Lebanon (MNN) — Nearly 400,000 children in Lebanon have been displaced since Hezbollah resumed firing on Israel on March 2. As the “ceasefire” between Lebanon and Israel continues with strikes between Israel and Hezbollah, that number can only grow.
Many kids are traumatized by the sights and sounds of war. Yet they often take their cues from their parents on how to respond, says Pierre Houssney with Horizons International.
Depending on their background, the influence of a child’s parents can be an anchor or an added push toward fearful responses. Houssney explains that many in his generation grew up in Lebanon’s civil war and carry trauma.
“Their hands will shake, and their breathing will change, and you’ll see them visibly experience fear whenever there are sounds of war going on around them,” he says. “And kids are uniquely gifted in picking up on those things.”
Tripoli, Lebanon (Photo courtesy of Rudy Issa via Unsplash)
In contrast, Houssney didn’t grow up in Lebanon during the civil war and doesn’t carry those same marks. These days, he and his children hear airstrikes, drones, and sonic booms near their home in Lebanon.
“They’re aware of what’s going on. They understand the seriousness of it, but at the same time, they are not showing signs of being traumatized or too fearful about it,” he says. It’s a gift from God that he knows could easily change.
“If we lived in a different location that was closer to where airstrikes were happening, it could be a totally different situation,” he adds. “There are people who have had strikes in their building or strikes in their neighborhood, and had the dust of air strikes come down and settle on them, and they’re breathing it, and they’re seeing the people running and screaming and things like that. It’s a very, very difficult situation.”
Please pray for children in Lebanon to find the true source of strength.
“We are simply trying to do our best to help other people in this situation, through the trauma, through the physical needs and the spiritual needs,” says Houssney.
“Be praying for spiritual renewal, for repentance, for connection with God, that God’s healing would go out throughout the region.”
Pray also that world leaders would take steps to build peace across the world, “because if no world powers intervene when these wars are happening, then they’re just going to continue happening,” says Houssney.
Header photo courtesy of Horizons International.
