There is no hope but Jesus. We know this is true, but the two million refugees in Lebanon live this truth. The hard reality is that many of the refugees here will never see change in their lifetime. They cannot find good jobs. They cannot get out of the poverty cycle. They live in a place where they are unwanted.
Over and over again, I have heard stories of extreme pain. Frankly, it’s almost unimaginable for us as Americans. Recently, we spent four days in Tyre, a city on the coast a couple hours south of Beirut. Here’s a breakdown of those four days:
- Two guys from the UK who were volunteering at the local church were taken and questioned by a terrorist group.
- An American worker fell from eight feet and landed on his face.
- A 21-year-old mother told me that her in-laws threw her one-day-old baby off the balcony and she’s never been the same since. She also joked that she can’t shake a man’s hand for fear that her husband would slit her throat.
- While working childcare for the clinic, a little boy said we couldn’t be too loud in the playground because last time a man held a gun to the volunteer’s head and threatened to shoot if the children weren’t quiet.
- I watched a mother physically abuse her pre-teen daughter.
- I listened as a man described how he fled from his brother who was trying to kill him because he found copied pages from the Bible in his room. Over the course of the next five years the man was periodically tortured- hung up by his arm for eight hours, teeth pulled, fingers broken, and screws in his skull – all because he wouldn’t recant his faith in Jesus.
- One night I walked the dogs with a 12-year-old girl. A car drove by as we walked down the dark street. She told me how the two men in the car stabbed a man who worked for the church in the head. They spent two weeks in jail, but paid their way out.
- While drawing pictures of our families in Sunday school a boy asked if he could draw his dad even though he was dead. A bomb that landed on their Syrian home killed his father.
While there is immense pain and trauma here, much more than I have described, Jesus is present. Churches and Christ-centered organizations here are thriving. Their doors are always open and discipleship classes run all day every day. There is a growing community of Kurdish believers, when 30 years ago there were zero. Syrian refugees are hearing the truth about God for the first time. Many Muslim women are coming to know Jesus as their savior and bringing their husbands to church. They are passionate and steadfast. Jesus is everything to them.
Prayer Requests:
1) Please pray for boldness, strength, and healing for the refugees. Pray that God would continually be their provider.
2) Pray for increased workers and open hearts in the country of Lebanon.
3) Pray for the workers that are here facing hardship every day. Pray for their perseverance, health, compassion, and joy.
4) Every day I meet someone who has faced more pain than I can ever imagine. I don’t know how to describe it to you. That is part of the problem. How will I do these stories justice? How do I give you a glimpse of what is happening here? God has directed me here and He has entrusted me with these experiences – given me the eyes to see them and the ears to hear their hurt. I feel the weight. Please pray for wisdom in how to advocate for these people, specifically when I go home. Please pray that Christ would use me amidst the hurt.
5) There are moments when I miss the comfort and joy of my family, especially around Christmas. But I wouldn’t trade the experiences that I’m having for anything and I am continually reminded of how immensely blessed I am to be here.
“Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story.”
Psalm 107:2
