Support those fleeing war, violence, and other crises around the world.

The UN Refugee Agency reports there are currently 108.4 million forcibly displaced people worldwide, an increase of more than 19 million over the past year alone.

In Lebanon, years into the Syrian refugee crisis, many refugees are still living in informal tented settlements. They face many challenges, with 90% living in extreme poverty. Syrians living in Lebanon are often unable to access, let alone pay for, their urgent medical needs. There are few opportunities for education, and without legal status, they have limited opportunities. With Lebanon itself in an unprecedented economic crisis and severe inflation on food and other essentials, there is tremendous insecurity leaving them in a vulnerable state.

The islands of both Larnaca, Cyprus and Lesvos, Greece continue to be major refugee hotspots, daily receiving boatloads of refugees who are fleeing war and poverty in their home countries. The increase of refugee arrivals in the last two years has changed the landscape of the needs. Hygiene and sanitary conditions are very poor. Lacking essentials such as food, clothing, resources for infant care and basic hygiene, and skills such as sewing and woodworking, refugees face many challenges.

Local churches are working to meet the practical needs of their refugee neighbours. For example, a local church in Lebanon seeks to fill the gap in access to education for refugee children. They provide quality basic literacy and numeracy education with psychosocial support in a safe, protective environment. The learning centers offer a basic curriculum of Arabic, English, and Mathematics, and integrate life-skills training such as health, hygiene, inter-personal skills, and self-discipline into the larger curriculum. In one of the most impoverished suburbs of Beirut, the Tahaddi project provides life-saving medical care to vulnerable refugees who otherwise could not afford it.

In Cyprus and Lesvos, a range of services are being made available to refugees: a food bank and other non-food items, clothing, access to laundry services, language classes, workshops (such as IT, arts & crafts, sewing, infant care, etc.), access to showers and baby baths, a “spa treatment” area (including haircuts, manicure/pedicure, and foot massage), educational and recreational activities for children, and counselling therapy.

Your support will provide essential care and resources for many people displaced from their homes, as well as provide opportunities of hope for a better future and give witness to the real-life Good News of Jesus.