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Providing relief and comfort to returning refugees On September 7 the Bible Society team undertook another trip south. Our aim was to give support and encouragement to the refugees heading back to their devastated villages and to encourage the local churches to play their role in providing this support. We also wanted ascertain both the needs of the returning refugees and suitable ways in which to continue providing them with humanitarian and spiritual assistance. The team were accompanied on this trip by Dr Graham Hutt, UBS Migrant Ministry Consultant. Our four vehicles, packed with relief boxes, set off towards Marjayoun, a Christian town which, during this summer’s land invasion, served as the Israeli army’s headquarters. The first stop was at the Greek Orthodox Diocese of Marjayoun, where the team visited Bishop Elias Kfoury. The Bishop detailed the problems facing his congregation and the damage to the churches during the hostilities, including the particularly severe damage to the historic monastery of Saint Mema. The team assured His Eminence of their support in encouraging the parishioners to return to their homes and start rebuilding both their homes and their lives. The second visit was to the Greek Catholic (Melkite) Bishop of Marjayoun, His Eminence Antoine Hayeck. He, too, shared the horrific stories of one of Lebanon’s deadliest crises and talked of his concern that many in the parish might decide to leave the area for good, perhaps to start a new life in a city – or even go abroad. ‘Relief and Scriptures’ packages were left at both dioceses for distribution to families still dependent on relief assistance. The Bible Society team then headed to Deir Mimas, a village with rich Christian heritage and a number of historic and contemporary churches. The house of Baptist pastor Maroun Shamas was being repaired after damage from two bombs. Again, humanitarian packages were left at the church for the needy families, and then the team headed to the historic monastery of Saint Mema. The sight that greeted us was dreadful: bombs had hit cemeteries, blowing open graves and scattering corpses about; there were unexploded cluster bombs all over the place, damaged church buildings, and shredded and torn Bibles were visible amid the rubble. The horror of the moment was overwhelming. There, in the silence of the valley, stood this monastery, now in ruins. This once peaceful and beautiful monastery had been turned into a battlefield. Father Salim Assaad warned us that the premises were full of cluster bombs, so instead of wandering about at will we had to stay on the safe and tested paths. A young monk was trying to salvage his personal belongings from what had once been his monastery bedroom. As we made our way with care through the debris and unexploded bombs, we could only wonder about what must have taken place at this peaceful spot to turn it into a pile of debris. Our team could only offer prayers and encouragement to the clergy and place a few relief packages in the nearby village church. From Deir Mimas, the team followed Father
Assaad to the devastated Shiite village of Khiam, where a small Orthodox church stood in ruins. As we surveyed the church and gave out relief packages to the parishioners, a group of non-Christian families started to gather around the Bible Society vans, asking for similar packages. We were glad to oblige! The unique opportunity to reach such villages – which only the war made possible – is miraculous. Under normal circumstances, the Bible Society would have quite unable to distribute God’s Word in these towns. But through the relief work, several thousands of people have received the Scriptures for the first time in their lives.
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