Global Ministries

Once again, in defense of human rights and human dignity, the Middle East Council of Churches renewed its call for the lift of the economic sanctions imposed on the Syrian people, violating their right to live in dignity and anticipating an unprecedented humanitarian disaster in the region.

In a direct and urgent call to end the restrictions on the Syrian people, Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches Dr. Michel Abs, signed a letter that held the signatures of many Middle Eastern Churches Leaders, including Their Beatitudes Syriac Catholic Patriarch Ignatius III Younan, Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarch Youssef Absi, Syriac Orthodox Patriarch Ignatius Ephrem II as well as a number of religious, political and social leaders. The letter was addressed to the new American President Joe Biden.

[The following article appeared in the New York Times on Friday, Dec. 18, 2020.]

Mindful of a history of persecution, members of the Waldensian Church have been at the forefront of a push to bring refugees from Syria to Italy.

By Elisabetta Povoledo

This story was told to a staff member of Mediterranean Hope.

I was born in a suburb of Damascus, Syria in 1991, the daughter of J, a builder, and F, teacher.

In 2011, people began to protest against the government. At the beginning we did not understand what was happening but, at a certain point – I don’t remember when - we began to be afraid.

The Executive Committee of the Middle East Council of Churches held an exceptional meeting, as the Council's Twelfth General Assembly was scheduled to take place at this time. However, the exceptional circumstances imposed by the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the inability of direct meeting between members from different countries and churches, and replacing it with virtual electronic means for the member churches in Egypt, Kuwait, Palestine, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Iran, and Cyprus, produced a legal agreement on this exceptional meeting, which was hosted in Lebanon by His Beatitude Cardinal Mar Bechara Boutros Al-Rahi - Patriarch of Syriac Maronite Church of Antioch at the Maronite Patriarchate in Bkerke with the participation of His Beatitude Youhanna X - Patriarch of Antioch and All the East for the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and president of the Council for the Greek Orthodox Family, His Holiness Mor Ignatius Aphrem II - Patriarch of Antioch and All the East and Supreme Head of the Universal Syriac Orthodox Church who is the president of the Council for the Eastern Orthodox Family, and Right Rev. Dr. Habib Badr, President of the National Evangelical Union Lebanon and president of the Council for the Evangelical Family. His Beatitude Mar Louis Raphael Sako – Patriarch of Babylon for Chaldeans and president of the Council for the Catholic family, participated electronically from Iraq. And in a generous initiative, His Holiness Pope Tawadros II - Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church hosted members of the Committee from the various churches in Egypt at the Papal Headquarters in the Coptic Orthodox Church of in Cairo.

The National Evangelical [Presbyterian] Synod of Syria and Lebanon has issued the following statement regarding the US "Caesar Act" which imposes new sanctions on Syria.  The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and United Church of Christ, through Global Ministries, have been active in opposing sanctions due to the impact sanctions have had on the most vulnerable Syrians, and joined in an ecumenical letter to Congress last month expressing concerns about the Caesar Act's provisions and anticipated impact.  That letter is referenced in the NESSL statement, which follows:

Global Ministries of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and United Church of Christ joined 6 other US churches and church-related agencies in sending a letter to members of Congress this morning.  The letter coincides with the implementation of the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act, which was passed by Congress in December, and raises concerns about the impact of the imposition of sanctions on the people of Syria.  The Caesar sanctions have been called the "toughest sanctions yet" against Syria.

Global Ministries has received several wonderful videos from partners expressing how they are experiencing and responding to COVID-19. These videos will be shared via Facebook, Youtube, Vimeo, and right here on this page. The most recently posted video(s) will be at the top.

We encourage you to share these updates with your friends on social media. You may also consider using them during your virtual Sunday School meetings. It would be a great opportunity to hear from a partner and then pray for them.

We pray these videos will provide new insights and inspiration.

The Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), the Adyan Foundation, the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut and the UNHCR took a unified ethical stance inspired by faith, and jointly decided to meet and discuss the repercussions of the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic on refugees and host communities. As they are all aware of the need to promote solidarity in order to overcome these difficult times, they issued the following joint statement:

This week, Global Ministries of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and United Church of Christ was one of 14 Christian denominations and agencies to send a letter to President Trump, Secretary of the Treasury Mnuchin, and Secretary of State Pompeo.  The letter, dated March 25, urged the lifting of US-imposed sanctions on Iran, Syria, and Gaza--sanctions that impede local response to the COVID-19 pandemic and contribute to exacerbating an already dangerous public health crisis for the people who live there.

The MECC Theological and Ecumenical Department (TED) held the first session of its program “Trauma Healing and Spiritual Counseling”, dedicated for ministers and pastors from different parishes in the village of Al-Mishtaya in Wadi Al-Nasara - Syria from January 27 till February 1, 2020.