{"id":59317,"date":"2025-06-05T07:51:22","date_gmt":"2025-06-05T12:51:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/?p=59317"},"modified":"2025-06-05T07:51:24","modified_gmt":"2025-06-05T12:51:24","slug":"wcc-news-impact-of-war-in-lebanon-impossible-to-ignore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/wcc-news-impact-of-war-in-lebanon-impossible-to-ignore\/","title":{"rendered":"WCC NEWS: Impact of war in Lebanon impossible to ignore"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

During a field visit to the south Lebanon, organized by youth groups and movements from the churches of Lebanon in cooperation with brothers from the Taize community, Maria Bzdigian, project manager at the Middle East Council of Churches, found the impact of the war heartbreaking\u2014and impossible to ignore<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

She was part of a group of representatives from Lebanese churches\u2014including Maronites, Protestants, Greek Orthodox, Syriac, Greek Catholic, and Armenian Orthodox\u2014who gathered in Beirut and\u00a0headed together to south Lebanon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They went with army escorts and necessary approvals since some areas were restricted due to security risks. They visited several villages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEverywhere we went, we saw destruction in villages, with collapsed homes, bombed roads, and buildings reduced to rubble,\u201d she said. \u201cMilitary approval and escort were required at every step, because some areas are still dangerous or restricted.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In one of the villages she visited, a bombing happened while they were there. \u201cIt was a chilling reminder that the war isn’t over for those living there\u2014it\u2019s still part of their daily reality,\u201d said Bzdigian. \u201cChurches were not spared either.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One church had been bombed five times; now, only three walls remain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd yet, in the middle of this devastation, we found families who had stayed not because they had a choice, but because they had nowhere else to go,\u201d said Bzdigian. \u201cSome parts of their houses were completely collapsed, but they stayed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some stayed despite being able to leave because this is their home. \u201cAnd what amazed us was their warmth and hospitality,\u201d said Bzdigian. \u201cThey welcomed us with open arms, offered us drinks, and shared their stories.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They spoke with raw honesty about their fear, their exhaustion, their loss, and how overwhelmed they felt. \u201cSome told us how painful it was when people came just to take photos and left without offering real support,\u201d she said. \u201cBut they also shared about the people who had come to truly help those who brought financial support, encouragement, and stood with them in solidarity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spirit of youth<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

What stood out, said Bzdigian, was the spirit of the youth and all the people the group met. \u201cThey were brilliant, kind, and full of life,\u201d she said. \u201cThey shared about the roles they\u2019ve taken on in their communities, the activities they are organizing, and the challenges they face.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite everything, they had hope\u2014and they gave hope. \u201cEvery encounter with them was marked by love, resilience, and the desire for peace,\u201d said Bzdigian. \u201cOne beautiful gesture that touched us was how they welcomed us each time by singing the song of the Resurrection.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The strength and tenderness of the people they visited has stayed with Bzdigian. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the heart of so much destruction, they still carry light,\u201d she said. \u201cTheir courage to keep going, their deep love for their land, and their willingness to serve their communities reminded me that even in the darkest times, hope is alive.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She did not find bitterness. \u201cInstead, they spoke of healing, of rebuilding, of staying rooted in love and faith,\u201d she said. \u201cThat kind of spirit is powerful. It lifts you up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hope also came through the way the group did not just observe\u2014but listened. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“In those shared moments, we saw how solidarity becomes strength,\u201d said Bzdigian. \u201cSouth Lebanon is breathtaking\u2014its nature, its history, its people. It holds a piece of my heart. Once you\u2019ve walked its paths and listened to its people, you never really leave it behind. Seeing it wounded and worn was overwhelming, but I believe in its beauty and in its future. I carry the hope that this land will not only rise again, but that it will flourish with peace, with dignity, with life.\u201d She asks for prayers that the people of Lebanon may stand again on their feet. \u201cPray for reconstruction, not just of buildings, but of lives and communities,\u201d said Bzdigian. “Pray for peace that they may live without fear, without war.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

During a field visit to the south Lebanon, organized by youth groups and movements from the churches of Lebanon in cooperation with brothers from the Taize community, Maria Bzdigian, project manager at the Middle East Council of Churches, found the … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20176,"featured_media":59318,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false},"categories":[],"topic":[],"region":[20024,20022],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWCC NEWS: Impact of war in Lebanon impossible to ignore - Global Ministries<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/wcc-news-impact-of-war-in-lebanon-impossible-to-ignore\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"WCC NEWS: Impact of war in Lebanon impossible to ignore - Global Ministries\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"During a field visit to the south Lebanon, organized by youth groups and movements from the churches of Lebanon in cooperation with brothers from the Taize community, Maria Bzdigian, project manager at the Middle East Council of Churches, found the … Read more\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/wcc-news-impact-of-war-in-lebanon-impossible-to-ignore\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Global Ministries\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-06-05T12:51:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-06-05T12:51:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/WCC-lebanon-rubble.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"922\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Middle East and Europe\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@MidEastEuropeGM\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Middle East and Europe\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/wcc-news-impact-of-war-in-lebanon-impossible-to-ignore\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/wcc-news-impact-of-war-in-lebanon-impossible-to-ignore\/\",\"name\":\"WCC NEWS: Impact of war in Lebanon impossible to ignore - Global Ministries\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-05T12:51:22+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-05T12:51:24+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/#\/schema\/person\/4b18b6cf8489c64f6ea75a366861d9ac\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/wcc-news-impact-of-war-in-lebanon-impossible-to-ignore\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/wcc-news-impact-of-war-in-lebanon-impossible-to-ignore\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/wcc-news-impact-of-war-in-lebanon-impossible-to-ignore\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"WCC NEWS: Impact of war in Lebanon impossible to ignore\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/\",\"name\":\"Global Ministries\",\"description\":\"Global Ministries is a common missional witness of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the United Church of Christ. Global Ministries works with approximately 290 faith-based international partners in close to 90 countries. Our Vision: That all of God\u2019s people and creation share in God\u2019s abundant life. Our Mission: To receive and share the Good News of Jesus Christ by joining with global and local partners to work for justice, reconciliation, and peace.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/#\/schema\/person\/4b18b6cf8489c64f6ea75a366861d9ac\",\"name\":\"Middle East and Europe\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/84cb7ef34bb9e42641643b8ae527523e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/84cb7ef34bb9e42641643b8ae527523e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Middle East and Europe\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MidEastEuropeGM\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/author\/pemakari\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"WCC NEWS: Impact of war in Lebanon impossible to ignore - Global Ministries","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/wcc-news-impact-of-war-in-lebanon-impossible-to-ignore\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"WCC NEWS: Impact of war in Lebanon impossible to ignore - Global Ministries","og_description":"During a field visit to the south Lebanon, organized by youth groups and movements from the churches of Lebanon in cooperation with brothers from the Taize community, Maria Bzdigian, project manager at the Middle East Council of Churches, found the … Read more","og_url":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/wcc-news-impact-of-war-in-lebanon-impossible-to-ignore\/","og_site_name":"Global Ministries","article_published_time":"2025-06-05T12:51:22+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-06-05T12:51:24+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1400,"height":922,"url":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/WCC-lebanon-rubble.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Middle East and Europe","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@MidEastEuropeGM","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Middle East and Europe","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/wcc-news-impact-of-war-in-lebanon-impossible-to-ignore\/","url":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/wcc-news-impact-of-war-in-lebanon-impossible-to-ignore\/","name":"WCC NEWS: Impact of war in Lebanon impossible to ignore - Global Ministries","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-06-05T12:51:22+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-05T12:51:24+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/#\/schema\/person\/4b18b6cf8489c64f6ea75a366861d9ac"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/wcc-news-impact-of-war-in-lebanon-impossible-to-ignore\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/wcc-news-impact-of-war-in-lebanon-impossible-to-ignore\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/wcc-news-impact-of-war-in-lebanon-impossible-to-ignore\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"WCC NEWS: Impact of war in Lebanon impossible to ignore"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/","name":"Global Ministries","description":"Global Ministries is a common missional witness of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the United Church of Christ. Global Ministries works with approximately 290 faith-based international partners in close to 90 countries. Our Vision: That all of God\u2019s people and creation share in God\u2019s abundant life. Our Mission: To receive and share the Good News of Jesus Christ by joining with global and local partners to work for justice, reconciliation, and peace.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/#\/schema\/person\/4b18b6cf8489c64f6ea75a366861d9ac","name":"Middle East and Europe","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/84cb7ef34bb9e42641643b8ae527523e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/84cb7ef34bb9e42641643b8ae527523e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Middle East and Europe"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/twitter.com\/MidEastEuropeGM"],"url":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/author\/pemakari\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59317"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20176"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59317"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59317\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59320,"href":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59317\/revisions\/59320"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59318"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59317"},{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic?post=59317"},{"taxonomy":"region","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/region?post=59317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}