Lebanon (MNN) — Energy shortages in Lebanon mean most citizens get only 2 hours of state-provided electricity every day.
Many people turn to Lebanon’s sunny skies. Solar panels have sprouted on rooftops across the country, powering refrigerators, washing machines, fans, and lights.
Loulwa El Maalouf with the Arab Baptist Theological Seminary (ABTS) says, “Lebanon has more than 300 days of summer. We have more than eight hours of sun every day.”
ABTS solar project
ABTS will soon install solar panels on campus for their online classrooms. They work to remotely train church leaders all across the Middle East and North Africa. El Maalouf says, “Because now, all of our programs are either fully online or in a hybrid model. So students wherever they are, in Morocco, Sudan, Egypt, or Iraq, study over distance.”
“To continue to train and equip them, we need to have this basic thing that is internet.”
This isn’t a new situation for Lebanese citizens. The state has not provided stable electricity for the past 40 years. Many homes and businesses have their own generators. But now, with skyrocketing fuel costs, people can no longer rely on generators to provide power.
El Maalouf says, “This is one of the things that people are using to doing in Lebanon. The government fails at providing the necessities, or the obvious things, and people find different solutions.”
Ask God to strengthen church leaders across the MENA region. And pray God will rest upon the ABTS staff in Lebanon as they participate in this work.
Header photo courtesy of andreas160578 from Pixabay.
