Lebanon (MNN) — Nearly everything in Lebanon describes the status of a failed state. For example, the government cannot perform essential functions, and people have lost faith in their leaders.
“When despair overshadows everything around you, sometimes it is hard to find a small flicker of hope,” Camille Melki of Heart for Lebanon says.
Yet God is still at work here. Melki points to a Syrian refugee named Frenge as one example. “She found this hope in Scripture and Jesus, and she is a strong follower of Christ now, faithful and devoted to attending our worship community,” he says.
Frenge’s story
Her journey through darkness began more than a decade ago. “She is from a Muslim Arab tribal background. She and her husband and four children came to Lebanon, fleeing a war-torn country (Syria) only to find as much hardship here in Lebanon, especially in the last two years,” Melki says.
Frenge’s anger grew as Lebanon’s crisis deepened over the years. Soon, she could no longer buy medicine for her epileptic daughter.
“The refugees cannot work legally in Lebanon. Frenge works in the agricultural fields only to make less than $4 a day,” Melki says.
“In the last two years, that $4 has dropped to less than $2 a day, so her income is very limited.”
Then, Frenge met Gospel workers serving alongside Heart for Lebanon. “Heart for Lebanon provided some assistance through the (monthly) food package, but we also have provided some encouragement and social care for her sick daughter,” Melki says.
Representative image
(Photo courtesy of Heart for Lebanon)
Soon, Gospel conversations introduced Frenge to Christ. “We have allowed Frenge to experience hope on multiple levels. [Believers] continued to care, pray, visit, encourage and support. She couldn’t find that [level of care] before in anyone else,” Melki says.
You can help refugees like Frenge move from despair to hope.
Pray for ministry leaders facing difficult decisions. “[The cost of] providing basic food and hygiene supplies each month is now increasing roughly 25- to 30-percent because of the (global) spike in prices of goods,” Melki says.
“At Heart for Lebanon, we are torn between giving less food and [the ability to] raise more (money for food packages) … We have chosen to take the hit as a ministry and continue to give the same quantity of food that we have given normally every month, regardless of the increase in costs.”
Header and story images courtesy of Heart for Lebanon.
