Aid to the Church in Need is funding camps across Lebanon this year, reaching 7,465 children. The archbishop calls it “an act of cultural resistance.”
In the southern Lebanese city of Saida, organizing a summer camp for children this year meant abandoning the original venue because of the war, finding an alternative in a country where suitable spaces are scarce, and wondering whether the camp would happen at all. “Organizing a camp has become a journey filled with obstacles, major decisions that must be taken urgently and challenges that can appear never-ending,” said Joelle Feghali, a member of the Marian Apostolic Movement, which runs camps in the Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Saida and Deir El Qamar.
Against all odds, it happened all across Lebanon. Aid to the Church in Need is funding 61 summer camps across Lebanon in 2026, reaching 7,465 children and young people. The camps, run by local dioceses, parishes, and Church movements, are part of a broader ACN program funding 407 camps in 11 crisis-affected countries. Lebanon ranks second in participants after Syria.
The need is acute. The 2024 war caused mass displacement and severe material and emotional damage across the country. Before many families had recovered, a new escalation beginning in March 2026 forced hundreds of thousands more to flee. Feghali said MAM leaders have observed a sharp rise in anxiety, isolation, sleep disorders, and fear of loud noises among children, along with instances of self-harm, suicidal thoughts, and dependence on medication.
Jennifer Hajj, MAM’s vice-president, described what the camps encounter. “Even when they do not express their suffering in words, it can be seen in their eyes, their silences and their behavior,” she said. The camps, she added, produce something that the children’s families and communities rarely get to see: “We often witness a genuine transformation. Children and teenagers who were withdrawn gradually begin to smile again.”
The pastoral support does not end when the camp does. Weekly meetings and personal follow-up with participants continue throughout the year, sustaining the relationships formed during the summer weeks.
Archbishop Elie Bechara Haddad of the Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Saida and Deir El Qamar has framed the decision to keep running the camps despite the security situation in terms that go beyond humanitarian programming. “It is an act of cultural resistance, a testimony of unwavering faith and a vital necessity,” he said. His appeal to those who support the camps was equally direct: “By supporting our summer camps, you are not funding an ordinary holiday. You are funding the continuity of our presence, the healing of our children and the future of our young people.”
Lebanon's Christian communities have been among the most affected by successive waves of conflict, and the Church’s presence in areas of displacement has been one of the few consistent sources of stability for families who have lost homes, livelihoods, and in many cases relatives. The camps are one expression of that presence — structured, intentional, and sustained across the disruptions of a war that shows no sign of ending.
To support ACN’s work in Lebanon and across the region, visit churchinneed.org.
