Lebanon (MNN)–The United Nations calls Israel’s pullout from south Lebanon a “significant progress”.
SAT 7’s Terry Ascott says it’s a psychological move. There will still be troops patrolling the borders, but it mostly takes Israel out of the mix. The action takes place after a nearly three-month troop incursion into Lebanon began after the kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers.
During the war, Ascott says their staff cultivated programming framed by Great Commission work. “We began to develop regular, live programming that reflected what was going on the ground in Lebanon in that timing.”
The staff developed creative ways to keep people informed on what was happening without getting into the politics. They also found ways to bring content about the reality of the situation in Lebanon. “Our teams were able to go to areas that had been devastated to visit relief programs that were being carried out by other Christian ministries and show the Muslim world the compassion and love that Christians had for non-Christians.”
Ascott says there’s still a long way to go–and believers are concerned about sectarian violence. “Some 60-percent of the Christian community would emigrate from Lebanon if they had the opportunity.”
The report’s results are sobering. They point to the reality of a remnant church, or a diaspora-effect. While that can be good for seeing a rooted church, Ascott says, “This reflects a very low level of optimism concerning the future especially within the Christian community within Lebanon. Hope and having hope for the future is a key issue in that community.”
SAT-7 urges prayer for their team in Lebanon and for all the people who are suffering in the region.
