For many people, the struggle for survival is a reality, especially for those with little children in their care – people like Georgette. She is a living image of the tragic situation that is afflicting Lebanon.

Her cabinets were almost empty. Food was quickly running out. Georgette’s three grandchildren were hungry But where do you go for necessities in a country where everyone is suffering? Where food is a scarcity you can only hope to afford?

“I live in a poor quarter of the city and our situation is very bad, especially after last August’s explosion in Beirut. I live there with my three grandchildren. We are all alone in that house. I am responsible for them and I don’t have anybody to help me, except for God, and the benefactors of ACN,” she said.

Georgette is a recipient of food packages made possible through the kindness of ACN donors, and they arrived just at the right time. These care parcels contain basic provisions which Georgette gratefully accepts.

“I was so delighted to receive this help, because it means I can now feed my grandchildren for a month,” she explained.

Though she struggles, Georgette is constantly comforted by her Christian Faith. “I know that I am not alone, and this is more important to me even more than the food aid… just knowing that there are people thinking about us.  I give thanks to God every day. He has always guided me and my family and has sent us kind people to help us through these difficult times.”

This is just one example – one woman, one mother, one grandmother – desperately trying to keep her family safe and healthy. Lebanon is filled with ‘Georgettes’, those consumed with worry and heartbreak that their children will go to bed hungry.

Would you be the person that those in need, like Georgette, give thanks for when their burdens are lifted?

Your kind donation will enable Aid to the Church in Need (Malta) reach out to many more Christians in distress this winter.

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Sister Annie Demerjian, a Project Partner of Aid to the Church in Need explained that after suffering ten years of conflict and its consequences, the people of Syria are still in desperate need of help and healing.

Sister Annie told Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) that Covid-19 has slowed Syria’s recovery process. She said: “Syria is like someone who has had a serious operation and s/he needs to heal, s/he needs to recover and s/he suddenly doesn’t have time to recover. The world has begun to forget about Syria, and that’s painful.”

Christmas gifts for the children in Damascus, Aleppo, Homs, Kameshli, Hassakeh, Swidaa, Horan – 2020.

According to the Nun, the pandemic struck with a hard blow just as people were beginning to pick up the pieces of their lives again.

“Everybody knows we are coming out of a very difficult situation, the civil war.

People were beginning to breathe again, the remaining Christians were beginning to rise and stand again on their feet.

“Then. the pandemic came and people collapsed. It’s a big burden – no work, no jobs.”

Sister Annie reiterated that the civil war, the coronavirus pandemic and new economic sanctions is causing so much suffering and leaving many in abject poverty.

She said: “Life without electricity and gas is very hard and that’s because of the sanctions. Only every couple of hours, we get one hour of electricity. That is not enough to heat a house. “There is not enough gas even to cook food.”

“Many times we receive calls, people are hungry, they have nothing to eat.”, she lamented.

Last Christmas, ACN partnered with Sister Annie to provide jackets for more than 26,000 children for the winter months as the temperatures dropped below zero.

She said: “A father cannot buy his child an anorak because one anorak is equal to his salary, or more. Our campaign was for families who find it impossible to help their children. It has helped thousands of children.

“You cannot imagine the joy on the faces and in the eyes of children when they received these jackets”.

Emphasizing that the jackets campaign also open doors of employment opportunities for needy people, Sister Annie added:

“We are trying to help the economy, 40 shops and small factories made these anoraks which, in turn, also created jobs. We had two goals: creating jobs and distributing anoraks to our children in this harsh winter.”

Sister Annie has a word of gratitude for ACN’s benefactors.

She said: “Even in this difficult time, the benefactors of ACN didn’t stop supporting us. I always pray for the benefactors and the workers of ACN – you are doing amazing, amazing work. Through ACN, we are helping 270 families with their daily costs of living. We are also supporting 84 families in Aleppo and Damascus with their rent.”

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The war in Syria may have ended, but it’s devastating effects are still very much with us. Since the beginning of the war in 2011, the Country has been plunged into a refugee crisis with families fleeing in their numbers.

A staggering 5.5 million Syrians have become refugees, fleeing to neighbouring countries in the Middle East such as Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt. Europe is also home to over 1.3 million Syrian refugees who have sought asylum.

Christians in Syria suffered persecution, kidnappings and killings in the hands of ISIS. 70% of Christians in Syria whose overall population in the Country was 1.5 million before the war have had to flee the country in search of refuge.

Within Syria, 6.3 million people are internally displaced living in refugee camps. And nearly 13.1 million Syrians are in need of humanitarian assistance.

Why are Syrians fleeing the Country?

ACN’s Religious Freedom in the World Report for 2018 found that nearly two-thirds of Syria’s 18.2 million population lack the basics needed to survive and are in extreme poverty.

Sr. Annie, a project partner of Aid to the Church in Need assisting Christians in Syria disclosed to ACN that the Syrian refugee crisis is linked directly to the economic sanctions. These sanctions  affect access to health care, medicine and basic essentials, and leave many people in abject poverty with no other option than to seek a way out.

Families, especially those with children, pregnant women and elderly people suffer the most.

The Children of Syria

During the years of the Syrian war, about 3 million children were born. Born into suffering, they know only of violent destruction and the hardship that comes with it.

Many of them have been separated from their families due to the refugee crisis, and continue to suffer starvation.

Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) has stepped in to save the starving children of Syria by providing them with milk for their nourishment and growth.

With the launch of the “Drop of Milk” project since 2017, ACN has been providing milk for over 2000 Syrian children and babies under the age of 10 every month.

This is only one among the many projects focused on saving the children of Syria whose childhood has been stolen by war. Another notable project is the education of Syrian refugee children at Church schools in Lebanon to give them the chance of a brighter future.

How can we help Syrian Refugees?

Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), which was founded at a time when Europe was recovering from the devastating effects of World War II to help refugees and displaced people. Therefore, emergency and pastoral care for refugees is an identifying element of our mission.

The survival of Syrian refugees has largely depended on the support of foreign governments and humanitarian organizations like Aid to the Church in Need.

Aid to the Church is Need (ACN) is one of the few humanitarian Christian organizations helping in particular, Christian refugees displaced by the crisis in Syria.

Since the beginning of the Syria refugee crisis, ACN has been responding to the plight of refugee families.  Examples of our help include monthly food baskets, medicine, rent and also pastoral care to enable them live a dignified life.

For example, ACN has been supporting St. John the Merciful Food Kitchen which is run by the Melkite Catholic Church in Zahleh, Lebanon. The Kitchen provides a daily hot meal for over 1000 Syrian refugees who cannot afford it.  In Beirut, Lebanon – ACN is also supporting St Anthony’s Dispensary where over 1,500 refugees and displaced people receive help every month irrespective of their religion.

Donate today to help Syrian refugees in their desperate need  

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