Contact: Tom Fyler, 646-391-3549, [email protected]

NEW YORK, July 25 /Christian Newswire/ -- In the midst of the present hostilities in the Middle East, many Christians are expressing their support for the nation of Israel and its current actions to defend itself against terrorists. Daily media reports depict the unintended devastating effects of the Israeli military’s bombings that have displaced over a million civilians in Lebanon, including a significant number of Lebanese Christians.

Tom Fyler has a particular concern for Lebanon’s Christians as the founder of Ephesus Saints, Inc. (www.EphesusSaints.org), a non-profit organization that raises financial support for churches in the Middle East. He is calling upon Christians in America to donate financial aid of those who he calls “Our brothers and sisters in Christ” in the Lebanese Christian community.

Fyler’s organization is receiving reports of increasingly dire humanitarian conditions for Lebanon’s Christians--“Christian organizations in the region are receiving many thousands of displaced Lebanese Christians and housing them in churches, seminaries, and schools, and providing them with food, clothing, and medical care,” said Fyler. “This is in addition to taking in and serving thousands of displaced Muslims and other ethnic groups as well.”

Lebanon is described by Fyler as unique among Middle East countries in that approximately 30 percent of its population is Christian -- far above the average of three to six percent for other countries in the region: “Lebanon serves as a focal point for Christian groups from throughout the Middle East and North Africa.” Fyler stresses the vital importance of working now to insure that Lebanese Christians remain a vital and strong church and business community in spite of the present crises.

To emphasize this point, Fyler makes the case that a strong Christian community in Lebanon and throughout the Middle East is in Israel’s and the entire Arab region’s spiritual, geo-political, economic and security best interests.

Fyler encourages prayers for Lebanese and all Middle East Christians. But he quickly and often challenges American Christians to send financial support to them so that, as he puts it “God’s Will may be done through these faithful Christian communities throughout this vital region.”

(Donations to Ephesus Saints, Inc. to help all affected civilians in the current conflict may be made through the website www.EphesusSaints.org and inquiries directed to [email protected].)