Jordanian-Based Ministry Helping Crisis in South Lebanon
 

By Jeremy Reynalds
Correspondent for ASSIST News ServiceAMMAN, JORDAN (ANS) – The current situation in south Lebanon is horrifying.

The current situation in south Lebanon is horrifying.That’s the latest word from the Jordanian-based Christian relief agency Manara Ministries.

An e-mail communique from Manara stated that “many Christian villages look like ghost towns at best. Homes, schools, buildings, roads and bridges are down, despite ‘promises’ and efforts of reconstruction by Hezbollah. All this excludes the Christian homes and villages scattered across the south. Many of those villages were places of refuge during the war, therefore were exhausted by (thousands of) additional inhabitants, and their resources depleted by neighboring villagers.”

Manara stated that farm lands have been totally devastated and the sea polluted. However, the e-mail continued, even worse than the physical destruction is the loss of hope in a peaceful and stable Lebanon, (especially for new Christians). As a result, many young professionals are relocating to the West.

But in spite of that, the e-mail from Manara stated, “there are encouraging testimonies of churches reaching out with help, individuals giving all they own to help others, and structured efforts to assist and meet … needs.”

Manara and its ministry partners have so far been able, the ministry stated, to provide medical assistance for several people in the south, assisted in purchasing new water canisters for homes, and helped facilitate a shipment of medical supplies from the U.K. that was flown in by the Jordanian Air Force from Amman to Beirut. In addition, the ministry stated, it has supported “a TV production that provides encouragement and spiritual care for hundreds of thousands of estimated viewers on Christian satellite channels … and met small needs here and there.”

Because of the huge needs, Manara stated, the ministry is focusing its resources in four areas. It is helping Christian schools and students to purchase school books and run schools; providing medical supplies and funds, purchasing Bibles and Christian literature “as long as the opportunity is there,” and assisting families with food parcels “and other physical items.”

Manara’s e-mail stated that its current efforts, known as CEDARS (Christian Emergency Aid and Hope Restoration for Lebanon) began during the war, “but after the cease-fire, the efforts transformed into a swift plan to meet needs in different villages and towns across Lebanon.”

The e-mail concluded, “We need to keep moving fast, because no one knows how long we have before the war starts again or when the opportunity is lost.”