For many Americans, ’tis the season to snuggle by the fireplace with family and friends, sing Christmas carols and enjoy Grandma’s cooking.
Refugees from Syria living in Lebanon are facing a bleak winter.But for Syrian refugees who sought safety in Lebanon, it’s time to fight brutal winter temperatures in houses made of plywood or tarps and struggle to find food each day.
’Tis the season to survive. And Texas Baptists are helping refugees achieve that goal.
A representative from Tearfund, a poverty-fighting charitable organization, recently described the plight of refugees in his blog: “We visited one extended family of 14, squashed into a temporary shelter with two rooms—no more than a large tent in reality— pitched with a few others on the side of muddy, flooded field. …The only other thing I could see in the tent was a pile of thin mattresses, providing some limited insulation from the fridge-like damp ground. … In a few weeks, their tent will be blanketed in snow—a thoroughly unwelcome white Christmas.”
About 1.1 million refugees from Syria’s civil war have settled in Lebanon.Experts characterize the Syrian conflict as the biggest humanitarian disaster the world has faced since the Rwandan genocide in 1994, the Lebanese Society for Educational and Social Development reported. Since fighting began in March 2011, 9 million refugees have fled their homes, as recorded by syrianrefugees.eu. Of those, about 1.1 million have settled in Lebanon, scattering across the country and making their home wherever they can find an open piece of land.
About 80 percent are women and children, and refugees make up more than a quarter of Lebanon’s population. Many who have resided there since 2011 have run out of savings, and with the arrival of winter, they face freezing temperatures, said Lucas Shindeldecker, community development director for the Lebanese Society for Educational Development.
The United Nations recently announced humanitarian aid has been cut short, creating concern among Lebanese Christians about how they can get food to all the refugees. And a storm in Lebanon in late November already took the lives of two Syrian infants, sparking fear for what the winter months hold.
A little can go a long way, Shindeldecker said. Lebanese Christians are calling fellow believers around the world to contribute whatever they can to help make a physical and spiritual difference in the lives of the refugees.
Texas Baptist Partnerships is working with the Lebanese Society for Educational and Social Development to bring warmth to many refugees through its winterization project.
The project will provide blankets, stoves, heaters, food and other necessities in Zahle, Lebanon, where 9,000 Syrian refugees are housed. Recipients also receive Bibles in their own language.
By meeting the physical needs of the refugees, Lebanese Christians have an open door to address spiritual needs, as well. Syrian refugees visit churches not solely for help, but for connections and relationships, Shindeldecker reported. As the Lebanese Christians seek to witness to the refugees, they know they cannot meet all the physical needs alone.
Through the winterization project, Texas Baptists already have contributed more than $5,000. With the full onset of winter and the harsh living conditions anticipated by the Syrian refugees, needs will increase. To contribute, visit Winterization Project.
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