We
are at the church of St. Tecla in Beirut, Lebanon. Today is not a day of
obligation, but the church is still full, mainly with refugees from Iraq;
people who have lost everything except their faith.
There
are families similar to Milad's, who suffers from a shortage of food for her
three children, despite the support of the Christian community.
MILAD
"What
the Church receives, it divides it among the families. But if the Church
doesn't receive these donations or help, it cannot help."
In
this situation, people like Louis and Hazib play a very fundamental role. They
now live in Lebanon after being persecuted in Iraq.
LOUIS
SAMIH
"We
escaped, as you know, from the danger of ISIS. They came to our country and
occupied everything. They stayed at our houses, our lands, and even at my
pharmacy ... We were afraid that they would kill us.”
They
lost everything. But now, instead of mourning, they volunteer in various
parishes in Beirut, helping other refugees. They have registered over 2,000
Iraqi families in the city, and claim that the persecution has made them
stronger.
HAZIB
JANA
"Having
arrived as refugees, we can say that the faith has grown stronger. More people
are coming to Church than before.”
Hazib
and Louis are in charge of helping with bureaucratic procedures, distributing
food or money, and being able to maintain a community that suffers in foreign
land.
LOUIS
SAMIH
"There
is some discrimination because the Lebanese consider themselves more educated
than us, the Iraqis."
Unfortunately,
most of the Iraqi refugees in Lebanon do not consider returning to their
country.
HAZIB
JANA
"Our
hope as Iraqi refugees is to be able to go to countries like America, Canada or
Australia and stay there."
According
to UNHCR, Lebanon is the country with highest refugee status in the world.
Almost two out of every 10 inhabitants are in a provisional situation.