Service Mission in South Lebanon

When the war on Lebanon intensified last September, especially in its southern region, thousands of Lebanese families fled from the South to Beirut and other “safe” areas of the country.

The Christian Life Community in Lebanon, in cooperation with the Jesuits, sought to support the displaced families who had taken refuge at Our Lady of Deliverance Monastery in Bikfaya by providing essential needs such as food, water, medicine, and clothing. We also launched an appeal for financial donations, which we were able to secure through the generosity of the World Community and some members of our local community.

In February 2025, after a ceasefire was established, the displaced families from some villages, such as Yaroun, returned to find their homes completely destroyed. This forced them to take refuge in neighboring villages (Rmeish, Ain Ebel, etc.). As a result, we decided to continue our mission in the afflicted South, especially since we had received financial support from the World Community for this purpose.

As a National Community, we formed two committees composed of members of the Christian Life Community: the Logistics Committee, tasked with immediate relief efforts, and the Spiritual Committee, responsible for longer-term support. At this stage, we present what has been achieved so far by the Logistics Committee, with the work of the Spiritual Committee to be shared later.

Over nearly two months, members of the Logistics Committee contacted the affected Christian families and gathered essential information about their situations. The first direct meeting with residents in the border areas followed, during which we provided vital aid — food, medicine, school tuition fees, and housing rent — to each family according to its needs.

It is worth noting that some breadwinners are unemployed, while others survive on a modest income from tying tobacco leaves for drying.

Through our repeated visits, we realized that our mission is not only about meeting material needs, but also about standing beside these families as “Pilgrims of Hope”; offering them spiritual support as well so that they may remain steadfast in their faith and rooted in their land.

Each time we return to Beirut, with the images of the places and people we met still vivid in our minds, we feel called — as a “Community of Discernment” — to keep our gaze fixed on the virtue of hope, and on the faith and love that we ourselves have received from these steadfast border families.