest day had them cooking and delivering about 650 meals. The daily average is now around 600 meals or more each day. This is the current peak capacity for the modestly sized church kitchen. Every industrial burner is in use heating up the massive pots required to feed so many each day.
These are meals made with love, and the women have often said they won’t cook something they wouldn’t feed their own family. The displaced families appreciate this quality of food being given to them, and each week it seems the demand grows. Please keep praying the Lord gives strength to the women cooking each day and the men delivering these meals to families in need. Pray for opportunities for them to further show the love of Christ in these times.
Delivering Aid Near and Far
As the conflict continues to shift to new locations in the country, new families are moving into our area and often in need of bedding, blankets and other basic needs. We’ve given out almost 2,000 blankets and bed mats by this point in the war, and the demand continues. People may be able to find shelter but often lack enough blankets for the cold mountain nights and left their homes without being able to bring a mat to sleep on the concrete floors. As well, we’ve had many requests for medical check-ups or helping with prescriptions for sick family members. These are further points of contact to serve them and help in the name of Christ,
Beyond the pressing needs among the crowded mountain communities, we’ve also had some local Christians begin visiting one of the large encampments of displaced Lebanese that are living out of their cars on the outskirts of Beirut. This is a large open area far from the mountains that some people who lived in the parts of Beirut under heavy bombardment fled to in their cars weeks ago. Many have set up small tents or shelters adjacent to their vehicles. There are estimates of around 400 families in this particular encampment. Our team, alongside the local church, was able to bring bags of non-perishable food items, bags of fresh bread from the bakery ministry, and needed toiletries like diapers, for over 100 families. These were received with thankfulness and opportunities abounded to share the love of Christ among them.
Ongoing and Past Medical Case Updates
Amidst all of the new needs of the current conflict, the past medical cases we’ve been helping with from before the war began have not disappeared, though our ability to care for them has been complicated a bit by the demands of the war. Some of these cases were intended to be posted here months ago for awareness and prayer, but the war disrupted that. We are including them here for those who’ve been following along with the medical compassion ministry.
We still have multiple cancer cases we are assisting with chemotherapy and radiation. One woman we’ve been helping since last fall has an aggressive breast cancer that appears to have spread to her brain. Please pray for her as the outlook of her case does not look promising. Another woman we recently helped to undergo the required double mastectomy appears to hopefully be in remission. The Syrian man we were helping with lymphoma also appears to be in remission and may have many years ahead of him yet.
We continue to have a wide range of patients coming to us for help with their medical cases, ranging from a man who suffered a heart attack last week and needs a stent surgery next week, to a young girl who suffered severe burns a few months ago on her arm and needs continued follow up, to a young boy with painful liver abscesses planned for surgery next week, and myriads of other minor cases spanning from diabetes and hypertension to respiratory infections and other routine but urgent medical needs endemic in an impoverished population.
Pray for Peace and Endurance
It’s not known when this current war will end. It is obvious that this conflict is simply a continuation of the war that began in 2024 and ended inconclusively that same November. Whether this war reaches a conclusive outcome that leads to peace or not, nobody can be certain, but we pray for peace for the sake of the people suffering in this war.
Please pray as well for endurance for the many local volunteers giving their time each day to cook meals, to deliver aid, and to share with the war displaced the hope of Christ. After more than a month of serving, fatigue is setting in for many volunteers, but the Lord can sustain them to the end. They have told us they are motivated to keep going by seeing the hungry women and children that come looking for food being satisfied when they find the meals the church is providing. They can see that their work to help those in need is having an impact, and we ask you would pray that the light of the Lord would shine bright through this service in a dark time.
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