More than 5,500 Syrian refugees who fled to Lebanon received assistance over the past several months from Baptists, coordinated by the Lebanese Society for Educational and Social Development (LSESD) and Rahbe Baptist Church.
Syria has been hit by a series of protests against the government and violent crackdown by military and security forces since January of this year. Several thousand protestors were reportedly killed.
Almost $100,000 was received and spent with funding coming from Baptist World Aid, German Baptist Aid, Canadian Baptist Ministries, BMS World Mission (United Kingdom) and American Baptist Churches USA. Baptists were the first to offer aid to several families who said they had left Syria months earlier, though some indicated they received aid from a Qatari nongovernmental organization.
LSESD helped to provide food, hygiene kits and medical supplies. “LSESD has decided to focus on a few issues that fill gaps being left by other organizations,” the Baptist group reported. “It is important to support those who are opening up their homes and using their already-scarce resources to help the refugees. … This will help decrease ‘host-fatigue’ and the need to move refugees to tented camps or communal living options.”
In total, 615 refugee families and 248 Lebanese families have been helped. (BWA)
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