“Hard pressed but not Crushed”: Witnessing the resilience and faith of Lebanon’s Christians
By Sophia, Embrace’s Partnerships Manager for Lebanon
In my 10 years of working as a Partnerships Manager at Embrace, I have borne witness to the most extraordinary chronology of political, economic and social events to befall one tiny Mediterranean country and its people - Lebanon.
From a long-running refugee crisis to one of the worst financial and economic collapses the world has ever seen; the prolonged political quagmire and calamities such as the devastating Beirut port explosion of August 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic. And then of course, the Israeli-Hezbollah war.
““We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” ”
Relic of the Virgin Mary outside the centre of Embrace partner Al-Kafaat centre that was damaged in the 2024 Israeli-Hezbollah war.
Whilst the Lebanese are certainly no strangers to adversity, what has continued to astonish me throughout this period is the seemingly irrepressible spirit of our Christian partners and friends. As one crisis folds into the next, they just keep going. Their Christian mission is to serve. And steadfastly, resolutely, they do so – usually with the characteristic warmth and exuberance that seems to stand in defiance of despair.
But the latest regional war in the Middle East is upending everything. This time, I’m receiving messages like this:
“The situation is scary and unprecedented. We still believe that the worst has not arrived yet…”
Since the Israeli-Hezbollah conflict re-ignited in Lebanon on 2 March 2026, I have been in touch with our partners on a near daily basis. Primarily, I am checking that they and their staff members are all safe and accounted for: Greater Beirut is roughly equivalent in size to Birmingham and home to around 2.3 million people. It is very densely populated in parts, with high-rise apartment blocks closely stacked together along narrow streets. Any airstrike in such a metropolis is potentially fatal. Several of the strikes have happened within mere metres of our partners’ buildings or homes.
An airstrike hitting Beirut this week. (Credit: Tahaddi)
“We go from one threat to another. So people wait. It [the strike] is done. They sleep. And then they wait until the next one.”
We give thanks to God that no one has so far been hurt; yet many partners’ staff and families are now among the more than one million people who have been internally displaced in the last two weeks:
“We have so far 200 refugees, all staff members, staying at our campus. We expect more. The situation is unsettled and escalating. We don’t know how it will unfold. What can we do? We can only pray.”
“In the area where our centre is, the people are displaced during the night and they return in the day. They have no other place to go.”
““Our location in Bourj Hammoud is still welcoming people and new families fleeing from the Beirut suburbs."
I am also reaching out to partners daily because I want to remind them they are in our thoughts. That their Embrace friends in the UK stand with them in prayerful solidarity. There is bread and salt between us, as the Arab saying goes. At Embrace, we refer to the one household of God. They need to hear this, especially now, because the emotional turmoil is mounting:
“It weighs heavily on the mental health of our staff. Because suddenly you are supposed to work, and you need to make sense of your day. It is not easy.”
“Mentally we are worse off than the last war. We are stressed, but when we are working to help others, it helps”.
“Sometimes it is hard to understand why these things are happening.”
“We need to keep our team on task: because it is necessary, for them. To organise the day when everything else is so disrupted. To be out of work would be too hard.”
And so, as before, Embrace’s Lebanese partners are mobilised. First-responders in the crisis, they ceaselessly serve, amidst the shelling and the perennial uncertainty: whether it is distributing food parcels and bedding to displaced families, welcoming patients for medical consultations, or preparing online educational activities for children whose access to school is disrupted.
They are fearful for the future, but still they hold onto their faith. They are hard pressed and under immense pressure, but they are not crushed, they are undoubtedly perplexed, but they are not in despair.
Please consider donating to our emergency Keeping Hope Alive appeal. Your support means our partners can continue to provide healthcare, food parcels and bedding to those who’s whole lives have been turned upside down by the recent conflict between Israel, the US and Iran. Our Christian partners across the region have opened their doors and their hearts to whoever needs help, wherever they have come from to provide shelter, care and basic necessities. Thank you for standing with them in this incredibly difficult time.
