Like many of you, I am aghast at the news coming out of Beirut, Lebanon. The huge explosion in the city’s port area claimed many lives and injured many, many more. Authorities are still investigating, but what concerns me most is the city’s hospitals. Already overwhelmed by COVID-19 (like so many places), this mass casualty scenario is stretching medical facilities and supplies to the breaking point. We can pray, and I encourage us all to do so. I also encourage you to donate to the city’s recovery and rebuilding the hospitals’ capacities.

The government of the UK has already pledged £5,000,000. In the days to come, I expect other governments and private agencies to provide financial paths by which any person may assist. One of the first to reach me has come from the American Friends of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem. It said,

Earlier today Archbishop Suheil S. Dawani, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, issued a letter in which he appeals to the diocese’s international partners for financial support. Archbishop Dawani asks for help to repair the damage caused by the explosion at All Saints and the Anglican center at the Near East School of Theology, which is two miles west of the blast site, and to assist in the outreach efforts to aid those most affected by the disaster.

Contribute today to the Archbishop’s Beirut Emergency Fund or by check to AFEDJ25 Old Kings Highway North, Suite 13Darien, CT 06820.

Archbishop Dawani concludes: “Thank you for your consideration of this request, as well as for your prayers on behalf of the people of Lebanon, who must now bear this additional burden on top of all the other economic hardships they have endured during the pandemic.”

I hope you will join me, if you are able, in responding generously.

The Rt. Rev. Martin S. Field (Bishop Marty) is the eighth bishop of The Diocese of West Missouri.

Donate via Episcopal Relief & Development

To support Episcopal Relief & Development’s response to the explosion and other international disasters, please consider making a donation.

Update: 08-07-2020. Link to Episcopal Relief & Development’s donation page added.