Please take a few minutes to read, watch video, see photos, and contribute to the GoFundMe account to aid the ongoing suffering of of our family and friends in Lebanon:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/helpforbeirut

Here’s what we know about the horrifying situation currently. Though we mostly enjoy a life of peace with no wars or bombings, have food on our tables, medications we need and have children that attend school with full bellies, there are many families living in Lebanon that no longer have these routine privileges. All of this is due to an unstable government, not the fault of the hard working citizens. There are horrific gas lines to get a couple gallons of gas, a few hours of electricity each day, searing heat without A/C and food that is beyond affordable. The US $1 is now LB £1,536. A loaf of bread is approximately £6,000, and you can forget the price of milk which is so desperately needed for the children!

Lebanon was not always like this. In fact, “Beirut (the capital) was once the Paris of the Middle East" thanks to its French influences and vibrant cultural and intellectual life. That changed when civil war broke out in 1975, ravaging the city.”

(Quoted by www.businessinsider.com December 2014)

“The country is going through one of the world's most severe economic crises in modern times, which is having serious social repercussions. According to the latest World Bank report, Lebanon’s economic and financial crisis is likely to rank in the top 10, possibly top 3, most severe crises episodes globally since the mid-nineteenth century.

Lebanon’s woes, is rooted in decades of corruption and mismanagement by a post-civil war political class that has accumulated debt and done little to encourage local industries, forcing the country to rely on imports for almost everything.

With the Lebanese pound losing 95% of its purchase power, half of the population is believed to be living below the poverty line.”

(Quoted by vaticannews.va, July 2021).