Donate – Select “[24ABLN] Lift The Spirit of Hope This Christmas – Lebanon Relief“

Jesus our Hope has come, the angels still proclaim. Their song resounds in our hearts at Christmas.

Blessed are we who are sustained by hope. In our daily lives, we face many obstacles, but with our faith as the cornerstone of our being, we persevere.

Today, in Lebanon, the community served by our Franciscan missionary friars needs to be sustained by hope so they can persevere. The population in the country is about half Christian, and many families will know homelessness this Christmas.

The expansion of the conflict in the Middle East into South Lebanon has caused the deaths of over 2,500 civilians and injured around 9,000. Civilians seeking safety have been forced to flee southern and eastern Lebanon. Around 1 million displaced people have found shelter in “safe areas” such as the eastern side of Beirut, the Mount Lebanon region, and the Northern region.

People left everything behind when they fled their homes. The government has opened all the schools throughout Lebanon to accommodate these displaced people, but obviously they are not prepared. No one expected something like this, so there is no preparation to deal with the situation.

Donate – Select “[24ABLN] Lift The Spirit of Hope This Christmas – Lebanon Relief“

Our Franciscan missionary friars in Tyre, Lebanon, opened the doors of their friary to 150 people including 70 children who survived the bombings and were seeking safe shelter.

According to Father Toufic Bou Merhi, OFM, the pastor of our Franciscan Church of St. Anthony, the difficulty of caring for so many people is logistical because the friary is small and does not have many bathrooms. He said, “Our friary is small, but our hearts are big, so we keep going.” Our Franciscan missionary friars provided mattresses, bedding, water, and three meals a day for the all the people sheltering with them!

But they could not keep their small friary open for long. As the escalation intensified, a missile hit near the Franciscan church, wounding two children who had found shelter at the friary. For the safety of the refugees and our missionary friars, it was decided to close our friary in Tyre on October 1 and have our friars and the refugees flee north as well.

Donate – Select “[24ABLN] Lift The Spirit of Hope This Christmas – Lebanon Relief“

Fr. Toufic and our other missionary friars from Tyre were welcomed at our Franciscan Friary of St. James in Beirut. Here Fr. Toufic continued his work providing for refugees from the south.

Fr. Toufic helped coordinate assistance to 148 refugee families from Deir Mimas, a Christian village less than two miles from the border. This town was bombed the night Fr. Toufic arrived in Beirut, and everyone fled.

Will you help us to provide hope for these weary refugee families?

Refugees are being sheltered in our friary in Beirut, our friary in Tripoli, at the Franciscan School in Adonis, and at public schools in the area.

Fr. Toufic and our other Franciscan friars in Lebanon are challenged to lift the spirit of hope in people who are living without much hope. They have been distributing food and other necessities to these innocent victims for weeks now.

Donate – Select “[24ABLN] Lift The Spirit of Hope This Christmas – Lebanon Relief“

Will you stand with them as they struggle to find the resources to support the refugee families?

Fr. Toufic has submitted an emergency request to feed the refugees seeking help. He has asked for $56,250 to provide refugees with 15,000 hot meals. That is only $3.75 per meal!

You and I have lived through many joys and sorrows, but our faith endures all things because of the gift of hope.

As Christmas draws near, you might be wondering what gift to offer to the poor. You can help Fr. Toufic offer them the precious gift of hope in the promise, the kindness, and the love of our God. You can help these refugee families persevere in this conflict.

We pray for peace always, but even if a cease-fire is agreed to, it will take weeks if not months for these families to find the courage and the resources to return home.

Donate – Select “[24ABLN] Lift The Spirit of Hope This Christmas – Lebanon Relief“

I ask you to give as generously as your heart prompts you. Your generosity and caring enable our missionary friars to realize their calling to serve God by dedicating their lives to serve the poor in the missions.

May God bless and reward your every act of kindness and may the rich hope of the Christmas season fill your heart and the hearts of your loved ones.

Yours gratefully in Christ,

Brother Andrew Brophy, OFM

Executive Director

P.S. Please send a generous Christmas gift today to help feed refugees in Lebanon. It is only due to the generosity of people like you that our Franciscan missionary friars can serve some of the neediest refugees in our world. But while their needs sometimes seem endless, be assured that hope is no stranger among them.