Lebanon (MNN) — A Lebanese lawmaker said on Monday that Lebanon has two presidents. The second president refers to the leader of Hezbollah, who holds a lot of power.
Camille Melki with Heart For Lebanon says, “Now, this is a little bit of a stretch, but definitely I can understand why people would say that, especially since Hezbollah dictates a lot of what happens in Lebanon. It holds a lot of political and paramilitary military power.”
Hezbollah’s conflicting goals
Meanwhile, the leader of Hezbollah made a tv address accusing Saudi Arabia of terrorism. The Lebanese Prime Minister distanced his office from the remarks, not wanting to get involved in regional conflicts. Melki says, “We are almost a failed state, so they want to be careful how they make their statements. They don’t want to keep making more enemies.”
Melki says Hezbollah isn’t just thinking about the good of Lebanon. “They are also aligned – strongly aligned – with the governing body of the country of Syria, the Assad regime. And they are, of course, tied to the hip with the Iranian government. Those are the two nations that Hezbollah tries to keep happy.”
God is moving
But God continues working in Lebanon despite political turmoil. Heart for Lebanon has seen so many people show an interest in the story of Jesus. Melki says, “We see people in the hundreds coming to participate in our weekly Bible studies. Our church communities are packed full of Kurds, people from a Muslim background, individuals from Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq. We have refugees and locals, traditional Christian communities, Armenians, you name it. Everybody is coming together.”
As Christians share their resources with those in need, Melki says more people become interested. “Of course, everything we say or do is done through the love of Jesus Christ, so that is an opportunity for us to not only physically care for people’s needs, but also emotionally and spiritually care.”
The header photo shows Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah. (Photo courtesy of Khamenei.ir, CC BY 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)