Lebanon (MNN) — Hospitals in Lebanon have reached capacity as COVID-19 cases surge. The government has declared a state of emergency and imposed a 24-hour curfew from January 14-25. The military will enforce the lockdown.
One Lebanese paramedic compared the daily caseload to the August 4th Beirut explosion. The country is registering thousands of new cases every single day.
The August 4th 2020 at explosion shattered windows all over Beirut. (Photo courtesy of TM Lebanon on Facebook)
Holiday celebrations
Nuna of Triumphant Mercy Lebanon currently has COVID-19, as do many others on the staff. She says holiday celebrations around the country caused the spike. “They opened the market for Christmas, they opened a gathering of families for Christmas. And then even for New Year, everything was open. And even until the sixth of January, actually, because that was the Armenian and the Orthodox Christmas. So then we waited all this time, and people were just mingling together. And of course, they tried to take some precautions, but it was never enough.”
Nuna describes the situation in hospitals right now. “People are standing at the door of hospitals, literally waiting to see if they will be allowed in. The father of one of our friends had to go to a different town because couldn’t find any hospital nearby. And he didn’t make it because it was too late.”
Continuing ministry
All Triumphant Mercy can do during the lockdown is send encouraging Gospel truths over WhatsApp, and make a few food deliveries. Nuna says, “I heard of a persecuted Christian who had converted to Christianity and is fleeing her family because they want to kill her and her daughters. So I went to get her food. Of course, I didn’t get into her home, I didn’t visit with her. I just took the food pack and deposited it at her door.”
Pray many Lebanese will see the care and love of Jesus through the ministry of Triumphant Mercy Lebanon. And pray this pandemic will end soon, not just in Lebanon but all over the world.
The head photo shows Triumphant Mercy Lebanon distributing food shortly before Christmas. (Photo courtesy of TM Lebanon on Facebook)
