Christians in Lebanon are providing emergency aid after the huge explosion in Beirut’s port area which claimed more than 100 lives and injured several thousand.
‘The blast has shaken not just Beirut, but the whole country,’ said World Vision Lebanon’s communications manager Josephine Haddad.
‘We are really worried about the families and children who live in the affected areas,’ she added. ‘This disaster could not come at a worse time; Lebanon is in the middle of an economic crisis and has also seen the rate of COVID-19 infections drastically increase over the past few weeks.’
The nation was already in turmoil before the explosion and pandemic, with the economic situation prompting widespread protests since late last year. Almost half the population is below the poverty line.
In addition, Tear Fund states that there are a million and a half refugees in Lebanon, and that 25% of the country’s population now consists of Syrian refugees.
The evangelical Resurrection Church, Beirut, was already supporting 900 struggling families (both refugee and locals) with food and hygiene, and 2,700 refugees with medical care. A spokesperson said: ‘Our RCB family is okay, as far as we know, but there has been some damage to our campus… as well as some of the apartments of people from our community.’
