(upbeat music)

- This week on Christian world news,

Lebanon's agony in the aftermath

of the deadly devastating explosion.

The country strugglesto pick up the pieces.

How the church is bringing help and hope.

Plus saving the children,

a global food shortage threatens millions.

How one ministry is stepping in to serve

the overlooked victims of COVID-19.

And pastor on the front lines.

In the middle of the violentprotests, he's there to listen,

to learn, and to sharethe gospel of peace.

(upbeat music)

Welcome, everyone, toChristian World News.

I'm Wendy Griffith.

George Thomas is on assignment.

Well, Lebanon's governmentcontinues its investigation

into the massive explosion thatkilled more than 135 people

and injured thousands.

More than 300,000 people losttheir homes in that explosion.

The country, as you know, is already mired

in a severe economic crisisbefore the catastrophe,

which has been called Lebanon's 911.

As Chris Mitchell reports, thepeople there are overwhelmed.

- [Chris] The catastrophebrought Beirut's mayor to tears.

- [Translator] This isa disaster for Lebanon.

We don't know how we'regonna get out of it.

We don't know.

We could barely survive andnow we have this disaster.

We have to stay strong.

We have to hold ourselves together.

We have to be brave.

This happened to our people.

- [Chris] The catastrophein front of the mayor

and the people of Beirut is overwhelming.

This aerial video shows the scope

of the destruction to theport and surrounding area.

These before and after satellite images

reveal the extent of the devastation.

To help recover,

nations from around theworld are responding.

Those countries includethe United Arab Emirates,

Russia, Australia, and France,

all of whom are sending either supplies,

or rescue teams, or both.

Israel, Lebanon's neighbor to the South

has offered aid and condolences.

Tel Aviv City Hall lit up with the colors

of the Lebanese flag.

On the streets, the damage is everywhere.

One Beirut resident told CBN News,

it looks like years of destruction

from war were condensed into one second.

For Lebanese people aroundthe world, it was personal.

Abdalla Dahlia in the U.S. lost a friend,

who worked as a customs agent at the port.

- It's so sad whatLebanon is going through.

This country has been throughso much over the years

and now to see this,

it's the last thing that the people want.

- [Chris] Nearly 300,000in Beirut are now homeless,

about 10% of the city's population.

In the midst of the chaos,

Christian ministries likeTriumphant Mercy are reaching out.

- We are trying to bring some food

for the ones that areworking, cleaning the houses,

cleaning the streets, removing rubble.

So they're working day and night.

- [Chris] These Lebanese Christians

are asking for prayer as they reach out

with the love of Jesuswhile their country copes

with its worst crisis in its history.

Chris Mitchell, CBN news, Jerusalem.

- Thanks, Chris.

May Lee Melki came tothe U.S. from Lebanon

just one week ago.

Her family found a Christian ministry

called Heart for Lebanon,

and she joins us now for more.

Welcome to the show May Lee.

- Thank you, Wendy. Thankyou so much for having me.

- How was the Christian community affected

by this explosion?

I'm sure there were manybelievers that lived in that area.

- Yes, very much so.

And this actually specifically hit

a high density of Christians in that area.

Achrafier, which is thecapital of our capital Beirut

has always often been astronghold for Christians

and all of its suburbs

and all of the neighborhoodsthat are around it.

And that's a really highlypopulated area with churches,

from all different denominations,

and churches and places of worship.

That's where all of thechurches that we grew up in are,

and it's been very, very difficult.

This is an area that hasbeen survived throughout

the civil war from '75 to '90

and saw nothing to the Christian families

and neighborhoods likethey saw on Tuesday.

- Tell us what, Heart for Lebanon,

your family's ministry,

is doing to help there on the ground.

- So Heart for Lebanon was founded in 2006

to really move people from despair to hope

and has always respondedin times of crisis.

First starting in July of 2006 war,

then the Iraqi refugee crisis,

and the Sierra refugee crisis.

And God has positioned theministry time after time

to be able to reach out tothose who are most marginalized,

and rejected, and vulnerablein our communities,

showing them hope inChrist and Christ alone.

And today, they found themselves

in the midst of anothertwo-week pandemic lockdown

mobilizing the entire 60person staff on the ground

going door to door to apartments,

who have been destroyed and devastated

right at the epicenter of the explosion,

but prioritizing churchesand areas of worship.

So they can clean those upfirst and use them as shelters

and allow the church tobe what it needs to be,

a lighthouse right now.

And so, the priority has really been

go into those churches,empty them from the debris,

go into the surroundingapartments and assessing the need.

So all 60 have beenmobilized in teams all around

for the last 48 hours,providing mattresses,

linens, everything tangible right now,

but it's been a lot toassess what is needed.

And so, the cleanupwas necessary at first.

- Absolutely, they've gottheir work cut out for them.

Well, I know your ministry works

with CBNs Operation Blessingand Orphans Promise.

Tell us about that.

And also what is the biggest need there,

obviously the cleanup,

but I'm guessing basicnecessities like food and water.

- Absolutely.

So CBNs Operation Blessinghas been a huge long time

and one of the largestsupporters of Heart for Lebanon.

Operation Blessing actuallypurchased the hub right now,

which is a warehouse where we'restoring all the basic foods

and necessities that are going

to be going out for distributions.

And so, without that space...

That space was miraculously unharmed.

The only thing that washarmed was the gate,

the steel gate of it.

But inside, all of thegoods are still there.

And that is what we'reusing as kind of our HQ

for operations right now.

And through the partnership as well,

which has been a blessing to the education

non-formal programsfor the Syrian refugees

as well with the Iraqi refugeesover the last several years.

Wendy, you said it best.

It's really the basic needs, there's food.

The port that explodedaccounted for 60% of food

for the entire country.

The whole week reserve, everything,

destitute all to the ground.

And we don't know what's going to happen.

We were actually churches,

and communities, and neighborhoods,

and the entire nation wassuffering from this long before

when the country defaultedeconomically March 9.

And the import of goods,

the inflation of basic goods at 300%.

And now actually, the lack thereof

and the inability to bringit through the only port

that was available to us.

- Wow, May Lee, there was a special moment

with your very own grandmother

whose home was badlydamaged in this explosion.

And this video went viral.

Tell us about this.

- I mean, honestly, I posted it

in a time of absolute desperation.

I had just moved a week before.

I was actually scheduled to leave

the day of the explosion.

And through some, I won'tgo through all the details,

but through somemiraculous ways I was told,

you know, just get here,come, a week earlier,

and found myself in theUnited States a week before.

And I just tore my heartnot to be able to be there,

not to be able to be with my parents,

that I was just with a week ago

and to see the destructionthat had happened

to my grandparents' house,

that same house that had been sustained

through the entire civil war,

the same house that hasbeen kind of the core

to our family for the last 60 plus years.

And I posted it as my momjust kind of snuck a peek

to tell me, you know, it's all good.

Grandma's still doing what she does.

And she has us altogether.

And it was 5:00 a.m. here, EST,

posted it and just sobbing in tears.

And the next thing youknow, it goes viral,

but it was really, for us,

it's very intimate family moment

where grandma had not seen her house.

She was miraculously not therethe day of the explosion,

walked over to her piano, theonly unscathed kind of item

in that room, dusted it off,

said the piano is okay.

God's got this, I'm okay,

and just sat and played Auld Lang Syne.

It was the first time I'veheard her play that in 27 years.

And she just said it wasvery fitting for the time.

She has seen a lot oftragedy throughout her life.

This is a woman who losther mom at a very young age,

who has lost all of her life saving,

more recently becauseof the economic collapse

and now her property and their store

as well, due to the explosion.

She pushed through her pain and she said,

this was the place I was able

to find peace and express myself.

And actually, that was a symbol of hope.

That was a symbol of life.

And it was something positive to cling on,

not knowing what tomorrow will hold.

- Absolutely, what a beautiful picture.

Thank goodness that you gothere safely a week early,

and your grandmother issafe and her piano's safe.

We just pray for Lebanon, May Lee,

and our hearts and prayers go out

to your precious country.

Thanks so much for sharing your story

and being with us.

Thank you so much.

- Thank you so much.

And please do pray for the thousands

who are homeless right nowand who are lacking shelter.

This is going to be a verylong time of rebuilding.

- Absolutely, you got it.

All right, thank you.

Up next, fight for survival.

The pandemic threatensa global food shortage.

How one ministry is racingto help the most vulnerable.

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- Welcome back to Christian world news.

The global pandemic iscausing a global food shortage

leading to the deathsof thousands of children

around the world.

That's according to a reportby the United nations.

The pandemic and its restrictions

are pushing already hungrycommunities over the edge.

It's disrupted the global food chain,

preventing families fromaccessing basic food needs.

Many villages have been isolatedfrom food and medical aid.

Small children are hit the hardest,

especially those in refugeecamps and urban areas.

The Christian humanitariangroup World Vision

is responding to their urgent need.

- An additional 10,000children will die every month

as a result of the disease.

And on top of those deaths,an additional 550,000 children

are going to be in thisstate called wasting

where they are incredibly sick

because of just longterm malnutrition.

And those aren't effects

that we're seeing out in the future,

those are effects that we're seeing today

in World Vision Programs around the world.

- [Wendy] World Vision is providing aid

to children and families

in some 70 countries around the world,

setting up community gardens

to help families be self sufficient

while giving the hopeof the gospel as well.

- Our faith and our hope is really

that we serve a God who canconquer all of these things

and that as believers,

it's something that we can really rely on.

And then God has called us to be his hands

and feet in the world.

And so, we can be reachingout to our own communities,

we can also be lookingup and looking globally,

whether that's praying for children,

working with organizationslike World Vision

and donating money, if that's something

that you and your familyare able to do, I think.

As believers, we're called to act

from a place of hope and trust

that we can do God's workin these crazy times.

- World vision says the pandemic

is the worst global crisis it'sseen in its 70-year history.

While the COVID crisis isaffecting America's churches,

right now, about four in 10 churches

rely on emergency governmentassistance to stay afloat.

But that funding is about to run out.

This is 2/3 of churches nationwide

have experienced a drop in giving.

According to the NationalAssociation of Evangelicals,

80% of churches havefewer than 200 people.

And tens of thousands ofthose smaller churches

will be forced to reducestaff hours and compensation

over the next few months.

In the early days of the pandemic,

churches shut their doors tokeep their congregants safe.

More than five months later,

many remain closed either bygovernment order or by choice.

As Charlene Aaron shows us,

there's widespread uncertaintyof when they'll open again.

- As churches across the country grapple

with how to safely reopen their doors,

some pastors say

they won't resume regularservices until 2021.

That's a big changefrom earlier this year,

when many thought the coronavirus shutdown

would only last a few weeks.

When COVID-19 forced houses of worship

to end in-person services,

many switched to streaming church online.

While some have resumedtraditional Sunday services,

a growing number of pastors say

the virus remains too much of a risk.

Andy Stanley of Atlanta'sNorth Point Community Church

recently announced plans tocontinue virtual services

for the rest of the year.

Stanley, who leads to 40,000member congregation says

he can't ensure people'ssafety for in-person services.

Others like pastor Brian Tome

of Cincinnati's Crossroad Church agree.

- We're not gonna go back inbuildings for the rest of 2020.

- [Charlene] As the Coviduncertainty stretches into August,

the number of peoplewatching online services

has also declined from the record numbers

seen four or five months ago.

According to a recent Barna survey,

32% of practicing Christians

have stepped away from digital worship.

- They're dealing with grief

or they're dealing with depression.

People are just thrown off the rhythms

and they're just hangingon as best as they can.

And that means they're dropping away

from things they used to do,

unfortunately like go tochurch or stream services.

- [Charlene] In orderto bring people back,

Pastor Tome has movedservices from his mega church

to the surrounding area.

- We're having communityevents at all of our buildings.

We're a multisite church.

We're also having live eventsat a park in Cincinnati,

social distancing, people wearing masks.

God lifts us up.

He pulls us up.

- [Charlene] Southern Baptist President

and Pastor J.D. Greear recentlypivoted to house churches.

- We need to become from now until

at least the end of the year,

basically a movement of house churches.

Instead of the Summit Church being

12,000 people meeting in 12 locations

on the weekend, now we're gonna be

about 15,000 people meetingin about 2,400 locations.

Our primary focus moving forward

is gonna be gatheringtogether in small groups

for worship and prayer inhomes with multiple families.

- [Charlene] Meanwhile,most spiritual leaders say

they're willing to reopen their buildings

if and when cases drop.

Until then, they're holding out hope

that these new ways of ministry

will lead to greater opportunities.

- I would love if there wassome miracle move of God

and we could open up at Christmas.

I would love that.

God's doing a new thing,

and the more energy andeffort we spend thinking

about the old thing,instruction for the old thing

and complain that wedon't have the old thing,

the less we're going toactually have something

for the new thing.

- [Charlene] Charlene Aaron, CBN News.

- [Wendy] Up next, thepastor on the front lines.

He's not there to protest,

but to listen and ministerto the protestors.

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- Welcome back to Christian World News.

In Portland, Oregon,the federal courthouse

remains a flashpoint forboth protests and riots,

including burning Bibles and the flag.

In the middle of all that chaos,

one pastor is trying to bridge the gap.

CBN contributor Chuck Holtonwas on the scene in Portland

and has the story.

- [Chuck] Tear gas,tossing Bibles into fires,

and burning the American flag,

just the latest from nightlyriots that have drawn thousands

to this city park in front ofPortland's Federal Courthouse.

Some say they're just for racial justice.

Others want to defundthe police nationwide.

Windows were smashed, buildings defaced

and fires burned nightlyaround the courthouse.

The Portland mayor andPolice Commissioner,

Ted Wheeler ignored the conduct,

even joining the protestors and calling

for federal police to leave the area.

- The reason I'm here tonight

is to stand with you no matter what.

- So we've seen lots of different kinds of

kind of makeshift weapons out here.

Shields, baseball bats,tennis rackets, green blazers,

frozen water bottles, glassbottles, things like that.

So the protesters beat on the doors

of the federal building overhere for about 10 minutes,

essentially begging the cops to come out.

The cops finally obliged, came out,

and pushed everybody back.

And now it's kind of a standoff.

We'll see where it goes from here.

While many of the signscall for the police

to be defunded or abolished,

it's clear their intentions

are not to increase personal freedom.

Antifa agitators couldbe seen blocking roads

and trying to limit thefreedom of the press.

- [Protester] Film thecops, not the protesters.

Film the cops, not the protesters.

- [Chuck] When a black Trump supporter

was discovered in the crowd,

protesters immediately called in the mob.

- I have his Instagram right here.

- [Protester] Don't make sense, boo.

- We have your Instagram up.

- [Chuck] It was abundantly clear

most of those protestingwant to become the police,

not abolish them.

Some local Christians havebeen trying to be positive

in the midst of these riots.

- As a leader, I'm often asked to speak,

and during this entire period I've said,

"I just wanna listen."

I have trouble with peoplewho set fires on purpose

for people who writegraffiti all over the place

and stuff like that, who bashin windows and loot stores.

I have a real problem with all of that.

But that's why inside I'm saying,

"Lord, you've gotta help me understand

what that person sees that I don't.

- [Chuck] Tensions easedsomewhat over the weekend

as federal agents were replacedby Portland police officers

who must follow much morerestrictive rules of engagement,

but that didn't stop protestors

from burning Americanflags and even Bibles.

How that relates to racialjustice wasn't immediately clear,

but Pastor Hennessee says

there is a role for Christians to play.

- We need to pray forthe ability to listen,

to learn, and to find outhow God wants us to engage.

- From Portland, Oregon, I'mChuck Holton for CBN news.

- Thank you, Chuck.

Right in the middle of it all.

And we know there's only one answer

to that kind of violence,and his name is Jesus.

Well, we bring you thelatest from Jerusalem

right after this, stay tuned.

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- [Announcer] Prophecythousands of years old.

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Get To Life, call 1-800-700-7000.

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- Finally, this week, asBeirut continues to grapple

with the aftermath ofthat deadly explosion,

Israel is stepping up to help.

Emily Jones has that storyand more from Jerusalem.

- Welcome to Jerusalem forthis Inside Israel report.

We'll be showing youwhat's happening in Israel

and the middle East.

Israel is putting aside hostilities

with Lebanon to offer humanitarian aid

to the country following

the catastrophic explosion in Beirut.

Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu

directed Israeli officials to coordinate

with the UN to discuss howthe Jewish state could help.

- [Translator] We are readyto extend humanitarian aid

to Lebanon as humanbeings to human beings.

- [Emily] The Tel Aviv municipality

also lit up city hallwith the Lebanese flag

as a symbol of solidarity

with the people of Beirut.

Israel and Lebanon are officiallyenemies in a state of war.

And Lebanon is not expectedto accept Israel's aid offer.

Israel carried out airstrikes against

the Syrian governmentforces in retaliation

for an attempted attack alongthe Israeli Syrian border.

video of the incidentshows four men crossing

into Israeli territory fromSyria and planting explosives

along the security fenceseparating the two countries.

Israeli troops opened fire

killing all of the suspected militants.

The military did not say

if these men were linkedto Iran or Hezbollah,

but said it holds the SyrianGovernment responsible

for the incident.

Israel welcomed 140 newimmigrants from France this week

despite lockdowns andheavy travel restrictions.

Some of these newimmigrants moved to Israel

because they see it astheir biblical calling.

Others are fleeing an increaseof antisemitism in France.

These new immigrants are just a few

of several thousand Jews who have chosen

to immigrate to Israel in themiddle of the COVID-19 crisis.

- One of the outcome of COVID-19

is that people are realizing

that for their future, Israelis the best place to be.

- [Emily] Israel reports aspike in interest in immigration

among Jews around the world,

and the country expects amassive wave of new immigrants

when COVID-19 subsides.

For more stories like this,

you can watch our JerusalemDateline program at cbnnews.com

Back to you.

- Thank you so much, Emily.

And thank you for joining us this week.

Please remember to pray for Lebanon

and the hurting people there.

So many homeless.

This is definitely a timewhere Christians can help

by simply praying.

Well, until next week, from all of us here

at Christian World News,goodbye, and God bless you.

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