Call of Hope
GIVING TUESDAY

This Giving Tuesday make an eternal impact. For the price of a new Christmas sweater that will eventually be tattered and forgotten; you can give a gift that will never fade - freedom from economic limitations, and eternal freedom in Christ.

GIVING TUESDAY

Lebanon

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Massive Explosion in Beirut During Economic Crisis Could Topple Lebanon

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Call of Hope responds to Beirut blast with Christian Relief and Aid

Fadi, Call of Hope’s Director of Operations in Lebanon, Surveys damage from the explosion in Beirut on August 4.

Fadi, Call of Hope’s Director of Operations in Lebanon, Surveys damage from the explosion in Beirut on August 4.

Beirut, LEBANON - The massive explosion in Beirut’s port district on August 4th has killed more than 200, injured over 6000, and has left an estimated 300,000 people displaced. The countries food supply is in peril as granaries have been destroyed or severely contaminated. The destructive blast is adding to the chaos of a country coping with the worldwide pandemic and a severe economic crisis. This combination of events has resulted in widespread unemployment and massive food shortages throughout the country.

Only two months ago, Beirut was seeing chaos on a much smaller scale as protestors took to the streets in response to the nations collapsing currency. This economic crisis has been ongoing for months now, and the Lebanese government has responded with higher taxes, adding strain to the residents already burdened by the rising cost of daily necessities during the COVID pandemic.

The nation has been struggling to maintain imports, with the most crucial being wheat (a staple in the local diet). Now both Lebanon’s main port for trade and their storage silos for wheat have been destroyed; and the entire country could be looking at fragile years ahead.

Just fifty miles away in the Beqaa Valley, Call of Hope has been at work for nearly a decade where an estimated 2 million refugees have settled, escaping the atrocities of civil war in Syria. Daily work is increasingly hard to find in the area, and the value of Lebanese currency continues to plummet. Now, the situation is dire as 300,000 additional Lebanese citizens have been left homeless from the blast in Beirut. With a dwindling food supply and political unrest looming, we are entering an unprecedented time of crisis for the nation of Lebanon.

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RESPONSE

In response, Call of Hope is providing aid to individuals and families with food, medicine, lodging rental support, replacement glass for windows, Bibles and literature, and spiritual counsel.

The distribution of food parcels will provide short term food security in this time of crisis. Call of Hope will distribute basic food items as well as other hygienic supplies for families facing economic hardship and job loss due to the explosion which will meet pressing physical needs, as well as provide a much-needed sense of security. Call of Hope Frontline Workers are not only providing life-sustaining aid and support, but we are also providing Bible-based counseling and sharing the hope that can only be found in Christ.

If you are able, please help us by praying and giving to the relief effort by clicking the button below. Together we can make a powerful impact on Lebanon's physical and spiritual future!

Food Parcel: $40

Lodging Support: $100/month

Replacement Glass: $200/home

Bibles & Literature: $9

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How important is the Bible to you?

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How important is the Bible to you?

Surveys show that 88% of homes in the US have at least one Bible in them. You can find one at the bedside of your hotel room, in any bookstore, and even on your phone! 

It may be hard to imagine a world where Bibles are scarce, but this is the reality in much of the Muslim world. Possessing a Bible in many Islamic countries is against the law, and in some cases punishable by imprisonment or worse. 

God's Word is dishonored in many ways, and often is burned by extremist groups! Because of this, believers hold tightly to their Bibles because they know that if it is lost to them, they may never get one again.

At our center in Lebanon, a congregation of former Muslim Syrian refugees meets every week to receive teaching in God's Word. At the end of a recent service, we asked them "What does the Word of God mean to you?"
 

"The Bible shows us the true God and it teaches us how we can know him. It shows us the true faith and a God who loves us" - Ahmed

"The Muslim leaders used to tell us that the Bible is corrupted. Now I know the truth and the power it has to change our lives!" - Said

"The Word of God has the highest influence in my life and it teaches me my purpose. I have become a new person through the Bible." - Farez
 

Right now, there is a need for Bibles all across the Muslim world. If God has touched your heart, would you please consider giving a gift of $5 or more, so that we can put new Bibles in the hands of Muslim converts?

Please also pray for these new believers, that they would read, understand, and grow in the knowledge of God's Word.

  • Please pray for believers in Northern Nigeria who face danger every day for their faith in Christ. In this area, the Bible's are confiscated and burned in the streets.

  • Please Pray for new believers in the Syrian Refugee camps. Pray for their safety as they read the Word among their Muslims neighbors.

  • Pray for understanding. As new Christians read God's Word, they often have many questions and long to know more. Please pray that the Holy Spirit would speak to them and that Frontline Workers would explain the Word clearly.

New Christians yearn for the truth, encouragement, and peace found in the Bible. Right now, you can help bring light into the darkness! 

Refugee Finds Help in an Unlikely Place!

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Mahmoud, a refugee, enters a butcher shop in Lebanon to purchase meat with the last of his money. What happened next he never would have imagined!

Mahmoud lives in the Bekaa Valley, an area now covered with thousands of tents to house impoverished refugees. They have come over from Syria to escape the war, and most have struggled to find adequate food and shelter.

"What can I get you?" the butcher asked Mahmoud. He explained to the butcher that he only had 2,000 Lebanese Pounds to his name (a little more than 1 Dollar). Mahmoud motioned to the scraps of the cow, something you would only use to make animal feed. 

The butcher could tell that Mahmoud was a refugee and he asked him: "Why would you use the last of your money to buy food for an animal?"

Mahmoud couldn't hold it together any longer. He began to weep as he explained that the food was not for an animal, but for his wife and seven children. His family had lost everything in Syria. They hadn't had a filling meal in months and Mahmoud was desperate to provide anything to fill their stomachs.

The butcher was shocked. He paused for a moment and remembered the day that a Call of Hope Frontline Worker gave so freely to him. He remembered how he received food and shelter in a time of need. Most importantly he remembered how Frontline Workers had shared Christ with him, and the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross for him. The butcher himself was of very little means, but he couldn't imagine sending Mahmoud away with the animal feed.

Without another second of hesitation, the butcher reached out of his own pocket to buy Muhammed several pounds of the best chicken he had! 

As a result of this act of generosity, Mahmoud was not only able to feed his family, but now they are all regularly attending services at the church planted by Call of Hope. Today they are hungry, not for food, but for God's word. They eagerly ask questions about Jesus and they want to know more about the God in heaven who loves them!

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Here is how you can pray:
 

  • Please pray for Mahmoud's family as they grow in their faith in Christ.
  • Pray that God would protect and care for refugee families in Lebanon as they face brutal winters without adequate shelter.
  • Pray for financial provision so that our frontline workers in Lebanon can provide food, clothing, and warmth to more refugee families this winter!


P.S. You can be the answer to our prayers. If you want to help Mahmoud's family and other refugees, you can give a gift below!

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How Should Christians Respond to the Refugee Crisis?

Since 2011, more than 6 million Syrian refugees have been displaced and are facing hunger and hardship. In the midst of a controversial travel ban in the U.S. many are asking the question: what is the best way for us to help Syrian refugees? As Christians, you and I cannot simply turn a blind eye to this heartbreak… but identifying the most effective way to respond to the refugee crisis has been difficult!

The Trouble with Sending Aid to Refugee Camps

Because of the danger involved in reaching out to a war torn area many charities have struggled to effectively give aid to those in desperate need.

The BBC has reported that “Food has increasingly been used as a weapon, with aid often diverted onto black markets or into government-approved areas.”  For Christian organizations, there is even more trouble because of the extreme hatred toward believers by many in the refugee camps, especially in areas with known ties to terrorism. With nowhere for refugees to go and very limited ways for them to receive aid, how can we show the love of Christ to those who are desperate and hurting?

Finding the Right Approach

In order to truly reach refugees with lifesaving aid and the Gospel message, we need to rethink the approach. Call of Hope has been working in refugee camps since the beginning of the crisis in 2011, but unlike traditional mission organizations that send individuals from the US, Call of Hope works directly with highly trained nationals who carry out the work in their respective countries.

Refugees receive food and aid parcels from at the Call of Hope Center in Lebanon 

Refugees receive food and aid parcels from at the Call of Hope Center in Lebanon 

Today, more than 200 theologically trained former Muslims are reaching the world of Islam with the hope that is found only in Jesus. In Lebanon, where nearly 2 million refugees have settled, Call of Hope frontline workers are operating a school for the blind and disabled, and planting churches in the heart of the refugee camps.

But how can we preach the Gospel message without working to improve the situation of those who are in desperate need? That is why we also provide food parcels, blankets, fuel for diesel heaters, and other necessities. By working with indigenous co-workers, we have been able to overcome hurdles that have plagued many organizations and ensure that aid is given to those who need it most.

A Testimony of God’s Faithfulness in the Refugee Camps

Providing aid is only the beginning, an effective door that opens hearts to the Gospel! For Asil, one refugee woman in Lebanon, the hope she found in Christ, was worth the pain of life as a refugee.

Before the war, Asil lived a comfortable life with her husband and 4 beautiful children in a happy home in Syria. Fleeing for their lives, Asil and her family escaped to the Bekaa Valley of Lebanon where they faced below freezing winters, and inadequate food and only makeshift tents for shelter.

Asil went from a Muslim refugee to a witness for Christ right within the refugee camps

One day Asil heard that Call of Hope was offering food and assistance to those in need – desperate and looking for any help she could get, she began to visit the Call of Hope center. Asil heard the preaching of a frontline worker and was overwhelmed with curiosity about Jesus. After several months of counseling from Call of Hope workers, she received Jesus as her savior and she has since become an eager witness, leading her friends and family in the refugee camp to Christ.

Even in the midst of intense persecution and the tragedy of life as a refugee, Asil still says “I am thankful for the war in Syria, because without it, I would never have known the love of Jesus.”

Through the work of frontline workers in refugee camps, we have seen former terrorists come to Christ and many have received lifesaving aid and hope in a time of true desperation.

 

How Can You Help a Refugee Family?

Half of those affected by the war in Syria are children.

There may be a temporary ban on immigrants from some Muslim nations, but there isn’t a ban on helping refugees.

Our frontline workers in the refugee camps ask sincerely for our prayers. Additionally, with a small gift of $26 you can be a part of the solution by helping to feed, clothe, and minister to a family of 4 in the refugee camps of Lebanon for a whole month.

100% of all donations are tax deductible and go directly to a refugee family in need.  Will you be a part of the solution today?

Syrian Woman Finds Christ After Overcoming ISIS Attacks

Since 2012, nearly 2 million Syrian refugees have escaped across the border into Lebanon fleeing the horrors of war – many of them are mothers with children and widowed women. We recently heard from one of our Call of Hope workers a story from the frontlines about a Syrian woman who has overcome unspeakable atrocities, but in the midst of tragedy, she found hope in Jesus.

"I lost everything in Syria, but I found what was most important in Lebanon, Jesus Christ." – Asil*  (a mother of 4, widowed by the violence of the Syrian War)

The Story of Asil

Before the war, Asil lived a comfortable life with her husband and 4 beautiful children in a happy home in Syria. The life that had become routine had quickly vanished when the attacks from ISIS began to occur in her home town and soon after at her front door. One evening, her home was bombed and she escaped with her children as they watched their house burn to the ground – her husband was not as fortunate. In an effort to save his family, Asil’s husband had been shot in both knees by ISIS fighters.

Fleeing for their lives, Asil and her family escaped to the Bekaa Valley of Lebanon where they faced freezing winters, and inadequate food and shelter. One day Asil heard that Call of Hope was offering food and assistance to those in need – looking for any help she could get she began to visit the Call of Hope center. Asil came in search of food and aid, but what she found was far more valuable. One day, Asil heard the preaching of a frontline worker and she heard the Gospel message for the first time! Overwhelmed with curiosity about Jesus, Asil volunteered to clean the floors in the meeting room, in order to ask more questions about the God of the Bible.

After several months of counseling from Call of Hope workers, Asil received Jesus as her savior and she has since become an eager witness for Christ to her family, and others who are looking for hope in a desperate time. In her own words she explains “I lost everything in Syria, but I found what was most important in Lebanon, Jesus Christ."

The story of Asil is just one of the many women who are experiencing hardships in Lebanon today. Together, with your help, we can provide help and hope to those who are in desperate need.

 

Here is how you can help women like Asil in Lebanon:

1.     Provide a food parcel with hygiene supplies for women and families of 4 for one month. $52 USD

2.     Provide a mattress for a refugee woman $20 USD

3.      Provide a blanket for a refugee woman. $15USD

 

“News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them.”
Mathew 4:24