Pray With Us for Lebanon & the Middle East

Updates and Prayers for the Middle East (June 26, 2026)

We invite you to watch this special episode of CBM Calling and hear directly from those serving in Lebanon amid ongoing conflict and uncertainty.

Hosted by Louise Hannem, CBM’s Team Lead, Church Engagement, this conversation features Rabih Wazir, CBM’s Integral Mission Coordinator, MENA Region, and Dr. Wissam Nasrallah, President of the Arab Baptist Theological Seminary (ABTS) in Beirut.

Together, they share what daily life looks like in Lebanon today, how local churches are responding with compassion and hope, and how we can continue praying for peace, protection, and the Church’s faithful witness in the midst of crisis. Thank you for joining us in prayer and partnership with our brothers and sisters in Lebanon.

—— Transcript ——

Louise:

Welcome to CBM Calling. We’re so glad that you’ve taken a moment to join us today. We want to thank you so much for making space for this.

My name is Louise Hannum, and I serve as the team lead for church engagement with CBM, and I’m based on the east coast of Canada. And today, we’re really pleased to welcome Wissam Nasrallah to CBM Calling. Wissam serves as the president of the Arab Baptist Theological Seminary, or ABTS, in Beirut, Lebanon. And this is a ministry that’s equipping church and community leaders across the Arab world. And ABTS is one of CBM’s partners located in the MENA region. We’re also really happy to welcome Rabih Wazir to the conversation today. Rabih is no stranger to us. He serves with us at CBM as the integral mission coordinator for the MENA region, and also is located in Beirut. So thanks so much for joining us today.

We want to hear from both of you as you live and work in Lebanon. So thanks for making time for this conversation. We’d love to begin by just having you tell us what daily life is like in Lebanon. What does it feel like in Lebanon currently?

Wissam:

Well, daily life right now feels like living with several layers of uncertainty at the same time. There is the obvious uncertainty of security, people asking whether the situation will escalate, whether roads will be safe, whether family members in more exposed areas will need to move. And there is the quieter uncertainty of ordinary life. Prices, electricity, school fees, medical needs, employment. And I think something that everybody shares is just the emotional exhaustion that comes after years of crisis. People continue to live. They go to work. Children go to school when they can. Churches gather. Our students continue their studies. And families, as much as they can, try to create some normality. But I think Rabih shares this. Beneath that normality, there is fatigue. And many Lebanese are not simply responding to one crisis. We are all carrying a cumulative weight of crisis, of economic collapse, of political dysfunction, of displacement, of regional war. And it’s not the first one. And renewed fear. So daily life is resilient – but it is also fragile.

Louise:

Yeah, Rabih, what’s it like for you?

Rabih:

Thanks, Wissam. I can’t add a lot on what Wissam has mentioned, but I can say we only have to survive the day… plan short plans, and have faith for tomorrow. And be ready to change the plans in the last minute. And I can say, but be watchful of how can we be useful and helpful to those who are in need. That’s our side of life, in addition to what Wissam has mentioned. We are living just the uncertainty in a vicious circle. We sleep on good news, wake up on bad news, and this is happening every week, every day. This is our life, but we still have faith that tomorrow will be better, by the Lord’s power.

Louise:

Wissam, you mentioned that life still continues, that churches specifically are still continuing to meet. How and why would you say is the church uniquely positioned to respond during times of crisis? We see it all the time, but give us a little bit of a window into the uniqueness of the position of the church.

Wissam:

Well, the church is not just an organization that appears when there’s an emergency. The church is already there. It is embedded in neighborhoods, in cities, in villages, amongst the community. Pastors and shepherds know the names of people. Churches know who’s displaced, who has no medicine, who’s grieving, who’s afraid, who is stuck. So the church is essential because it carries a message, but it also carries presence. And the church respond not only because there are needs, but because we are convinced that Christ has come near us first. And the gospel teaches us that God did not love us from a distance. In Christ, he entered into our suffering. He bore our burdens. He gave himself to us. So the church’s response is not primarily or directly humanitarian. It’s first and foremost incarnational. And it is a witness to the God who is near, and he is near to people through his body, through the local body, which is the local church. And this is really how we think about ministry. And at ABTS, we are not trying to train leaders who can preach well in stable times, but we aim to form men and women who can love deeply, serve wisely, and read scripture faithfully, and bear witness when circumstances like ours are complex. 

Louise:

Yeah, often Often in times of crisis, we ask that question of, where is God in these moments? And while we ask it honestly, we also know the answer, that God is always on the side of those who are suffering, that he is always near those in crisis. That’s where we find him in that incarnational presence.

Rabih, what are you seeing with our churches specifically? How are you seeing them respond? What might be inspiring you as you work with local churches?

Rabih:

What is inspiring that everybody has a share, and everybody is using whatever he or she is having or what they’ve got to support, maybe emotionally, maybe socially, maybe spiritually, and maybe physical needs, maybe supporting others with the need that they’ve got. Our people aren’t living a very rich and pampered life. But whoever has something, they can share in supporting the needy and those who are displaced and those who are facing lots of troubles leaving their homes without any shelter, sheltering people. That’s what we see the churches are doing. And the beautiful thing linking my answer to the former question that you asked, and Wissam answered. In Acts, Peter mentioned that Jesus went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil. And this is what the church is doing. This is how Christians are acting on the ground. They are just doing what the Lord did before them. He was just caring, loving, and looked into details and cared for the details, even for their hunger. So yeah, this is how the church is acting on the ground. 

Louise:

Amen.

Wissam, how is ABTS responding during the crisis?

Wissam:

So, as a seminary, we are blessed with a campus not far from Beirut. And from day one, we felt a responsibility to use these resources well and open our doors for displaced, we call them guests, displaced guests, so that we can offer them safe haven on our campus. This is, if I’m not mistaken, the fourth month. We’ve reached a peak of 190 guests. Today, we are close to 100 who are still living on campus amongst us.

Louise:

Yeah, that’s an incredible undertaking, yeah.

So what does it look like specifically when resources are limited? You talked about sort of the uncertainty just being constant in the background. But I’m sure as well that the resources are limited or scarce or unpredictable. What does that look like currently?

Wissam:

So for us, ministry in this context is very simple and very costly at the same time. This is how we look at it. It’s less about impressive programs, and it’s more about faithful presence daily. And from an organizational standpoint, you learn to plan, but you have to hold your plans with open hands. You have to be strategic, but also learn to be interrupted and revisit strategy. For us, it’s holding two things intention, continuing our call to train men and women for faithful ministry, and this is the medium to the long-term mission that we have, and the short-term mission, which is respond to the crisis and model to our students, to our staff, to our faculty what practical ministry looks like. Again, our aim is to train students both at the level of the head, the heart, and the hands. And that crisis or this crisis is an opportunity for us to put this into practice, to live out what we teach in the classroom. And limited resources force us to ask deeper questions, harder questions. What is essential? What has God entrusted to us? How should we be serving today and not worrying about tomorrow? If we open our guest house, will we be able to renovate in the future? But we have to walk by faith. We have to serve in a way that is humble, but also a way that is faithful to the gospel and relying on God. He who took care of us yesterday will take care of tomorrow as well.

Yeah.

Louise:

We hear lots, of course, about the situation, and we hear news headlines, but what we will never hear in the news are these types of stories. Can you tell us a place or a situation where you have experienced unexpected hope or kindness during this time?

Rabih:

I’ve seen people jumping into action without thinking twice. And that happened as a society, as a Lebanese society. And that happened as a church, and no one stopped. Everybody moved with full enthusiasm. Just we want to be there for people. We will stop our stuff. We will stop our plans. We will hold our dreams, and let’s be there for our brothers and sisters. And if I’m speaking from the spiritual side, from the church side, we have full faith that the Lord will provide, and we can do something better for those who are in need now. And one of the things that usually we don’t talk about is the security thing. We are moving through many danger zones. And myself and my wife, we passed through that on the 8th of April, and we saw the Lord protecting us while we were just few meters away from the building that was bombarded. And we were 100% safe. We didn’t know how. We knew one thing, that the Lord was there.

Right.

He just protected. And that kind of situation, you know that you’re not alone. Just move by faith, act, show Christ in word and deed, and he’ll take care of everything. He didn’t think twice when he fed the 5,000. He just, “They’re hungry. They’re there, and I’m going to take care of it.” So yeah.

Wissam:

Probably I would like to share about the small moments. We can share about big moments, but hope really is in the small gestures. A pastor who keeps calling families even when he himself is tired, or a church member who shares what he has, but with someone who has less. Again, we are reminded that the Lord is still at work through ordinary saints. And hope in these times often comes very quietly. It comes through prayer, through simple hospitality, through perseverance, and just a refusal to stop loving one’s neighbor, although this probably would be the easy way out. And for us, we are reminded as Christians that hope is not optimism. Hoping that things will probably get better tomorrow. Christian hope is different, and Rabih mentioned that.

It’s anchored in the risen Christ and the fact that Christ is Lord. And therefore, even though things might not immediately get better, we know that our labor in him is not in vain. And we know that our Redeemer reigns. And so this is hope for us. And oftentimes it’s small, quiet, unimpressive- …but it is at work.

Louise:

Amen. God is in those small moments. Rabih, you mentioned just seeing people jump into action without even thinking, and Wissam sharing this resilience and consistency. It makes me think of a brief comment that Ali Haddad had made during the pandemic. We were having a conversation. Ali, of course, the former president of ABTS, newly retired.

I remember chatting with Ali, and he said, “Louise, we are experiencing so much crisis that we don’t even have to pray.” He said, “We know what to do. We know what God has called us to do. We’re not going to take the time to pray about those specifics. We have so many other things to be praying about.” And I was just so struck by how much we have to learn from the church globally, how you are remaining faithful through such difficult times.

Yeah, please know that it is such an encouragement to us as we hear these stories of faith and resilience and hope, and the way that you’re caring for one another.

So for people perhaps here in Canada where I am, or farther away, what do you wish we understood about the situation?

Rabih:

In the news, you see politics. But on the ground, you see collateral damage. You see innocents lost. You see tears are shed. Perspective to life is changing for kids and for adults. And that’s what’s happening on the ground. I’m not trying to be dramatic, but this is what war does for people. It’s not about a winning side or winning party. It’s about people are losing their lives, losing their families, losing their jobs. But at the same time, what’s on the ground, what people don’t know, that there is hope. Though we are living in a messy country, and we’ve been through this since like 40 years ago, and since 2019 until today, we’ve got lots of troubles coming in. But under all these situations, the news doesn’t show how people are being resilient, though things are very hard on them. News don’t show how people are hopeful and how Christians are being light in the midst of all that darkness. Though we are tired, though we are emotionally stressed, and we need to take a break. But now it’s not the time to take a break. So that’s why if somebody wants to know something about us, we’re surviving no matter what. Though the pain is big and many lives are being hurt because of that.

Wissam:

From my end, and again, I agree with what Rabih shared, and to add to that, the church in Lebanon is not merely a victim. Yes, the needs are real. Yes, the situation is hard. Yes, the pressure is heavy. But the church here is also a witness. It has something to share with our brothers and sisters in Canada about endurance, about lament, about courage, and as Rabih shared, about hope. And that’s something we’ve learned through the successive crises. Every crisis is, in a sense, an opportunity to grow deeper in faith, to learn, and to witness. We’ve come to say, at least internally, we should never miss out on a good crisis.

Obviously, there is a bit of humor in that, but it just reflects a mindset that we’ve learned. This is not a default mindset.

This is a mindset that we had to learn through the successive crises.

How can we pray for you? The church in Canada is often reaching out, asking for specifics of what they can be praying for. It’s a powerful way that we can join with you, and so help us do that well. What specifically can we pray?

Wissam:

Well, the first obvious prayer request is pray for peace. Not just the absence of violence. We need a just and lasting peace that will allow families and communities to rebuild, but also dream, and not just think about survival. Pray for local churches, that they would remain faithful to Christ, that they would be courageous in witness and generous in love, even though resources are limited, and the crisis is dragging, and it’s becoming long and tiring. And finally, pray for students at ABTS, that they would be formed deeply in character, in the knowledge of God’s word, but also in love for the church and for the world around them.

Rabih:

I just want to say the peace of the Lord through the hearts, because I don’t see the peace coming anywhere or reaching any point without the peace of the Lord filling the hearts. And the strength and wisdom for those who are on the ground just interacting with everyone and showing Christ in action, in words, and in compassion. And that reaches the church through this channel. And knowing that without the Lord, we cannot be moving effectively on the ground and living in peace and showing Christ in our lives.

Louise:

Yeah, amen. We will continue to pray without ceasing for peace and that we would be peacekeepers and peacemakers. That’s really helpful. Please be assured of our continued prayers. Is there anything else that either of you would like to add? We’re in no rush.

Wissam:

I just want to say thank you for our friends and partners at CBM, for your friendship, your prayers, your support, faithful support, not only this year, but for years now. We always felt that we have somebody who has our back, practically, but also spiritually, and we’re just so grateful for your partnership throughout these years, and just thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Louise:

Yeah, likewise. We are grateful for your partnership with us. It has enriched us, and we are better because we do this together, so thank you. Rabih, I’ll give you the last word. Is there anything you want to add?

Rabih:

Thanks for being there for everybody. Thanks for just checking on us and making sure that we are supported by prayers, by everybody at CBM and everybody behind CBM, all the churches in Canada. Frankly, I could see it through all that time, for the last four months. And I’ve never felt myself, and all the people around me never felt that we’re alone. We have somebody who’s praying, and that was very, very inspiring and supportive. God bless you.

Louise:

God bless you both. Thanks again so much. We really do appreciate you making time today, sharing the work of ABTS, the work of our local churches, and just your hearts during this time. So thanks. We appreciate it. God bless.