Lebanon (MNN) — On Monday, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said more than 3,000 people have been killed in the past 13 months of the Israel-Hezbollah conflict. On Tuesday and Wednesday, Israeli airstrikes in eastern and central Lebanon killed at least 70 more.
Hezbollah says it will consider a ceasefire if Israeli “aggressions” stop. It’s incredibly complicated.
“Unfortunately, it’s always the innocent civilians who pay the price of these conflicts,” says Camille Melki with Heart for Lebanon. “The Lebanese general population desires peace and long for this war to end. When [will] that happen? I don’t know.”
(Photo courtesy of Heart for Lebanon)
Of Lebanon’s 5.8 million people, 1.2 million are estimated to be displaced today. Heart for Lebanon’s two ministry centers are well positioned in southern Lebanon and in a town called Zahleh in the Bekaa Valley. Their team distributes clothing, blankets, and other aid to displaced families and individuals.
Melki says many of these families have been displaced twice or even three times in their lives.
“These are either Lebanese who had fled southern Lebanon before — have experienced the war of 2006 — and now here we go again, 18 years later, another conflict hits,” Melki says.
“Or they’re Syrian refugees who came to Lebanon seeking a place of refuge, only to be caught in the middle of this conflict.”
No matter what happens, Heart for Lebanon seeks to bring hope of Christ to more people.
“Our goal is not to play politics,” Melki states. “Our role is to show the love of Jesus Christ in meaningful and tangible ways, looking at the opportunity that God gives us to strike [up] what I call these ‘Jesus conversations’ with people who are seeking answers to their well-thought questions: ‘Where is God in all of that? Does God care for our miseries? Is God watching and not caring?’”
Many of those asking these questions don’t know the God of the Bible. Melki says to pray that more of the Middle East will open to the gospel. Pray that men, women, and children find peace with God through Christ; only then, says Melki, will people have the chance of finding peace with one another.
Header photo of aid distribution in recent years courtesy of Heart for Lebanon.
