Lebanon (MNN) — Some churches in Lebanon can’t even turn on the lights or run fans to combat the heat. The government has stopped supplying much electricity to the country.
David with Cry Out Now says this stems from extreme fuel shortages. “It’s also meant that there have been times when churches have not been able to meet because people don’t have enough fuel to drive their car or to get public transport to get to church. Just yesterday, I had a drive that would take me up the mountain. It takes me about an hour and a half to get there. But the cost is that today, I have to spend many, many hours looking for fuel to fill up my car.”
Amid these desperate fuel shortages, some in Lebanon have turned to solar power to keep some lights on. Unfortunately, only wealthy people currently have access to this technology for the most part. Lebanon is ideally situated for solar power, seeing about 300 days of sunshine per year.
New government
Lebanon finally formed a new government last week for the first time in over a year. However, it remains unclear if the new officials will do much to stop corruption and help the people.
This whole situation has changed Cry Out Now’s ministry. David says, “It’s forced us into a situation where we’ve had to give more responsibility to people who are newer believers. And obviously, that comes with challenges. But at the same time, it’s been a good opportunity, because people have then been able to step out in ministry that maybe they’ve not had a chance to do before.”
The power shortages also mean Lebanese Christians are losing access to the internet. David says, “When COVID-19 really started to become significantly impactful, churches were able to show things online. They held Zoom meetings or used Facebook Live. They had ways of being able to show the service to people that were not able to make it. But that’s becoming difficult because you don’t even have the internet or the electricity to be able to stream those kinds of things.”
Ask God to comfort His Lebanese Church.
The header photo shows an Eastern Orthodox church in Beirut, Lebanon. Photo courtesy of (Vladanr, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)
