Lebanon (MNN) — Israeli strikes in Lebanon are leaving deep scars on the most vulnerable.
Since October 2023, at least 3,100 people have been killed in the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. Today an estimated 1.2 million are displaced. In the six weeks since the conflict escalated in late September, 100 children have lost their lives and hundreds more have been injured, according to one article from AP News.
“The ones who suffer the most are children, children who ache silently, suffer quietly,” says Camille Melki with Heart for Lebanon.“You look and see it on their faces, and you can imagine the terror, the fear, the disbelief of all that’s going around them.”
(Photo courtesy of Heart for Lebanon)
The Heart for Lebanon team is trained to work with children and share encouragement in whatever time they have together. On a recent outreach, the team noticed a 15-year-old Muslim girl who trembled at any loud noise. It turns out she had nearly been killed by shelling while out in the fields.
As the team spoke with her, the girl’s little sister held her hand and told her Bible stories about David and Paul. She had learned them in Heart for Lebanon’s Sunday school.
“It was just beautiful to see a younger sister helping her older sibling cope with fear, quoting the Bible,” Melki says.
“This is not your everyday church-goer. This is a family that was born Muslim and had the opportunity to hear the gospel for the first time through our ministry.”
Would you partner with Heart for Lebanon in this ministry to kids? Above all, pray!
“This conflict, even if it ends today, the pain, the emotional and spiritual pain would last for at least a generation,” Melki says.
“When we pray, we’re not only asking for an end of a conflict, as important as that is. We are praying for an eye-opener for the communities of the Middle East, where we understand that in order to have peace — the peace that we believe and we deserve, in fact — [we need] a peace with God.”
Pray that Heart for Lebanon will have many opportunities to help children and their families meet Jesus, the true source of peace. Connect with them and learn more here.
Header photo: Guided by spiritual leaders and mentors, children participating in #SummerOfHope explore themes of hope, resilience, and the power of faith. (Photo, caption courtesy of Heart for Lebanon)
