Thousand-strong audience raises funds for Bible bookshop

BEIRUT, Lebanon — A concert of Christmas carols and sacred music held by the Bible Society in Lebanon (BSL) on December 9 drew an audience of more than a thousand people and raised US$20,000 towards equipping a bookshop in the centre of Beirut.

Last year, more than 25 years after the war forced the Bible Society out of the heart of Beirut, it managed to regain possession of a small but prestigious bookshop where its old premises used to be – opposite the Lebanese parliament building. (See World Report 362/40 or Latest News #158.) The shop requires decoration and installations before it can re-open and it was for this that the concert raised money. Three television stations covered the concert and Télé Lumière, the local Christian station, showed the entire concert, including the fundraising appeal, on Christmas Eve.