Lebanon (MNN) — The results of Lebanon’s parliamentary elections from May have shifted the government. The results granted more power to Christian political parties as well as the Shi’a Islamic-supported political party, Hezbollah.
Of the 128 seats in Lebanon’s parliament, Hezbollah’s political party now occupies 12 seats, but with its allied political parties, they occupy 70 seats.
Two of Hezbollah’s allied parties promote themselves as Christian groups, including The Free Patriotic Movement, which was founded by Lebanon’s President Michael Aoun.
However, Hezbollah is also opposed by the Christian political party The Lebanese Forces, which now occupies 15 seats in parliament, nearly doubling the number of seats it had occupied before the 2018 elections, which was eight seats.
Any Change in Sight?
This is the first parliamentary election in Lebanon in nine years. A change in parliament could mean drastic changes in the nation or very little.
Now that a shift is taking place, what do Christians think this change will bring?
“They’re waiting to see what’s going to come out of it,” Triumphant Mercy’s Nuna says.
“Some people are saying this is all the same that’s going to come, but other people are optimistic about it and just saying we have new faces. There might be a change and some others are saying yeah, but there will be even worse because Hezbollah is having even more power inside the government.”
Lebanon is known to be a safe and open nation for Christians. Nuna says believers are free to share the Gospel on the streets and in their churches.
The country has been an important place for ministries to share the Gospel openly with nationals and even with refugees who have fled war and conflict in the recent years. Believers and ministries are further able to use Lebanon as a hub to preach on television channels or broadcast Christian radio to the rest of the Middle East.
Door of Opportunity
However, “the door of opportunity might close some day,” Nuna warns, which makes ministry in Lebanon more urgent.
“Politically, many are trying to remove all the Christians from the whole Middle East and we see this exodus of Christians from Iraq. We see this exodus from Syria. All the people that are deported from those places are leaving, going to other countries. But, we pray that Lebanon would not have the same end, that the Middle East would still be a place where there’s a ‘craggle’ of Christianity.”
Triumphant Mercy helps to bring the Gospel and assist nationals and refugees with physical aid in Lebanon.
(Photo by Matheus Ferrero on Unsplash. Header photo courtesy of Unsplash.)
Pray the doors of ministry would remain open so believers in Lebanon can continue sharing the Gospel and spreading Truth throughout the Middle East.
Pray that Hezbollah’s growth in political power will not affect the religious freedoms of Christians in Lebanon. And, pray the growth of Christians’ authority in Lebanon’s parliament would increase opportunities to share the message of Christ.
“It is time for [Lebanon] to be a beacon of light and shine through the whole Middle East that is so persecuted,” Nuna says.
Help share the Truth in Lebanon by supporting Triumphant Mercy.
