Paul Calvert spoke with Natalie, a Christian from Lebanon, about the religious make-up of the nation; the refugee crisis and what Christians believe God is doing there.

Paul: What is Lebanon like?

Natalie: Lebanon is very diverse. Someone said that, "You have the world in London. You also have the world in Lebanon."

You have a lot of different religious denominations. You have a lot of expats in Lebanon. It's a very diverse country. Almost half of it is Christian and the other half is Muslim. The Government is also divided between the two.

We have over 1,800,000 refugees from Syria. We also have a lot of different other communities in Lebanon. You have the Armenians who have been there for a long time. You have 500,000 Palestinians and also Iraqi refugees. It's a melting pot and it's a small country.

Paul: Is the relationship between Muslims and Christians a good relationship?

Natalie: A few years back, this religion problem was not a big issue. In the Middle East you didn't see those type of divisions, even among the Muslims themselves. People were co-existing. You had Christians and Muslims living in the same areas. We still have that in Lebanon, but we do also sense that there's a bit of extremism in the region that's affecting how these communities see each other, but we're also happy that Lebanon remains a place of diversity and democracy, where people can co-exist and they are protected by law, freedom of expression and freedom of religion.

Paul: Has Lebanon recovered from the Civil War?

Natalie: We can't really say that. It's still a country with needs. There's poverty and the Government also needs to be strengthened. We haven't had a President for a couple of years, so you can still see turmoil in Lebanon and it's still in the process of recovering. With the whole situation in the region and around us, it has been difficult to have the country be what it was before.

Photo: Eoghan Rice

Paul: Are people fearful for Lebanon when you look at the rest of the Middle East?

Natalie: The people in Lebanon are tired. There's a lot of strain on livelihoods, because it was a country that already had existing problems and now with the strain of the refugee crisis, you have more problems coming in and more strain on everything. You can sense a bit of fear in the country, but as a Christian community, we don't have that; we have a word from God that His hand is on the country and that no war would be happening in the country. You also see it when we pray; we see this manifest in reality. We see a lot of plots against the country being revealed. God is using the army to secure our borders, but it's eventually God that's really having His hand, because we have ISIS on our borders, for example and we have a lot of infiltrations. Lebanon has been secure ever since the start of this crisis though, because God gave us a word that as a Church in Lebanon, that this country is safe and there is the grace of God on this country because of the Church in it.

Paul: Is ISIS in Lebanon, or are they just on the border?

Natalie: This is now a bit political. You have infiltrations. You have some communities that might harbour a bit of that, but not really ISIS. It's maybe the same kind of extremism, or a milder type, but no you cannot say ISIS is in Lebanon.

Paul: How does the Church feel about ISIS? Are they fearful themselves, or are they holding on to the promises of God?

Natalie: I would say holding on to the promise of God, not fearful of ISIS. We really believe that God's hand is on Lebanon and we're believing for the opposite, for God's prosperity on the country. You can even hear that with the international community, with politicians, with highly ranked security people in the country and outside of the country; they tell you it is by miracle that this country is still surviving and we don't know how it works, but it's working.