Dear EMERALD family,
We all watched the news of the huge explosion in the port of Beirut that is 4-5 kilometres away from the Karentina Alliance Church and the Alliance Bible School (CAIT).
The incident left the whole city devastated and heavily damaged. The images and the videos of the explosion are overwhelming. Rev. Charbel Malak, pastor of Haret Albelaneh Alliance Church (15 kilometres from the explosion) and Academic Dean of the Alliance Bible School informs us that some of the people from the church were injured and taken to hospital. The classrooms, offices and dorms of the Bible School were badly damaged. He said “It was like a powerful earthquake, or a nuclear bomb”.
Thank God that there were no deaths in the church or Bible School but the damage of the church, the Bible School, student dorms, and the offices, is huge and comprehensive. It is estimated to cost hundreds of thousands if not millions of USD to repair it.
Our brothers and sisters in Beirut are in desperate need for our prayers. Let’s stand with them in this difficult time:
- Pray for the people who have first-hand experienced and saw this happening. Pray for their spiritual and emotional wellbeing.
- Pray for quick healing for those who are injured.
- Pray for Rev. Milad Dagher, pastor of the church and president of CAIT and for Rev. Charbel Malak the academic dean of the school, the staff, and the students. Pray for wisdom, courage, and vision.
- Pray for Rev. Sami Dagher the founder of the church and the ministry of the church. Pray for his health and encouragement.
- As the Alliance Family around the world, let’s think also of extending, with our prayers, our financial recourses to help them build back their churches and lives.
- Pray for the whole country as they face too many challenges these days beside this explosion.
Be blessed as you are a blessing to others,
Rev. Munther A. Shahatit
AWF EMERALD Regional Coordinator
*) Wij zijn onderdeel van Europe/Middle-East Region of the Alliance World Fellowship afgekort tot EMERALD.