“I am 100% sure that God is here, and He listens to our prayers. I tell God that my kids’ lives are His.” These are a mother’s words, as she shares the challenges of taking care of her family in Lebanon ever since the family’s flight to safety out of Syria – over the mountains, on foot.

Mariam* and her husband Fadi* are Syrian Christians who fled the bombings and neighbourhood attacks in Aleppo, Syria in 2014 to travel a treacherous path across the mountains with their three young children. They faced checkpoints along the way and travelled in constant fear of danger. 

At one point this family was stopped by ISIS soldiers who threatened them with death. But God rescued Mariam ‘s family from this danger and brought them safely into Lebanon.  

They were safe but life was hard, sharing one blanket at night between the five of them at first. But they built a new life, Fadi working as a house painter. Then everything crashed down around them again. First, they were hit by the sweeping job losses of COVID-19 and then got caught up in Lebanon’s financial collapse.

Now Mariam and Fadi and their three children live day to day, wondering if tomorrow they can even afford bread. There’s no chance of buying meat, fruit or dairy to feed the family and they have just one hour of electricity a day. It’s like starting over.

There are currently about 1.5 million Syrian refugees in Lebanon – most of them families with children – in a country where 80% of the entire population is now living in poverty because of the collapse of Lebanon’s currency. Lebanese moms and dads now stand in emergency food lines beside Syrian refugee parents like Mariam and Fadi. 

Churches, including our Lebanon partner True Vine Church, are stepping into the gap to help families like Mariam ‘s. “What keeps us going is our faith. We believe in Jesus Christ. We trust that things will get better with time. Jesus does not give up on us.” – Mariam

*names changed to protect the family’s privacy