The recent explosion at the Port of Beirut has devastated the Evangelical Christian Alliance Church and the Christian Alliance Institute of Theology (CAIT), which are located one mile from the blast site.
For decades, the Evangelical Christian Alliance Church in Karantina has been at the forefront of gospel presence and proclamation and has coordinated extensive relief efforts in this tumultuous, war-torn country. Sami Dagher, the church’s founding pastor, has been instrumental in establishing the Church and training church leaders throughout the Middle East and beyond. Today, Sami’s nephew, Milad Dagher, oversees the many ministries of the Karantina church.
On the same property is the CAIT, an Alliance Bible college that has trained dozens of pastors who now serve all over the Middle East and North Africa. In addition to pastoring the Karantina church, Milad Dagher is the director of the CAIT.
Ed Mangham, regional leader for Europe and the Middle East, writes,
Many church people’s houses and apartments are damaged. Workers’ apartments have been significantly damaged and are inside the primary blast radius. Shards of glass and metal shot through their house, including their kitchen. A can of corn and a plastic bottle were punctured by flying glass. Flying glass was embedded in the cement wall and in wooden furniture, yet the workers walked out of the debris with very minor cuts and bruises. God protected.
Jura Yanagihara, president of the Alliance World Fellowship, writes,
Our Alliance family in Lebanon and Syria is experiencing the effects of the national crisis that go beyond the pandemic. On top of that, the injuries suffered by church members due to the explosion in Beirut and the loss of Rev. Khoury, one of the pillars of the Alliance in Syria, have brought sorrow to our family in the region. Please pray for our Alliance family there, for comfort to Rev. Khoury’s immediate family and for the recovery of the people, the church, and the city of Beirut.
Please also pray:
- For all who have lost loved ones, suffered injury, or lost property in this massive explosion. Lebanon has been suffering the effects of an extreme economic fallout, making the prices of food and daily needs skyrocket. This crisis will only worsen these realities.
- For Milad Dagher, his church and CAIT teams, and his family as they assess the damage and reach out to those impacted by this devastating tragedy.
- For medical and relief workers as they try to reach and care for victims—many of whom remain trapped among the rubble. The explosion left a high level of toxicity in the area, which puts these workers and those they are attempting to rescue at even greater risk.
CAMA will be working with the churches in Beirut to coordinate relief efforts for those devastated by the explosion. GIVE NOW to support CAMA’s Relief for Lebanon effort.