Irish Presbyterian church's appeal for aid for Middle Eastern victims

Through this annual appeal the 500-plus Irish Peresbyterian congregations have raised millions of pounds in support of life-changing sustainable development projects in some of the poorest communities and disadvantaged places in the world.

The Beirut centre, described as "a lighthouse in a dark place and a haven of hope", will benefit from substantive Presbyterian generosity. The centre is also supported by the Lebanese society for education and social development, and has an input from Christian Aid and Tearfund charities.

The 2022 Presbyterian world development appeal is titled 'Rekindled hope: from flight to flourishing’. and the Rev Liam Rutherford, convener, explains the lead project will benefit people who are described as "stateless" - Syrian and Palestinian refugees living beside undocumented Lebanese nationals.

Primarily for Presbyterian congregations, the appeal has taken place in the run up to Christmas and New Year for more than 40 years, normally raising between £300,000 and £500,000.

The Rev Rutherford, a Banbridge minister, has spoken of the "forgotten people’ in places like Lebanon".

Mr Rutherford said, “The situation in Lebanon has become one such forgotten place. It's a country which faces enormous political, social and economic challenges, where 80 per cent of the population live below the poverty line. It hosts around 1.5 million refugees who fled the civil war in Syria, alongside a long-term Palestinian refugee community of more than 200,000 people. With refugees making up 25 per cent of the population, this is the highest percentage of refugees hosted by any country in the world.”

With the impact of the cost of living crisis at home, Mr Rutherford said he understood that this year times were hard, but he asked Presbyterians to pray and see how they could give sacrificially.

“While we have been blessed in so many different ways, through our appeal we have a wonderful opportunity to support the work of the centre in Beirut which was established 25 years ago."

Glen Mitchell, head of Tearfund in Northern Ireland, said: “We are so grateful for the Presbyterian church's faithful partnership with Tearfund through their appeal. With the generous support of Presbyterian congregations across Ireland, this centre in Beirut will continue its holistic work within a community that has experienced deep traumas due to conflict, Covid and crisis.”

While the Centre in Beirut is the lead project for the 2022 Presbyterian world development appeal, the church will also support a second featured project in South Sudan through Christian Aid’s partner, South Sudan Council of Churches. Following the outbreak of violence in 2013, one in three people in South Sudan is an internally displaced person. The huge movement of people around the country has led to conflict