Those Who Sow in Tears: Why Our Work in Lebanon Is Not Done

By Jad Tabet

August 5, 2025

Though Lebanon has recently seen the formation of a government, the country remains in deep crisis. While political stability has marginally improved, real recovery is elusive. Economic collapse, geopolitical instability, and the weakening of both external and internal support structures have left the Lebanese people in a state of profound vulnerability. The Church continues to be a vital presence in this broken landscape, offering hope and support where systems have failed.  

At first glance, Lebanon’s formation of a government this year may seem like a step toward recovery. To the international community and some local observers, it even appeared to offer a glimmer of hope that the country might finally be emerging from the prolonged political paralysis that has plagued the country since the civil war. However, this perception is misleading. Lebanon’s economic woes remains both deep and ongoing, its roots unaddressed, and its consequences increasingly severe. Although it provides a hopeful start, the formation of a cabinet has not resolved the structural, geopolitical, and institutional factors that continue to erode the country’s foundations.  

Lebanon is truly a land of narratives; a country where diverse ethno-religious perspectives have long shaped competing national identities, and where different groups have pursued conflicting visions of what Lebanon should become. Lacking internal cohesion and marked by divergent, often opposing, international allegiances, Lebanon has been a divided nation since its modern founding under French colonial rule. As Lebanese historian Kamal Salibi aptly described it, Lebanon is a house of many mansions. 

Today, this division has given us a crippled country that, despite political shifts that appear positive on the surface, is not just at an economic deadlock, but rather in active decline: families are struggling to recover from the destruction and trauma of war, the state remains paralyzed, unable to recover from years of corruption and mismanagement, and the instability in the region, from Syria, Gaza, and the Iran-Israel tension, only deepens Lebanon’s isolation and despair. 

Lebanon’s current fragility has been years in the making, but it can most prominently be traced back to the Lebanese Civil War (1975–1989) and the subsequent Taif Accord (1989). While the Accord ended the war, it also entrenched a sectarian power-sharing system and formalized a structure that rewarded factionalism and clientelism, ensuring that the state would remain weak, fragmented, and easily manipulated. The structural weakness created fertile ground for systemic corruption and chronic economic mismanagement. 

Between 1989 and 2019, Lebanon experienced a series of political, security, and economic challenges that came to a head in the 2019 economic crisis, which marked the most severe financial and political collapse in Lebanon’s modern history. In the months and years that followed, Lebanon’s economy spiraled. The local currency lost over 98% of its value, wiping out savings and plunging more than 80% of the population into poverty. The banking sector froze deposits, triggering a de facto capital control regime without legislation. Inflation soared, public sector salaries became meaningless, and basic goods, including fuel, medicine, and food, became unaffordable or scarce. 

Then, in 2023, the breakout of the Gaza war had immediate and far-reaching consequences for Lebanon. As Hezbollah launched cross-border attacks in solidarity with Hamas, southern Lebanon became an active front in the broader regional conflict. The conflict strained an already overburdened state, deepening Lebanon’s isolation from the international community and further discouraging foreign investment and tourism.  

A year later in September, the skirmishes along the southern border of Lebanon escalated into a full-blown war. Israeli airstrikes targeted Hezbollah positions across the south and beyond, but the collateral damage was extensive. Dozens of civilians were killed, critical infrastructure was destroyed, and entire communities were once again displaced.  

The war devastated what remained of Lebanon’s economy. According to the World Bank and humanitarian agencies, the conflict inflicted an estimated US $14 billion in economic damage, including $4.6 billion in housing losses. The GDP shrank by approximately 7% in 2024, deepening a five-year economic contraction that now totals nearly 40 percent of GDP since 2019.  

In January 2025, Army Chief Joseph Aoun was elected president, ending a two-year deadlock. A month later, ICJ Judge Nawaf Salam became prime minister and formed a technocratic cabinet. This new leadership marks a rare window for reform and state restoration, though serious challenges remain on the disarmament of non-state actors, reconstruction, and political reconciliation. 

And, while politically the situation appears better, this has yet to translate into an economic turn for the country. The collapse of state institutions continues, with little relief in sight. Hezbollah, long propped up by Iranian funds and illicit networks, is facing an unprecedented financial crisis, unable to provide economic support to its base, causing a new wave of poverty in the country. Reconstruction efforts remain stalled as most international donors condition funding on Hezbollah’s disarmament, rendering long-term infrastructure investment politically untenable. Meanwhile, aid from USAID, the UN, and other NGOs has dwindled due to new policies, donor fatigue, and shifting global priorities. The tourism sector has all but vanished, crippled by regional instability and the specter of ongoing conflict.  

For ordinary Lebanese, the crisis is existential: families are skipping meals, students are leaving school, and hospitals are turning patients away. The country is hollowing out, with little left to lose. Today, Lebanon is a country on the brink.  

In a country where institutional trust is broken and foreign aid is receding the Church remains a quiet but vital lifeline. The hopeless are finding hope, the sick are receiving care, and the refugee is being embraced, not as a burden, but as a neighbor. Through clinics, food distribution, counseling, and education, the Church continues to meet needs where others have withdrawn. This is why the work being done at Thimar is so vital. Our mission as Thimar is to strengthen the witness of the Church in the Arab World through inclusive education, community development, and church discipleship.  

For more than 25 years, our ministry in Lebanon has embodied Christlikeness as we empowered churches to build bridges and reach out to the most underprivileged and unreached in our community.  

In Psalm 126 we read, “Those who sow in tears will reap with shouts of joy.” Lebanon is a land soaked in tears. But the sowing continues. And we believe, by faith, that joy is coming. Until that day, we remain rooted in love, relentless in hope, and present in the pain experienced by our communities, and in doing so invite you to come alongside us so that together, we can work the fields.