Turning over a new year

Feb 3
6 min read

Hello friends, and yin3ad 3alaykon! (Happy New Year)

Keep reading for ministry highlights and regional updates from November 2025 to January 2026.

Not much time to read? Here’s a summary:

Heavy rainfall this winter has been a mixed blessing. MERATH is ramping up its winterization support with blankets, heating, and winter jackets
Large percentages of aid and services by international NGOs remain blocked from entering Gaza
My prison ministry continues. A new $600 fine has made it much more difficult for detainees to leave. Prison occupancy in Lebanon is at a bursting 194%.
I joined the leadership team at the Living Room outreach ministry and was blessed to spend time in London with other youth and child workers from across Europe

Arabic word(s) of the month

Karime (ka-reem-eh), meaning dignity.

Ways to pray

Prayer for the people of Iran facing violence at both the hands of their own government and international powers

Prayer for peaceful relations between Kurdish and non-Kurdish groups in Syria. A new eruption of fighting between the government military and Kurdish forces has soured relationships in previously peaceful multi-ethnic communities.

Thanksgiving for the many churches stepping up to fill the needs of the vulnerable and invisible, from those homed but without heating to those languishing in detention centers

Updates on Regional Situation and CBM's Response

Photo: (1) Staff from CBM partner True Vine Church inspect flooding and other damage done to the informal tented homes of communities they care for. (2) A little boy shows his joy at a MERATH winter support distribution. His family received a new gas heater, heating gas, and blankets. (3) Preschoolers at the Little Friendly Space show off their new winter boots, purchased with a generous grant from the Woman's Inter-Council Church of Canada (WICC).

Winter 2025/2026 is bringing much higher rainfall this winter, helping to relieve previous drought conditions. While this is an answer to prayer for farmers and those relying on natural aquifers, the flip side is that storms bring much more difficult living conditions for those living in temporary shelters. Frequent flooding means more disease, hypothermia, and, in some cases, drowning.

If the weather is difficult for displaced people in Lebanon and Syria, it is ten-fold that for those in Gaza. As of December 30, 2025, Israel banned 37 additional international NGOs from distributing aid in Gaza. According to this UN update, because of IDF obstacles, by December all NGOs present in Gaza, including UN groups, had been able to deliver a combined total of 14,600 tents for 85,000 people. That is barely a drop in the bucket, leaving 1.3 million Palestinians without adequate winter shelter.  A further USD 50 million in essential aid items also remains blocked on the borders. Please pray for mercy.

In response to the winter situation, MERATH and its partners are ramping up the implementation of an annual winterization support project across Lebanon and Syria. Through local churches, we’re getting families new tarps to better waterproof their homes as well as blankets, heaters, and improved winter clothes. With a generous gift from the Woman's Inter-Council Church of Canada (go Canada!), we purchased new winter boots for every child attending our Little Friendly Space Preschool in the Bekaa Valley. We also got the preschool a Christmas tree, which they LOVED.

Our hearts are with the people of Iran facing violence at both the hands of their own government and international powers. As more US warships head towards Iran, we pray for peace, justice, and mercy for innocent people caught in the crossfire.

Please also pray for the rapidly evolving situation between the Syrian government and Kurdish groups. There was intense fighting in Aleppo in early January, forcing huge numbers (100,000+ by some estimates) to flee. Kurdish fighters withdrew and an overall SDF-military truce was reached. The big question of what place, and powers, the Kurdish people will have in the new Syria still looms, as well as what will happen to the infamous Al Hol camp for families of ISIL fighters (formerly run by Kurdish forces).

Please pray for wisdom for leaders, and the cohesion of multi-ethnic neighborhoods.

Prison Visits

Visiting the women at Adlieh Prison every two weeks continues to be a source of great joy and meaning for me. There have been several recent changes. A positive one was a renovation of some cells adding doors and hot water to the showers and doing a deep clean of the mattresses. But most are making life more difficult for detainees.

New rules include a limit of one 5-minute phone call, once a week, making you choose between talking to your family or your lawyer. Also, only family members can now visit, which makes it extremely difficult for immigrants without family in country to get essential items brought to them.

A new $600 flat fee to be released from the prison was also initiated. The justification given is that it will simplify and equalize processing – whoever can pay can leave. But in effect the poorest are punished. Even after their paperwork is cleared, they are left to wait endlessly until friends or family somehow come up with the money, in addition to the already hefty flight cost charged with deportation. The new fee is likely to only increase prison overcrowding, where prison density is already 194%.

Young Adult Ministries

Photo: With other youth and children workers at the European Baptist Federation's Connect Conference in London.

This January I was grateful to be sent by CBM to take part in an annual conference run by the European Baptist Federation for child and youth ministry workers. We had 4 days in London learning about creative ways to teach the Bible to young people. I especially enjoyed learning about the ‘Godly Play’ model – super cool concept.

I’m keeping up with hosting monthly events at the Living Room coffee shop and outreach ministry, somehow becoming their go-to girl for seasonal decorations despite 0% skills in this area! They’ve also asked me to join their leadership team to help to develop some of their long-term strategy.

Personal Updates

Photo (1) Hanging with our new favourite fuzz ball, 'Bear' the husky mix puppy. (2-3) In Damascus celebrating our friend Hassan's ordination into the Presbyterian church of Syria.

Christmas was lovely in Beirut this year. There was enough safety to really celebrate, and people went for it! There were many ‘sweets’ of the season, including helping with church Christmas pageants and getting to take care of the CUTEST husky mix puppy for a bit. World, meet Bear! Our only ‘sour’ of the season was both getting sick with a brutal and long-lasting flu strain. Ew.

Khalil and I recorded a Christmas greeting for CBM that you can see here:

Earlier in December I fulfilled my dream of seeing Damascus while celebrating the ordination of our dear friend from seminary. Hassan is serving as assistant pastor at the evangelical church in Bab Touma, old city Damascus. It was wonderfully Jesus-y to see him wander around his ‘parish’ chatting with fruit sellers, checking in with the old folks, and teasing the kids.

Fundraising Update

I am overjoyed to report that, with your help, I met my fundraising goal for 2025! Because of your generosity I am cleared to stay in service in Lebanon for another year. Shukran w yisslamo deikon (thank you and God bless your hands).

With that, my goal is reset and already off to a great start. I am 4% towards my 2026 goal.

Ending thought

On my last prison visit of 2025, I got a wonderful surprise.

I got to pray with a lovely Filipino woman who we will call Maria. Maria had been held at the detention centre without trial for over a month. We prayed for God’s peace to calm her anxious mind, and that she would soon be granted her freedom. 15 minutes later, my colleague and I gathered our things and exited the prison complex. Out on the road, there was Maria, released! It was a rare and beautiful immediate answer to prayer.

Yet Maria was released with little compassion – she was given no time to change, no phone call, no explanation. She was standing on the roadside, half stunned, shivering in her pajamas and flip flops. She was clutching a small garbage bag filled with her things.

We were so grateful we happened to be there so we could wrap a scarf around her shoulders, let her use our phone, and wait with her until her husband arrived to take her home.

The image of Maria on the side of the road has stayed with me. When it comes down to it, we are such vulnerable little creatures, aren’t we? In an inhospitable world, we need to cover each other.

Maybe that’s why the small acts where we can affirm another person’s dignity are so important. Maybe it’s how we remind ourselves how to be human.

Salam, 

Evie