Lebanon (MNN) — Despite unfolding crises across the Middle East, Pierre Houssney of Horizons International says the Lebanese church is carrying on its work.
“God is being glorified in powerful ways, and everybody is noticing it: Christian and Muslim alike, Sunnis and Shiites,” he says.
Through the instability of recent days, the evangelical church is standing up boldly and crossing ethnic boundaries to help other people and share the gospel, Houssney explains. Horizons recently hosted a Christmas event at the middle east center for world missions in Beirut.
“It’s a two-day event where Christian vendors are coming in and selling hand crafted products, and we’re inviting the community to come in and celebrate Christmas together,” he says.
Courtesy of Jorono via Pixabay.
Despite the Muslim cultural climate, Houssney feels the Christmas literacy in Lebanon is higher than in the United States.
“Even though there are a lot of Muslims, and there still is the glitz and glitter, there is more awareness that this is about Jesus. Many Muslims even put up Christmas trees because they like the Christmas feeling.”
Now, as throughout the year, there are important opportunities to evangelize. Regarding danger from ongoing conflict, Houssney simply states:
“We live in this kind of paradox all the time.”
During the bombings this fall, Horizons was filming testimonies of Muslim-background believers. Houssney says believers have two options when chaos breaks out:
“Either we hide in our homes, or we just keep pressing on and keep moving and do whatever we can accomplish.”
Ministry staff at Horizons usually choose the latter, he says.
“Sometimes we do need to hunker down and be careful, but we are predominantly a Lebanese indigenous organization, so our staff are pretty resilient, and they know how to operate even during war time.”
Please pray for the ministry of Horizons International, especially as staff and fellow believers reach out to the surrounding community this Christmas. Pray that Lebanese Muslims would be open to the Gospel, and pray that the ongoing political conflicts would drive many souls to Christ.
Featured photo courtesy of Jokassis via Pexels.
