Air Strike Kills 24 in Christian Village, Lebanon

Join us Sunday, November 3, for the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church.

Just one day after last week’s deadly Hezbollah drone attack in Israel, an Israeli air strike killed 24 and wounded others in the Christian-majority village of Aitou, northern Lebanon.

The victims reportedly included a Hezbollah leader and displaced persons from a Shiite municipality in the south of the country, where most IDF attacks have focused. Christian villages also dot that area, and those caught up in this war not their own can see the missiles flying both ways overhead.

“I think people think that this is a war between Lebanon and Israel. It’s not…. It is Israel against Hezbollah, because the Lebanese are not involved in the war whatsoever. The army is not involved, [nor] the politicians,” said Nuna of Triumphant Mercy, an evangelistic humanitarian aid organization in Lebanon.

“There are promises in Isaiah — in Isaiah 29 especially — about Lebanon. [It says], in a very short time Lebanon will be turned into a fertile field,” continued Nuna, speaking of these past few weeks as a “short time.” 

“Lebanon now is not the Lebanon [of] two weeks ago. Two weeks ago, we had Hezbollah having the upper hand. They were like the upper force in the government. They could prevent a president [from coming] into power. They could do lots of things.

“But now, two weeks later, this force has been weakened in such a way that leaders [are] not there. The ones that are trying to become leaders or trying to take some type of authority in it are being killed. So they don’t have the same power anymore.”

This change has led to calls for Lebanon to elect a president, which it has not had since its former president’s term ended in 2022. (Katie O’Malley, Misson Network News, October 9)

Nuna asks for prayer for Lebanon’s leaders to stay on the sidelines of the Israel-Hezbollah conflict, and for God to make the Church in Lebanon a light in the midst of darkness. She believes Hezbollah to be a part of that Isaiah 29:17-21 passage:

“[Isaiah 29] says in that day, the blind, or those who are veiled, those who are living in darkness and gloom, will understand the words of the scroll. They will hear it and they will understand it. We believe [these are] all these Muslim nations, especially the Hezbollah people, who have been under a veil, who have been indoctrinated, who have been under such a darkness and gloom,” Nuna says. “This is the reason for our hope now. [It] is like God is shifting the nation.” 

Lebanon is 33% Christian, many of those Maronites, a Syriac ethnoreligious people group related to Catholicism with origins in the 5th century AD. But evangelicals have also made their home there. And in the midst of this war, groups like Triumphant Mercy, the Arab Baptist Seminary and the Baptist School in Beirut minister to those who are displaced, grieving and terrified.

Pierre Houssney with Horizons International said many Lebanese ages 34 to 50 are reliving the country’s civil war of 1975-1990, while younger generations are dealing with such trauma for the first time. “People of my generation, they actually start to physically tremble, and that gets passed on to their kids as well.

“We have over 1.2 million internally displaced people, and this is a country [where] the ‘nationals’ — the indigenous people, Lebanese — are maybe 4, 4.5 million total. Plus we have over half a million Palestinian refugees who have been temporarily here since 1948. We also have upwards of 2 million Syrian refugees,” Pierre said.

“The whole country is in chaos right now. There’s a lot of fear, and we’re really now in a wartime mode. It’s been quite intense.” (O’Malley, MNN, October 16)

The classrooms once used for Horizons’ School of Hope and another building where a Kurdish church met are now shelters for hundreds of internally displaced people. Loving Christians cook for them, pray with them, help them medically and minister to them in other ways.

“We get to know them, and we see that they’re open. We do not spare any opportunity to share the gospel in a way that shows genuine love so that they can understand we [are] helping them in the humanitarian [means]  because we truly love them with the love of Christ.”

Read more about Lebanese Christians sharing Christ with the lost during these dark times here:

Caught in a Battle Not Their Own, Lebanese Christians Choose Love

Lord, please raise up into every position of leadership in Lebanon those who will care for their citizens, who have no ties to Hezbollah or any other Muslim extremist terrorist group, and who will instead follow God’s leading to rebuild this country which has been devastated by grabs for power. Strip from Hezbollah every ounce of influence. Bring them to their knees in repentance and surrender to Truth. Stop the violence and be a Shield around the innocent. Comfort those who have lost much and chase out their fear with Your perfect love. Meet them in their dreams, talk to them throughout the day. Let them feel Your presence with them, hear Your voice guiding them, and see all the ways You protect and provide. Perform signs and miracles and wonders amidst the chaos and danger, so all eyes will turn to You. Use Christians to shine Your love during this difficult time. As they pass out food boxes, as they fight fires, as they seek to help those in need, protect and guide them. Open up conversations so they can share the good news about Jesus. Through their words and love, bring hope in the midst of devastation, joy in the midst of sorrow, and faith to overcome fear. Shine Your love through them so powerfully Muslims will see You as You truly are, reject the hatred and violence of their religion gone wrong and choose Love instead. Watch over Christian families, farms, homes and churches and keep them safe from harm. Rebuild and replace what they have lost. Provide for their needs abundantly so they can also bless others abundantly. Be their Shield, their Fortress, their Help in time of need. Strengthen and multiply their churches. Begin a church planting movement that will spread throughout all of Lebanon and beyond, awakening the nations to Your love. In Your name, Jesus. Amen.

Mikaela Vincent and her husband are missionaries who live by faith, trusting in God to provide for their needs as they pray for and share Christ with the nations. If you would like to help their ministry through a donation, or by shopping at Mikaela’s online bookstore, click the buttons below:

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