BLACK MOUNTAIN, NC— On October 1, 2019 Heart for Lebanon will open a new Hope Ministry Center in the heart of the Bekaa Valley, home to approximately 350,000 of the poorest refugees in Lebanon who have fled the violence of war. The situation is considered the worst humanitarian crisis since World War II.
Current statistics state that the Middle East is home to 5% of the world’s population with 45% of the global terrorist attacks, 58% of the world’s refugees, and 18% of the world’s conflicts. This fifty-four thousand square foot Center is designed to lower these staggering numbers and will provide humanitarian aid for families and Christian education for 250 children, ages 5 – 13, more than doubling the non-profit organization’s current impact.
The Bekaa Valley is 19 miles east of Beirut and is considered Lebanon’s most important farming region. Heart for Lebanon’s new Hope Center facility includes a warehouse for packaging aid items, 250 seat chapel and training room, cafeteria, clinic, dormitories for mission teams, fellowship hall, and distribution area. The Hope Ministry Center will educate and equip over 12,000 refugees each year to overcome poverty, moving them from despair to hope. The building’s dedication will occur Sunday, October 27, 2019.
“God has been so faithful in allowing us to have this new facility to grow and develop a missionary force that will go back into Syria as biblical servant leaders,” said Tom Atema, Co-Founder of Heart for Lebanon.
This new Hope Ministry Center has a cost of 4 million dollars to build and furnish. The funds were raised by equal sacrifice of many people and organizations. The new facility is 3 months ahead of schedule for which we give God all the glory.
Heart for Lebanon is a 501(c)3 non-profit non-denominational ministry that builds faith defining environments to lead people into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and grow in Him.
About Heart for Lebanon
Driven by the compassionate heart of Jesus Christ, Heart for Lebanon exists to see lives changed and communities transformed. They are passionate to reach the lost and broken, advance peace, justice, and equality and empower the marginalized and rejected. Heart for Lebanon provides relief to redeem the dignity and address the needs of refugees and displaced people, empowers local communities to overcome poverty, dependency, injustice and marginalization and transform lives of at-risk children emotionally, physically, intellectually, and spiritually.
If you would like more information about this topic and for interviews, please call Tom Atema at 828-712-7968, or email tom.atema@heartforlebanon.org.
To read more news on the Refugee Crisis on Missions Box, go here.
Sources: Christian News Wire, A New Hope for the Bekaa Valley – Heart for Lebanon Opens a Ministry Center for Refugees