|TOP|The Bible Society in Lebanon has worked tirelessly to bring the love of Christ to victims of the one-month long Israel-Hezbollah struggle. Israel has begun its withdrawal of troops from parts of south Lebanon following the long hoped for truce.

Mike Bassous, General Secretary of the Bible Society in Lebanon, and his fellow workers in the country have faced the daily threat of rocket attacks and bombing raids over the last month to bring aid to some of the thousands of displaced people.

He described the situation as “quite disturbing”, adding, “we can only see one way out – through prayer”.

He added that the Bible Society in Lebanon had already distributed thousands of relief packages of food, basic medicines and blankets each costing around £12.

|AD|The Bible Society in Lebanon has also provided the displaced people with Bibles “to bring the people some comfort”, as well as Gospel story colouring books for children.

The charity stressed, however, that food alone was not enough to sustain people in the current conflict, but that an emphasis was needed on the Scripture materials and the “spiritual encouragement that each parcel can provide,” it said in a press release.

“Each [relief package] will be a demonstration to the families of Christian love and concern,” the charity said.

The Bible Society in Lebanon team personally carried out the distribution of the packages between the schools and other buildings currently being used to shelter displaced people. Each family will be provided with a relief package.

Thousands of refugees who had fled from their homes to escape the month-long war between Israel and Hezbollah have begun the painful journey home to battered villages in the south.

Dan Halutz, Israel’s top general, said that Israeli forces could carry through a complete withdrawal within 7 to days, reports Reuters.

Meanwhile, the UN is readying 3,500 new soldiers for deployment in Lebanon within two weeks to oversee the fragile truce and Israel’s complete withdrawal from the south.

The truce follows the resolution unanimously adopted by the 15-nation council last Friday which authorised up to 13,000 well-armed troops to augment the 2,000 strong UN force now in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL.