Lebanon is a small country on the Mediterranean, yet from this ancient land have come many people who now call Australia home and contribute immensely to our nation.
The reason for the migration of some 250,000 Lebanese since the late 19th century has often not been freely chosen; it has come in waves connected to what seems like a series of ongoing crises in the homeland.
Southern Lebanon has borne the brunt of much of the fighting since 1978.
The militant group Hezbollah has its strongest base in the South; it was set up in the 1980s to resist Israeli occupation, but the most recent fragile ceasefire, established in 2024, collapsed in February this year, and the bombings are now as intense as they have ever been.
Around ten weeks into this latest conflict, more than 2,500 people in Lebanon have been killed, including more than 400 children, and more than one million displaced from their homes.
This is a war using drones, missiles and rockets, but as is so often the case, those who suffer are families, children and ordinary citizens trying to live their lives.
I had the opportunity to visit Lebanon in late 2023, and in that trip two powerful but conflicting principles were evident in the meetings I had with individuals, families and clergy.
First, there is a real love for their land, a deep attachment to their land, their family, their culture and their church.
Lebanese Christians know their presence is ancient, and they are very proud of the fact that the Lord and Saviour himself set foot in their lands, as we read in the Gospel of Matthew (15:21).
Second is the very natural desire to find a place of safety for their families and their loved ones.
Almost every person I spoke to (excluding the clergy and religious) told me that if they could feasibly migrate, they would do so – not because they wanted to leave, but because the strain of waking up each day in the middle of ongoing crisis was destroying their ability to live and prosper in even the most basic ways.
When people lose hope in the future, even the deepest love of homeland is not enough to make them stay. And we have seen that. A century ago Christians made up 70 per cent of Lebanon; today that is between 20–30 per cent.
What is the role of the church in all this? It is to be there for the people, to offer them every help, spiritual and physical. And indeed, that is what the church in Lebanon continues to do, and I will add, with the help of Christians abroad…like you.
That is why at Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) we continue to assist the local churches in what they need. My colleague Marielle Boutros, the project coordinator for ACN in Lebanon, has said quite clearly:
“The church is really a rock in Lebanon. The fall of the church and its institutions will lead to an exodus of Christians. The fall of the church will be the fall of all Christians in the Middle East.”
And so, in Lebanon we at ACN continue to do all we can to be that support.
We are providing emergency aid in the form of food, medicine and fuel. We are providing support for schoolteachers so they don’t depart the country, leaving a generation of children with no Christian education.
Our work is undertaken because we know Lebanon is the glue that holds Middle Eastern Christianity together.
In many ways we have to be like Simon of Cyrene, or Veronica. They saw the suffering of the Lord on the road to Calvary, and they stepped in to help.
It was not their role to overthrow the Roman governor or fight the soldiers. They offered small and almost invisible helps, but they did their part and let God do the rest.
Two thousand years later we recall their names as part of the ultimate story of God’s love. It can be the same for Lebanon.
These people, our brothers and sisters, are in a crisis.
Much of it is beyond our control, but let us give what prayerful and practical support we can, remembering that God is never outdone in generosity.
Support the work of Aid to the Church in Need in Lebanon by visiting www.aidtochurch.org/lebanon or phoning 1800 101 201.
Bernard Toutounji is the National Director of Aid to the Church in Need Australia and New Zealand.
