For Alea’s family in northern Syria, their cotton farm provided for all their needs. ‘We were in heaven in Syria,’ she says. She stayed as long as she could after the bombing began in 2011. The family would hide in the space between the wall and the fridge when they heard planes overhead. Alea was pregnant and frightened, but when her children began begging her for bread she knew it was time to run.

SYRIAN REFUGEES AND THE

CHALLENGES OF DISTANCE LEARNING

The Syria crisis has had a profound impact on the whole of the Middle East but, as a host nation for about 1.5 million Syrian refugees, Lebanon has felt it keenly. Yet, the overcoming faith of the Lebanese church is one of the brightest sparks of hope in the midst of the ongoing crisis. Tearfund’s partner in Lebanon, MERATH, has many inspiring stories of how thousands of Syrian refugees are turning to the church for help.