LEBANON – It only took one spark

August 5, 2020 Off By Mike

Lebanon is in mourning after a huge explosion rocked the capital Beirut that killed at least 100 people and injured more than 4,000 others on Tuesday afternoon (4 August 2020). Much of the port area of the city was flattened with buildings damaged after the explosion sent a huge mushroom cloud into the sky across the Lebanese capital.

Lebanese Supreme Defense Council said on Wednesday morning that the explosion occurred during the welding process of the door in a hangar that stored 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate. A welding spark set the ammonium on fire and led to the explosion. The ammonium nitrate had been stored unsafely in the warehouse for six years.

President Michel Aoun scheduled an urgent cabinet meeting for Wednesday and said a two-week state of emergency should be declared.

Videos taken at the moment the building exploded, showed a huge shockwave moving across the city with a bang which was heard and felt as far away as Cyprus – more than 125 miles (200km) away. Pictures showed devastation after the blast sparked fires, overturned cars and blew out windows and doors. Hours later, ambulances still carried away the wounded as army helicopters helped battle fires raging at the port. (Source: LBC News^[1]⁾

Al Jazeera reported that five hospitals were either destroyed or severely damaged in the explosion which added to a medical crisis that has gripped a nation facing exponential challenges.

“People won’t be able to rebuild their homes, businesses, livelihoods. There are reports of hospitals turning away patients because they don’t have the capacity,” said Aya Majzoub, Lebanon researcher with Human Rights Watch. “Even before this blast, there have been shortages of medical equipment, protective gear. The health care capacity was already overstretched. I don’t know how hospitals are going to be able to handle these additional injuries,” she added.

The tragic explosions at the Beirut port on Tuesday struck with the country mired in its worst economic crisis for decades, marked by the collapse of its currency and angry protests as well as face the COVID-19 pandemic. Lebanon has had more than 5,000 cases of coronavirus, with 65 dead.

A NATION IN TURMOIL.

Lebanon was involved in a civil war that raged between 1975 and 1990, with Lebanon under Syrian domination for two decades until its troops withdrew in 2005. Lebanese political institutions have long been paralysed by discord between pro- and anti-Syrian camps. In 2013, the powerful Shiite movement Hezbollah announced it was fighting alongside the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, further dividing the Lebanese political scene.

Iran-backed Hezbollah is the sworn enemy of Israel, against which it fought a month-long war in 2006.

The Syria conflict has sporadically spilled over into Lebanon, with several attacks rocking the capital Beirut and other regions.

The most visible impact of the Syrian war in Lebanon, a country of around 4.5 million people, has been the influx of an estimated 1.5 million refugees, which increased the population to more than 6 million people – a population growth that was only predicted for 2050

Lebanon and international organisations have on several occasions sounded the alarm over the economic and social burden posed by the massive inrush.

MULTI-CONFESSIONAL

The country with the cedar tree stamped on its flag is one of the Middle East’s smallest, covering an area of about 10,000 square kilometers (3,900 square miles). Flanked to the west by the Mediterranean, it shares borders with Syria and Israel.

Lebanon is considered relatively liberal in a generally conservative region, but religion remains all-important.

COLOSSAL DEBT

For the first time in its history, Lebanon announced in March it was defaulting on its debts. Lebanon’s currency collapsed by 80 percent of its value since last October, spiraling inflation and unemployment running about 55 percent. This resulted in nationwide protests against what is seen as a corrupt and incompetent political system.

The country lags in development in areas such as water supply, electricity production, and waste treatment.

A welcome lifeline for Lebanon came in 2018, when aid pledges worth more than $11 billion were made at a Paris conference. But the pledged money has been blocked due to a lack of promised reforms.

Nearly half of Lebanon’s population now lives below the poverty line and 35 percent are out of work, according to official statistics. (Source: Japan Times[2])

FROM A CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE

Lebanon remains one of the most strategic nations in the Middle East for the following reasons:

Lebanon is home to the highest percentage of Christians in any country in the Arab World (including Israel). More than 33% of Lebanon profess to be Christian. The 61% Muslim population is equally divided between Sunni (30.6%) and Shia (30.5%). Maronite and Catholics are the largest Christian groups. Druze’s constitute 5.2% of the population
It is also the only country in the world with a Muslim majority population that has a Christian president and a governance that is dictated by a power-sharing deal between the main sects. In line with the “national pact” dating from independence from France in 1943, the president must be a Maronite Christian, the prime minister a Sunni Muslim and the parliament speaker a Shiite Muslim. Lebanon is a parliamentary republic, with a 128-member house evenly split between Muslims and Christians.
The fact that Christianity has such a prominent and visible presence in Lebanon has provided a platform for the Gospel to advance in every sector of society: economical, religious, political, social, media, and educational. Lebanon has provided a gateway for the Gospel to be proclaimed to neighbouring countries like Syria, Iraq, and the Kurdish community in Turkey.
Lebanon remains the country hosting the largest number of refugees per capita, with a Government estimate of 1.5 million Syrian refugees, some 20,000 refugees of other origins, in addition to the Palestine refugees under UNRWA’s mandate. 1 in every 4 people in Lebanon is a refugee. 50% are children under the age of 18 years.
Thousands of refugees found Christ in Lebanon. The explosion and subsequent challenges will bring the amazing work of the Lebanese Church to a standstill.

INcontext International received the following message from a co-worker in Lebanon:

“Please pray for the poor in Lebanon – there’s a lot of despair and fear right now. The port of Beirut is destroyed so we don’t know how food and supplies are going to get in – and the headquarters of the Electricity company was destroyed, so we are not sure what’s going to happen with the electricity.

Lebanon was already sinking into destitution, and this just adds insult upon injury. Our hearts are so raw and I’ve been feeling on the brink of tears so many times throughout the day. Right now people across Beirut are waking up after sleeping their first night without glass in their windows. It’s gonna be months before many are able to (repair the damage). Please pray for the people of Lebanon and especially our friends and family there.”

As the global body of Christ, we need to join hands with our Lebanese brothers and sisters.

Let us pray, let us give and let us join our Lebanese family in caring for those in despair, reaching out to those in need, and providing hope to the hopeless.

In the same way that it took one spark to ignite the ammonium and destroy the lives of thousands, it can take one spark of goodwill to ignite hope and encouragement. Watch this video: