“Despite their fears, churches in Lebanon find creative solutions to offer hospitality and care to the displaced”

Lebanon, the Mediterranean country bordering Israel to the south, has been embroiled in a new war.

In the first month of a full-scale conflict with the the Israeli bombardment targeting Shi'ite Hezbollah militias, more than 1.5 million people have been forced to flee their homes and seek refuge further north in the country.

Thousands of civilians have been killed and wounded.

“As always in times of external threat to the country, the Lebanese tend to pull together in the face of danger”, told Evangelical Focus Martin Accad, president of the Near East School of Theology (NEST), a Christian theological seminary in the capital, Beirut.

In his answers to this new website, Accad explained the tensions in a country where a resilient population tries to find reasons for hope. His prayer requests include “courage” for Lebanese Christians to “not flee the country but remain to serve its people”.

Question. How is Lebanon’s society and media reacting to the war at this point both in the Southern region and the rest of the country?

Answer. As always in times of external threat to the country, the Lebanese tend to pull together in the face of danger. Israel’s attempt to cause division among the various Lebanese sects have so far failed, as they did in Israel’s 2006 war against Hezbollah.

At the popular level, we have all kinds of reactions, from anger toward Hezbollah, to an extension of the anger toward the Shiite community as a whole, to full solidarity and embrace of the now 1.5 million internally displaced persons.

On the political level, the reactions have clearly been controlled. Those political voices traditionally quite vocal against Hezbollah have been very intentional about avoiding any discourse of incitement against the group or any prejudice against the Shiite community. They understand that this could lead to internal conflict, which no one wants. On the other hand, those voices have also called upon Shiite leadership to abandon what they refer to as “external agendas” (with reference to Iran) and to take this opportunity to return to state order.

Traditional media outlets for the most part have aligned with the political positions of their sponsors. As for social media, they reflect the diverse voices found among the general population as described above.

Q. How many Evangelical Christians are there in Lebanon? And what are the feelings in the churches?

A. It is hard to provide definitive numbers of Protestants/Evangelicals in Lebanon, mainly because many who attend Evangelical churches remain legally in their communities of birth. But we can estimate about 0.5 percent of the population to be officially Protestant, while the real number of Protestant church attendees may be closer to 2%.

In the current crisis, however, we have to account for greater suspicion and worry that displaced Shiites might be targeted by Israeli missile attacks. Therefore, there are growing accounts of churches that are hesitant to host Shiites on their premises for fear of exposing Christian communities to danger. Churches nevertheless are creative in finding solutions to offer hospitality and care to the displaced despite their fears.

Q. In your case at the Near East Theology School in Beirut, what measures have you taken in the midst of daily tension and suffering these weeks?

A. At the NEST, we have taken immediate emergency measures to ensure the safety of our students, staff, and faculty. We have equipped our building with emergency food, water, and medical kits.

We have devised safety measures to take in the case of direct and indirect attacks. We have reviewed the accessibility and preparedness of our basements for use as bomb shelters. And we are in the process of upgrading our security situation by installing better access control mechanisms to our property.

Academically, we have given our students the liberty to return to their homes temporarily and moved our programs online. In addition, we have begun an assessment of needs in our neighbourhood and started making plans to respond to those needs.

 “Our experience is that God always gives us the necessary courage in such times so that we don’t feel intimidated or overly fearful”

We are checking regularly on the wellbeing of displaced persons in our immediate vicinity and have begun conversations with a neighbouring hospital to set up the NEST building as a “spillover” location for emergency medical personnel in case the security conditions move to the next level of danger.

Our primary mission as a theological seminary is to provide a healthy learning environment. But as an institution located at the heart of Beirut, we also feel called to the ministry of hospitality and good neighbourliness. We are therefore continually seeking ways to live up well to these callings.

Q. How does the Gospel help you have hope in such times of violence?

A. The Gospel requires that we be faithful representatives of Christ in such times. We are called to be God’s hands and feet, his eyes, ears, and mouth to all those around us. Therefore, our experience is that God always gives us the necessary courage in such times so that we don’t feel intimidated or overly fearful.

When these difficult times come, we discover that God gives us the strength and perseverance to serve well all those around us. Our outlook on life is outside the range of optimism or pessimism.

Though we often feel helpless, we never feel hopeless. We are convinced that God has ultimate control of history, and we experience his care and encouragement as we see the result of turning our efforts to the outside, to those in need, rather than focusing on our own fears and anxieties. We experience personal peace as we serve others in times of danger and uncertainty.

Q. Do you see any potential of resolution and peacemaking in the conflict between Israel, Gaza, Hezbollah, Iran?

A. Personally, I do not see any immediate solution to the current conflict. Like many of my generation, I grew up through the Lebanese civil war and have never known any extended period of peace. We have therefore abandoned the idea that peace will come through political manoeuvring. We have learnt constantly to adapt to a “new normal.” It is the only way that we can function creatively and constructively in a country like Lebanon.

“Thousands of orphans in communities that have lost everything have nothing more to lose”

There is no short-term solution to the current conflict because the roots of these regional conflicts go far back in modern history. They are largely the legacy of colonialism and of the selfish and brutal behaviour of empires. Thus, longer-term solutions for Lebanon rest in regional solutions, first and foremost to the tragic injustices experienced by the Palestinians. The circumstances that led to the establishment of the state of Israel extend beyond the region and this situation was imposed on us by world powers. Until Israel gives up on its settler colonial ambitions, and until world powers stop providing it with arms and inciting it to continue in its settler project, there will be no peace.

In the meantime, the church’s role on all sides of the conflict is to practice peacemaking by de-escalating the feelings of hatred and revenge among new generations. But this task is bewildering when continuous violence perpetuates unimaginable loss of lives, livelihoods, and properties, producing tens of thousands of orphans in communities that have lost everything and have nothing more to lose.

Q. How can people pray for Lebanon now?

A. Pray for the safety of all Lebanese people, for safe spaces for the internally displaced, especially as we approach the cold winter months.

 “Pray for a de-escalation of the war, for longer-term peacebuilding initiatives at the grassroot level”

Pray for a de-escalation of the war so that there would be space for longer-term peacebuilding initiatives at the grassroot level. Pray that international brokers would be strong and bold, and that they would impose a ceasefire by force on all warring parties through diplomatic and economic pressures.

Pray for courage for the church in Lebanon, so that Christians would not flee the country but remain to serve its people. It is through the church’s service that Christ’s name will be glorified and his Lordship recognized.

Pray that the global church will experience deep compassion and will give generously to support the Lebanese church’s work among the suffering.

Pray for special wisdom for a new generation of peacemakers who will step in and facilitate negotiations between the warring parties.