Unstable Recent History

In December of 2024 the Assad regime was overthrown by a coalition of opposition groups. A new government is in place; however, instability and sectarian violence continue as the country resettles after years of war.

Hunter Williamson with Thimar-LSESD says, “Syria is made up of a number of different sectarian groups, and they were fighting amongst each other during the war. The overthrow of the government in December did not magically heal or magically resolve the situation. This sectarian violence that we’ve talked about very much highlights the grievance, the anger, the tensions that still exist among communities.”

(Photo courtesy of Mahmoud Sulaiman on Unsplash)

Williamson explains that violence coming from this tension impacts many minority groups. In some cases, Christians are targeted because of their association, not with Christ, but with another group. The violence in the Alawite community earlier this year was a good example of this. Some media outlets reported that large numbers of Christians were being killed as well, but Williamson says that was not really the case.

“There were Christians who were killed in the violence that happened. But what was going on was that these were believers who originally came from Alawite backgrounds. They were not, you might say, indigenous Christians. So, when they were killed, they were killed for being from the Alawite community, not because they were Christians.”

Trouble for the Cause of Christ

However, the church in Syria has also faced direct threats. In June a suicide bomber killed 25 and wounded 63 more during an attack at Mar Elias Greek Orthodox Church in Damascus. Williamson says that while this was the most significant violence against one of their partners, there have been other threats.

“We also have another church partner in Syria’s western coastal area, which had threats made against it. A few weeks after the suicide bombing, there were flyers that were distributed in front of the church and in the village where the church is located, calling for Jihad and the killing of Christians,” Williamson says. “Thankfully, nothing has materialized.”

Two Responses Within the Church

Yet the looming threats and other violence against minorities, like the Druze, have caused many people within the Church to emigrate. Williamson says that before the war about ten percent of the population was Christian. Now they make up one percent or less.

“This is sort of reignited this desire of a number of Christians to leave Syria now. Among others, there’s this feeling or sense that they need to continue to be a light to their country. They need to be reaching out to their communities, to serve them, to show the love of Christ. All of this, all of what’s happened over these past months has just reinforced this belief among them. So, we’re really seeing sort of these two strains of thought among our partners and from other Christians and believers in Syria.”

(Photo courtesy of Salah Darwish on Unsplash)

Those individuals and organizations remaining in the country reach out to the community through humanitarian aid and relief. Recent reports from the UN number about two million Syrians returning to their homes. However, many of those homes were destroyed or now don’t have electricity or other public services. The country is also facing a drought.

A Connection with the Early Church

Williamson says that with the tension around them believers in Syria identify strongly with the early Church. They are bearing a similar testimony of painful circumstances and yet trying to love their neighbors and share the Gospel. To do that, they ask for prayer.

Please pray that God would protect His people from discouragement and fear as they face the days ahead. Pray that they will remain strong in the faith and hold to truth. Pray also for peace among different groups.

“One of the things that Syria really needs to move forward, to heal, to rebuild, is for there to be healing among the different communities, among the different people. So that’s really one thing people can be praying for.”

If you want to learn more about the situation in Syria and how Thimar-LSESD is helping, click here.

Header photo courtesy of Mahmoud Sulaiman on Unsplash

Meet a common reality of Lebanon’s kafala system. 

“The kafala system is a migrant labor system in the Middle East that is often described as modern-day slavery,” says Ghinwa Akiki with Thimar-LSESD. 

Many migrant workers are young women from underdeveloped countries. “These women come to the region hoping to earn money for their families back home, and upon arrival, they often find themselves in low-wage domestic jobs which are different from what they [had] been told,” Akiki says.

Food assistance, relief and development (Photo courtesy of Thimar-LSESD/MERATH)

As you can imagine, these men and women are often abused. Their legal status and employment are tied to a local sponsor.

“[That means] the employer has full authority over their ability to change jobs or leave the country,” Akiki explains. 

The past year of conflict in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah has made migrant workers even more vulnerable. Hunter Williamson with Thimar says they have heard stories of workers being locked inside houses in southern Lebanon as their employers fled bombings. 

“Who knows how many migrant workers were killed because of this?” he says. “Here in Beirut, where Thimar is based, there were migrant workers who were sort of deserted by their employers and by the families that they work for. These workers ended up on the beaches and along the seafronts, with nothing, just the clothes that they had.”

Meet Hayat

The team at MERATH, one of Thimar-LSESD’s ministries, recently encountered one such migrant worker. MERATH focuses on relief work so they can demonstrate the Gospel, not just proclaim it. Through one of their partner ministries, they met a young Ethiopian woman we’ll call Hayat, who shared her story.

Akiki says, “[Hayat] bore harsh mistreatment for three years, but eventually, when she felt like a prisoner, deprived of every right, she decided freedom over slavery, putting herself in a bigger danger and the inability to travel back home because her passport remained with her employer.”

Undocumented and without work for most of the war, Hayat has still pressed forward with her life and faith in God. She’s part of a local church. Though she doesn’t know what’s next for her, she trusts God. Read a beautiful glimpse of Hayat’s story here.

For now, please pray for Hayat and other migrant workers like her. Hayat recently wrote a book of Christian devotionals to encourage others, borrowing money to pay for the publishing costs. Ask God to help her find work so she can repay that debt. 

Then, pray for God’s grace upon the ministry of MERATH as they share practical help and the eternal hope of the gospel. Learn more about their work here. 

Header photo is a representative stock photo courtesy of Samuel Tsegaye via Unsplash.

One day last February, a group of leaders gathered at one of the facilities of Thimar-LSESD, a ministry to Lebanon in the capital city, Beirut. These leaders came from the business sector, NGOs, churches, and the media world, but they had a common goal for the day: to learn how to build God’s Kingdom better together.

Photo of Movement Day February 2024 courtesy of Thimar-LSESD

In the months since then, what have been the results? Hunter Williamson with Thimar shares about two groups that formed from Movement Day. 

“The Christian Businessmen Association has been meeting to discuss different ways that they can actually work with local churches to support local churches, and also ways that they could consider the workplace a ministry,” Williamson says. 

“Having your local business not only [be] a local business that supports your community, but also using it as a platform for sharing the gospel, for talking to people about Christ.”

Second, a pastors’ network has allowed churches to share wisdom on the best ways to reach local communities. 

Photo of Movement Day February 2024 courtesy of Thimar-LSESD

“Lebanon is a country that is very diverse — it can really change a lot from one area to the next. So finding ways that each pastor can share the gospel and the proper context for their individual community is critical.” Williamson says.

Thimar intends to host a Movement Day again next year. But for today, they need your prayers.

“For the past four, almost five years now, a series of crises have been afflicting Lebanon,” Williamson says.

“First there was a mass public uprising against the government. That was quickly followed by very severe economic collapse. The COVID-19 pandemic had a huge impact on Lebanon and really exacerbated the political and economic crisis. Now there is the escalating conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, which seems that it could escalate into a full-scale war any day now.”

Williamson adds that another wave of mass emigration from Lebanon has risen in the past few years. That includes Christians. 

“It’s great for us to have days and events like Movement Day,” he says. “But as more and more people seek to leave the country, this really affects Christian organizations and the church, when you have its members leaving.” 

Ask God to lead Christians to stay in Lebanon. Pray as you feel led for stability and effective gospel witness. To learn more about what Thimar is doing to advance the gospel in Lebanon, click here. 

Header photo is a representative stock image courtesy of Andrew Moca/Unsplash.

“You’ll be sitting [or] walking, and you’ll hear large explosions: it’s Israeli jets breaking the sound barrier over Beirut and over Mount Lebanon,” says Hunter Williamson with Thimar-LSESD. “These are largely just shows of force, but they’re adding a lot to the anxiety and pressure.”

Ten months of escalating fire between Hezbollah and Israel have taken a deep toll on the people of Lebanon.

“If you drive just an hour south of Beirut, you really begin to enter a different world. Almost 100,000 people have been displaced over the past several months. You have entire villages deserted, damaged and destroyed,” says Williamson. 

“Both Iran and Israel and Hezbollah have suggested that they still would like to avoid a full scale war. But the situation very much seems to be getting out of hand. There’s a lot of talk about how people will be able to get out of the country if a larger conflict erupts.” 

This is all just one more challenge the people of Lebanon face on top of crippling economic and political crises of the past several years.

(Photo courtesy of Thimar-LSESD/MERATH)

“Many people were already struggling to get by before this conflict began,” Williamson says. “[It] has added another tremendous amount of weight to already very tired shoulders.”

Thimar’s staff serves as the hands and feet of Christ as they all look to an uncertain future.

“Thimar remains committed to Lebanon and to the wider Middle East. We have many different ministries focused on aid and development, on education, on church planting, and building on special needs, education and support,” Williamson says. 

“Whether it’s providing education, whether it’s providing aid, whether it’s helping with home rehabilitation, through this Thimar is not only declaring the gospel, but it’s demonstrating it.” 

Pray for an end to hostilities in the Middle East. Pray that Christians on the ground will be agents of peace and justice, and that many will come to know Christ through this incredibly difficult time. 

Learn more about the ministries of Thimar at thimar.org. 

Header photo of damaged building in Beirut, Lebanon is a representative stock photo courtesy of Jo Kassis/Pexels.

Hunter Williamson, communications coordinator with THIMAR-LSESD, says they are getting updates from local Sudanese partners about the collapse of law and order in Khartoum.

“Both sides have been weaponizing aid, restricting (and in some cases even completely denying) entry of aid into areas controlled by rivaling sides,” Williamson says.

“You have a lot of crime. You have, in some cases, the fighters that are part of the forces that control certain areas are undisciplined. So maybe they act abusive towards the civilian population [and] commit crimes, robbery.”

Habil, a Sudanese graduate from ABTS. (Photo courtesy of Arab Baptist Theological Seminary)

Sudanese pastors are trying to encourage frightened believers and reach the lost for Christ, but it’s hard. THIMAR-LSESD’s Arab Baptist Theological Seminary (ABTS) has Sudanese alumni, and is working to encourage them.

Williamson says ABTS alumni “have been providing everything from financial support to Sudanese church leaders to just emotional and spiritual support — whether that just be picking up the phone and talking with a Sudanese friend that’s affected by everything, praying with them, [or] reading the Word with them.”

Pray for Christ’s peace to come to Sudan. Ask God to lead the lost to repentance and for the Sudanese people to know Jesus Christ. Pray for local Christians to stand firm in their faith.

You can learn more about THIMAR-LSESD’s ministry here.

Ultimately, Williamson says, “While there is all of this destruction, all of this bloodshed, God is using all of this to bring people to Him.”

Header photo of Khartoum, Sudan (Photo courtesy of Ahmed Rabea/Flickr – https://www.flickr.com/photos/99216220@N08/9325962193/)

Furthermore, aid experts say 755,000 Sudanese are on the brink of starvation. At least 14 areas of the country are near famine, including parts of the capital Khartoum.

Although aid is difficult to get into the country, THIMAR-LSESD is equipping Sudanese pastors to distribute physical aid with spiritual support. It’s all through their Middle East Revive and Thrive program.

Child in Sudan (Photo courtesy of Abdulaziz Mohammed/Unsplash)

Hunter Williamson, communications coordinator with THIMAR-LSESD says, “Back in December, Middle East Revive and Thrive hosted a basic relief training course in Ethiopia. About a dozen Sudanese pastors attended this training.

“They learned how to provide support based on community needs and how to respond to humanitarian situations. The training gave them practical advice, skills, and ideas for relief programs that they can do now or in the near future.”

Pray for Sudanese churches reaching people in crisis with God’s love and help.

“When you have churches distributing food and other central items, this is bringing people to the church. Some of them are attending church services. They are being ministered to one-on-one,” says Williamson.

“They’re seeing the Church as a place of hope. First, they’re receiving support to meet their physical needs, and then they’re hearing a true message of hope that is meeting their spiritual needs.”

You can learn more about Middle East Revive and Thrive with THIMAR-LSESD here!

Header photo of Khartoum, Sudan (Photo courtesy of Ahmed Rabea/Flickr – https://www.flickr.com/photos/99216220@N08/9325962193/)

But so far, they have worked independently. The country’s first ever Movement Day recently mobilized Christian leaders for greater impact together.

Hunter Williamson of Thimar-LSESD says, “This was a one-day conference that brought together more than 100 local Christian leaders from various sectors, including business media, NGOs, and churches.”

“The idea behind the event was to create a venue for local leaders to meet and collaborate in order to promote the Gospel throughout Lebanon. And it was also aimed at fostering unity.”

Movement Day is an initiative that has traveled around the world to connect local Christian leaders and help them start Gospel movements in their area. Learn more here. The conference in Beirut was organized by Thimar-LSESD, Heart For Lebanon, and other ministries. The Supreme Council of Evangelical Community in Syria and Lebanon helped with facilitation of the event.

Speakers at the event emphasized the need to overcome group divisions and pursue a shared vision. During the day, representatives from more than 20 Christian NGOs met together for the first time and began planning how to better support each other moving forward. Watch a video summary here.

Hope at a critical time

The conference has come at a time when Lebanon finds itself in desperate need for hope and peace. Conflict continues between Israel and Hezbollah on the southern border. Civil war in Syria to the north and east has driven an estimated 1.5 million refugees into Lebanon. Meanwhile, more than half of Lebanese people live below the poverty line due to compounded crises.

“All of these sort of initiatives and outcomes to find ways to better promote the gospel, to better provide hope to people, that is just so critical at this time,” Williamson says.

Leaders left with plans for collaboration between churches and NGOs as well as a network for pastors. They have already set the date for another Movement Day next year and begun working towards a Movement Youth Day.

“One of the big ones was the creation of the Christian Businessmen Association,” Williamson says. “And this will provide various forms of support and resources to business leaders.”

Read more about the key results of Movement Day and next steps on Thimar’s website. Pray for Christian leaders in Lebanon to work together for the Gospel.

Photos from Movement Day in Lebanon courtesy of Thimar-LSESD.

But Lebanese Christians still look forward to Easter this weekend, says Hunter Williamson of Thimar-LSESD. He says, “Whether it’s in southern Lebanon or somewhere else, the war is not going to stop Easter celebrations.”

Children received gifts at Christmas events in December 2024. Photo courtesy of Thimar-LSESD.

Thimar has hosted special Christmas events for a decade, but for the first time, the Lebanese organization has planned something similar for Easter. The organization will partner with local churches in both Lebanon and Syria to reach families in their communities.

“Thimar is going to help host Easter events at 20 churches in Lebanon, and 13 churches in Syria,” says Williamson.

The events will host over 4,000 local children in total. The children will receive chocolate and a traditional Arab dessert called maamoul. They will also receive the story of Jesus’ sacrifice and resurrection.

Williamson says, “These Christian resources are going to be booklets which will emphasize the resurrection story, to help children remember what Christ did for them and all of us.”

About one-third of the total population in Lebanon identifies as Christian, while in Syria, Christians are roughly six percent of the population. Thimar invites believers to pray for the churches reaching their communities this weekend, “praying that this will be an incredible opportunity for children to hear about what Christ did for them, that they’ll hear the real story of Easter,” says Williamson.

You can support future outreaches in Lebanon and Syria by donating to Thimar-LSESD.

Photos courtesy of Thimar-LSESD.

Christian organizations such as Thimar-LSESD quickly mobilized to help the displaced. MERATH, a ministry of Thimar, provided emergency aid for food, blankets, winter clothing, and hygiene products. Thimar’s Hunter Williamson says, “Thimar remains ready to respond to further needs if things escalate.”

Before the conflict, daily survival was already a challenge for many Lebanese, including Christians. More than 80% of Lebanon’s population lived in poverty due to numerous crises.

“There are Christians in southern Lebanon, and across the country as a whole who are either caught in the crossfire whose lives have been upended by this conflict, or who otherwise in some way or another are being greatly affected by this war,” Williamson says.

In addition to MERATH, Thimar has five more ministries that work together to serve the many needs of Lebanon. Williamson says Thimar supports local Christians while also showing the love of Christ to others.

“Thimar aims for a holistic ministry approach. And in short, that means that Thimar doesn’t just want to proclaim the Gospel, but it wants to demonstrate it as well,” says Williamson.

Get a free prayer guide from Thimar here.

“People can pray for Lebanon and the Middle East as a whole that there’ll be peace, and they can also donate and partner with Thimar through its website.”

Header photo courtesy of MERATH on Facebook.

“We’re seeing renewed fighting in some countries like Syria and completely new conflicts erupting in other places,” says Hunter Williamson with Thimar-LSESD.

Photo courtesy of Thimar-LSESD via Facebook

“When the war between Hamas and Israel began in October, some of the armed groups here in Lebanon, who are allied with Hamas, began attacking Israeli positions, which has created a conflict here which has displaced about 83,000 people.”

Israel has also returned fire into Lebanon. In the middle of these tensions, LSESD seeks to provide relief and development aid as well as education and church discipleship. (More on that here.)

Today, the needs are enormous.

“The country has really been suffering under a severe economic crisis since 2019. It’s been hosting a tremendously large refugee population of Syrians. It also hosts a few 100,000 Palestinians as well,” says Williamson.

“Some of the latest figures show more than 80% of the population being cast into poverty.”

Pray for Thimar-LSESD as they provide aid for displaced persons in Lebanon, and consider supporting this critical ministry.

“Every donation, every dollar helps tremendously,” says Williamson.

Header photo courtesy of LSESD.