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Last updated: 17 August 2006 |
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Donate to the Lebanon Emergency Fund
BibleLands
is thankful that the ceasefire in Lebanon has been implemented and
we pray that it will hold. We have been in constant
On 15 August we received reports from both Al Kafa't and JL Schneller School. At Al Kafa'at 150 of the refugees have now left and the remaining 100, whose homes have been destroyed, or who live near the Israeli border, will be moved to community centres within the next week to allow the project to re-organise in time for the new term. Raif Choueiri, the Director of Al Kafa'at sent this message of thanks: " Your messages, prayers, and deeds, have been well received, and helped us all to accept the unthinkable and pursue our Christian Actions with much hope and perseverance."The JL Schneller School reports that the last of the refugees left them on 15 August. The housing stock has been badly affected and almost every property has suffered significant damage, so the school is contacting all of its students living in the affected area and will use the remainder of the funds supplied by BibleLands to help those in greatest need. We are anticipating further requests for help from Lebanon. If you would like to help by giving a donation to the Lebanon Emergency Fund to help the work of our Project Partners in Lebanon, who are in even greater need at this time, please do so online or send a donation to:
BibleLands, PO Box 50, High Wycombe, Bucks HP15 7QU
These images from Beit El Nour, Beirut show the distribution of aid relief by one of their social workers, Mrs Rouba, and their hall transformed into a store room for goods and dresses for the refugees. BibleLands sent £5,000 to support this programme.
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These images from Al Kafa'at, Beirut, show refugees receiving a hot meal and the kitchens from where more than 1,000 refugees were fed. £15,000 was sent by BibleLands to help cover the additional costs.
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Message for Child Sponsors in Lebanon The schools or institution where your child lives or studies may not be able to provide the usual reports until communication lines are fully restored. We therefore ask you to bear with us and with them in this dark hour as their priority must be to keep those in their care safe, well and provided for. We will happily continue to receive letters, cards and simple small items (not including anything perishable) in accordance with our guidelines for onward transmission to the schools in due course. These will be stored in our office and sent out at the earliest possible opportunity. Copies of some of the information and messages received from Project Partners in Lebanon during the conflict may be viewed here.
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Israel and the Occupied Territories Since the end of June Gaza has been under siege, leaving its people short of water, food, electricity and fuel, and with rising unemployment and poverty. Communication with our Project Partners at the Al Ahli Hospital is almost impossible and the last report we have was received by the Diocese of Jerusalem and the Middle East (its administrators) on 25 July. The report confirms that there is great need for prayer and practical support. All hospitals across the Gaza Strip are in a desperate situation. Operating rooms are full and supplies are running dangerously low. None of our projects in Israel and the Occupied Territories have reported any damage or loss and those outside of the Gaza Strip are continuing to operate in relative normality. We have sent a grant of £5,000 to the Al Ahli Hospital to help them pay for emergency medical and food relief. This money came from our General Fund which is used to answer sudden, unforeseen requests for help. If you would like to support this fund please do so online or send a donation to:- BibleLands, PO Box 50, High Wycombe, Bucks HP15 7QU The following is an extract from a Newsletter from the Diocese of Jerusalem dated 25 July 2006 regarding the situation in Gaza: Suheila Tarazi, Al Ahli Hospital’s Director, writes: This is the worst situation we have ever had here in Gaza: politically, socially, and economically. Everything is in deterioration. And what is even worse is that we cannot see any hope. Gaza is under a complete siege. Al Ahli Hospital is running out of medicine and I am really afraid that if we do not get the medical stocks that we urgently need, we will stop operating. The severe shortage of medicine and infusion is our greatest problem. We are suffering from the bombardment of the main power station in Gaza. We have electricity from 5 – 8 hours maximum a day, which means a shortage of electricity of between 16 to 19 hours a day. Now imagine any hospital in the world without electricity. And even through the times we have electricity, it never comes in one go, but comes and goes unpredictably. The hospital has repeatedly suffered from damage caused by sonic bombs, such as broken windows and ceilings.
The Mobile Clinics had to be cancelled for three weeks because of the current crisis, but the Hospital hopes to start them again next week, if the situation gets better. Two of the areas our Mobile Clinics serve were invaded seriously so many times during the last two weeks that it was impossible to get there. The Mobile Clinics need a lot of preparation, and if the area we are planning to serve is suddenly targeted, it is impossible to go to another area, for each area has its special needs and needs specific preparation. What is hurting most is that the international family is closing its eyes to what is going on here. We strongly plead with the international community to put pressure on their governments and on Israel to stop this collective punishment. We are all against violence. Might and violence will never solve problems. There need to be negotiations and we will find solutions! We will continue to love our enemy, even if they continue to hate us, and we pray for forgiveness. |
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touch with our
Project Partners and can confirm that all are safe, and have
escaped any major damage. The projects most directly affected were Beit El Nour
(House of Light), Al Kafa'at (Cedars Capabilities
Centre), Union of Evangelical Schools, and the Cedar Home - all in Beruit, and the JL Schneller School in the Bekaa Valley. All of
these Project Partners took in refugees. As BibleLands had
money transfer channels already in place we were able to respond
immediately to their requests for additional funding and during
the first two weeks of August we were able to send £42,680 out to
help cover the cost of food and bedding for the refugees.
