Lebanon (MNN) — Horizons International wants to bring sustainable help to Lebanon. For that reason, they are buying land in the Bekaa Valley, a fertile region in Eastern Lebanon.
Pierre Houssney says, “Many Lebanese people are unemployed and hungry, so what we’re doing is securing a local food source that can provide employment for some of these people and provide a more sustainable source of humanitarian aid. We have been providing humanitarian aid to about 85 local churches here in Lebanon in the past several months.”
The land already has wheat growing on it, Houssney says, but they also plan to grow vegetables and other crops that can be grown throughout the year.
Gospel declaration
Houssney says this will be a place where food and the Gospel intersect. “I love reading about the parables that Jesus spoke that were just full of farm metaphors. To have an agricultural community that’s centered on Christ is just so exciting to me because those same parables that He spoke in an agrarian setting are going to be spoken on this farm, and we’re going to be seeing life transformation for the Syrian refugees and needy Lebanese people on the farm.”
Houssney encourages listeners to support projects like this in Lebanon. Emergency aid, while important, often evaporates quickly. Visit horizonsinternational.org to learn more and get involved.
The header photo, courtesy of Horizons International, shows the farmland.
