Joining earlier calls from regional Seventh-day Adventist Church leaders in the Middle East region, Pastor Bertil Wiklander, president of the church's Trans-European region, said the current crisis must not endanger the hope for peace.

"I share the alarm and sadness of our church members in Israel and Lebanon, many of whom have had to leave their homes and flee for their lives. We entrust them and all other people who mourn the loss of lives and struggle for their own survival, wherever they may be, into God's hands and pray for their safety and for the war to cease," Wiklander said.

"We are in close contact with our church in the affected countries and are working on plans and initiatives to help where we can. For the Middle East in general, I pray that the dream of peace will not be shattered by these events. People must not lose hope. And our church has an important role to bring new hope to people," he added.

Wiklander concluded, "I encourage all of us to pray for the people, including our brothers and sisters, in all the countries affected by war in the Middle East. Their suffering is our suffering. And may this time of crisis strengthen our hope in the soon coming of our Lord."

More than 250 Lebanese Muslim refugees from Southern Lebanon have been provided shelter at the Mousietbeh Adventist Secondary School (MASS), a 700-pupil school located in West Beirut. Many local schools have opened their doors to provide sanctuary as a result of the weeklong air attacks across the country.

"A lot of people are still leaving the country and there has been a run on the stores," says Dr. Svein Myklebust, president of the Adventist-owned Middle East University on Sabtieh Hill, Beirut.

As a consequence of the situation the Adventist Church has been obliged to provisionally evacuate its expatriate workers under advice from embassies and consulates.

"Our expatriates have expressed strong reluctance to abandon the people whom they have been called to serve at such a critical period in Lebanon's history, but we are powerless to act any differently in such a crisis," says Dr. Kjell Aune, president of the Adventist Church in the Middle East. "We are duty-bound to take responsibility for the people whom we bring into our territory."

Dr. Aune went on to say that a proper hand-over is in place to ensure that key church activities are not compromised. Some key Adventist institutions have been bolstered by additional security.

Meanwhile, the Adventist Youth Federation has initiated nightly 7 p.m. prayer services at the Middle East University chapel, which are open to everybody. "It is encouraging to sense the courage of the people, and that one of their ways of getting through this period is by meeting for daily prayer sessions," says Dr. Aune.

Seventh-day Adventists have had a presence in the nations of the Middle East since the early years of the 20th Century. There are 300 Adventist members in Lebanon, and 1,200 in Israel.