As war rages, Thimar responds

By Ghinwa Akiki

September 25, 2024

Seventeen families crowded the small school in a village just outside Beirut, their few belongings placed against classroom walls and crammed into corners alongside mattresses. The exhaustion on their faces and black bags under their eyes spoke to the harrowing ordeals each one of them had been through in recent days. 

They had traveled for hours to make it here, some for as long as a full day. In ordinary circumstances, a trip like this might have taken only a few hours. But as Israel began a massive aerial campaign across Lebanon on Monday, tens of thousands of people fled, packing highways and roads. Slow-moving traffic stretched for miles as people made their way north to areas they hoped would be safe.

The village they have come to is relatively safe. As Israel continued to launch airstrikes across Lebanon and Hezbollah continued to fire various rockets on Wednesday, a team from Thimar traveled to the school to help a local partner distribute 150 meals to the families.  

In the small space of the school, they devoured plates of chicken, rice, and salad. Each family was thankful to be alive. Each had lost neighbors and seen others killed as they attempted to flee.  

Sitting around a table, three sisters shared their story with our team. Batoul, a young teenage girl, woke up Monday morning to the sound of an explosion. After nearly a year of cross-border clashes between Hezbollah and Israel, she had grown so accustomed to the sound of bombs that she initially thought nothing of this one. She continued her morning like normal. 

“But a few minutes later, a series of shells fell in our village, and we didn’t know what to do,” she said. “It was terrifying. My parents rushed inside and started calling family members to check if they were okay.” 

Her father, a local firefighter, rushed with his colleagues to put out fires caused by the strikes. But things were catastrophic. 

“We were getting ready for school, which was supposed to start this week,” Batoul continued. 

The family sheltered at their home for two days. They, like so many others, hoped the attack would be over shortly, but the airstrikes persisted relentlessly, destroying neighboring homes and houses throughout their village. Worried they may be killed, they decided to flee, not knowing where they would go. 

They heard schools in this area were open for people who had been displaced, so they decided to come. Because of the traffic, it took them nine hours. “It was so hard,” Batoul said. “We left everything behind, not even taking extra clothes. Our neighbors were killed when a bomb hit their car while they were trying to escape. Others were injured, and we don’t know what happened to them.” 

In another room, a family of four had just arrived after traveling for 20 hours. They had almost nothing with them. The father lay sick on a mattress, in need of medicine and diapers. 

Their escape from southern Lebanon was difficult. The two sons had to stop constantly to take care of their father, and their mother became ill along the way from heat and exhaustion. 

“As we fled, random strikes fell heavily all around us,” one of the sons said. He had lived through the last full-scale war between Hezbollah and Israel in 2006. He said that war was nothing like this one. “The scenes of Gaza have come to the south.” 

Our distribution today gave families food to eat, but they have many more needs. Each family filled a classroom. Some rooms had as many as 10 family members but only a few mattresses to sleep on. The families brought only their most essential belongings. They lack many other necessities, such as feminine pads, diapers, medicine, and extra clothes. The school has only a few bathrooms and no showers. 

As staff distributed food, they also shared encouraging messages, telling families that God had brought them here safely and He would continue to take care of them now. Fearful from all that they had been through, we encouraged them to keep their eyes fixed on God. 

The escalation in fighting in recent days has pushed the conflict to the brink of full-scale war. Since Monday, Israel has been striking targets across Lebanon on a scale heavier than at any other point since the start of the conflict in October as it seeks to destroy Hezbollah’s capabilities. Despite blows, Hezbollah continues to launch rockets and projectiles at Israel. 

With at least some 600 people dead and nearly 2,000 wounded in recent days – including at least 51 killed and 223 injured on Wednesday – people are terrified and uncertain of what comes next. Daily life has been upended as places like schools have turned from institutions of learning into shelters for the roughly 90,000 people recently displaced. Of them, 55,000 are sheltering in 387 schools across Lebanon. 

As part of Thimar’s total emergency response efforts, our school, Beirut Baptist School (BBS), is collecting and distributing essential supplies to centers hosting displaced people. With staff, teachers, and students, we are providing mattresses, blankets, hygiene items, pillows, food, fuel, water, and 320 daily meals prepared by the kitchen of our seminary school, Arab Baptist Theological Seminary (ABTS).

Our food distribution today marks an increased continuation of the aid and support we have been providing for nearly a year to people displaced and affected by fighting. Since October, Thimar has prayed and hoped for peace while still preparing for this kind of situation. Our organization has been here before, specifically during the last full-scale war between Hezbollah and Israel. 

With much of Lebanon under fire and the Israeli military suggesting that it may soon launch a ground offensive, we are working closely with our church partners to respond to growing needs. In the coming days, our relief and development arm MERATH will provide 3,000 mattresses and pillows, along with upwards of 2,000 meals to churches and community centers across Lebanon. We are also preparing to send young staff members to help support and spend time with people who have fled.  

We continue to ask for your prayers. If you would like to support Thimar as it increases its aid, you can donate by clicking on the button below.