The Dutch Protestant Church celebrated, on Saturday November 7, 2020, the National Day of Deacons, with the virtual participation of a group of deacons from different regions in the Netherlands. The celebration’s agenda featured the screening of the documentary "Beirut a story of hope", which is a joint production done by "Kerk In Actie" and the Middle East Council of Churches, as an homage for the wounded Beirut and its suffering citizens due to the 4th of August 2020 Beirut Blast.

Necesitamos con urgencia estar unidos como cristianos mientras trabajamos juntos y mostramos el cristianismo a través de nuestras obras

A raíz de la explosión de Beirut, las familias de las iglesias y sus instituciones afiliadas se apresuraron a ayudar a los afectados, a calmar su dolor y curar sus heridas, que ahora son eternas. En cooperación con organizaciones humanitarias locales e internacionales, como el Consejo de Iglesias del Medio Oriente-Departamento de Diaconía, las diócesis y arquidiócesis de Beirut continúan sus esfuerzos para apoyar a aquellos que han sido afectados psicológica, moral y financieramente; especialmente porque se ahogan en un ciclo interminable de crisis asfixiantes y no podrán salir fácilmente de él.

It has been over a month since the drastic explosion, and the country is still agonizing to know the truth. Local and international investigation teams were dispatched to the site to uncover the real reason behind the incident and to this very moment, nothing has been revealed. So far, it has been deemed as an ‘accident’ in which a not-so-easily flammable material was mysteriously set ablaze. To make things even more baffling, and 40 days after the explosion, a fire broke out at the port, burning a part of ICRC's stock of food parcels. Without jumping into conspiracy theories, which entails major players in the region, one can easily point out the absurdity of the situation.