Jernaya is a Southern Lebanese village located about 12 miles east of Saida.

The first Jernaya Church (saydet jernaya - سيدة جرنايا) was built around 150 years ago.

Its roof was made of dirt. Its distinctive door was designed low to prevent the Ottomans from horse intrusions.

There is a tale of the neighboring villagers from Kfarchlen whose village did not have a church. It was believed that Kfarchlenians would bring stones each Sunday with them to the Church in Jernaya to help in its construction.

The dirt used was brought from Hfeira in Jernaya, which at the time of its extraction, archeological digs were discovered.

The current Church is estimated to cost around a million dollars and so far, there is 300,000.00 USD in the treasury. The construction site is well on its way and the purpose is to be able to accommodate 400-500 people at a time.