Lebanon

Friday, March 10, 2023

Two centuries ago, missionaries from the West started to arrive in the Middle East and Lebanon was the area they preferred. It was part of Syria and under the Ottoman Turkish rule. With God’s help and under the power of the Holy Spirit missionaries saw a great harvest over several decades. Although not many of us have heard of them, people such as Bliss, Jessup, Smith and Van Dyck are luminaries in the annals of missionaries. They sacrificed everything, suffered a lot, and struggled with threats, hunger, disease, and many other problems. God in his mercy graced them with great results. They translated the Bible into classic Arabic, started churches, established educational institutions and published vast amounts of Christian literature.

In addition, Lebanon has been the home of many martyrs who died because of their faith, including Asaad Shediak and Kamil al-Aytani who were murdered in the prime of life only because they decided to follow Christ.

This country has been favored with

• natural beauty of sea, mountains, rivers, snow, forests, and greenery,
• a degree of freedom of religion, and
• being the most democratic among all the Arab countries.^[1]

Yet, it has continually suffered the devastating effects of political upheavals, sectarian and communal strife, civil wars, and bloodshed.

Prayer

Our Father in heaven, we thank you for those heroes who came to the Middle East to offer Christ to a people that were steeped in the darkness of Islam and traditions. Thank you for the work that is going on now in Lebanon. I pray that people there will open their hearts to Christ.

Help people realize that the misery caused by fanaticism and sectarianism will not end unless Christ is crowned King over their lives.

Promise

There will be an abundance of flowers and singing and joy! The deserts will become as green as the mountains of Lebanon, as lovely as Mount Carmel or the plain of Sharon. There the LORD will display his glory, the splendor of our God (Isaiah 35:2, NLT).