Global Ministries

#CorridoiUmanitari. 2,200 People Entered Europe in a Safe and Legal Way

LEGGI IN ITALIANO (NEV) 70 new arrivals in Italy, including 25 minors, about 1,500 refugees rescued. Their stories: Mouna, Dina and Reem travelling with their old mother and a brother with Down syndrome, and  a Sunni-Shiite family fleeing the war. The FCEI, the Community of Sant'Egidio and the Tavola Valdese together for security and integration. Read more...

The Great March of Return continued on Friday the 30th of December. According to UN figures more than 25,000 Palestinians have been injured in protests along the border between Gaza and Israel and more than 190 Palestinians have been killed since the protest began on the 30th of March. The majority of those who have been killed were young men, aged 29 or younger. The latest victim, Karam Fayyad, was killed east of the Gaza city of Khan Younis and eight others were wounded.

Lord we pray for the family of Karam as they grieve their loss. We pray for a breakthrough in the peace talks and an end to the crippling siege of Gaza. Lord, in your mercy...hear our prayers.

By Marianne Ejdersten*

WCC News met with the Very Reverend Archimandrite Dr Alexi Chehadeh, who leads the Department of Ecumenical Relations and Development (DERD) for the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and all the East (GOPA) in Damascus, Syria. He is an impressive role model and peacemaker in Syria.

We discussed the state of the crisis in Syria and the many challenges that aid workers face there. His organization, DERD, is the largest independent local NGO operating inside Syria. He shares his passion for finding ways to distribute aid to people of all faiths, despite the particularly vulnerable situation of Christians in a country where ISIS has a horrendous record of crucifying them.

Dear friends and Partners in the Lord,

Advent and Christmas greetings! May the one whose Advent we celebrate in this Holy Season come anew to your lives and Churches to bless and to give hope and light!

I would like to express deep gratitude to all of you on behalf of the refugee children who are educated by the National Evangelical Synod of Syria and Lebanon (NESSL). Your support and loving prayers have provided for over seven hundred children a normal childhood education and normal environment to enjoy being loved and cared for.

Many Thanks and Happy Advent!

Happy Christmas!

Written by the Italian Protestant News Service NEV/American Waldensian Society

Immigration is a controversial issue in Italy.  This is the story of one immigrant and her family who came to Italy through an Italian ecumenical ministry called Humanitarian Corridors.

She arrived in Italy on February 4, 2016.  Of the flight that brought her and her husband and their two small children from Beirut to Rome, she remembers only the emotions she felt on the plane, and the flowers and hugs they got when they landed.

Report of the Summer 2018 Service programs in Jordan

Jordan, the biblical “land of refugees,” continues to shoulder for the whole world its historical role as the safe haven for refugees. The Kingdom prides itself as a unique state of ethnic, cultural, and religious diversity with minority groups able to sustain unique differences. Hospitality has always been a feature of the Middle Eastern cultures, and we in Jordan have always taken this heritage very seriously. Jordan has not been blessed with rich deposits of oil, gold, water or other natural resources. We are grappling with financial crises, one after the other, and the locals are paying the high price, silently and patiently waiting for the international communities to help out in this crises that Jordan now is facing. We are not afraid to open our borders to receive refugees from the neighboring countries, neither turn our shoulders from the needy and the ones fleeing a life threatening situation.

Paolo Naso (FCEI): “Against False Promises, We Are Called to Freedom”

We publish here below, the speech given by Paolo Naso on July 8 from Radio1 Rai for the column "Essere chiesa insieme" of the broadcast Culto Evangelico. Mr. Naso is the coordinator of the Mediterranean Hope - Programme for refugees and migrants by the FCEI. [Dr. Naso is also a member of the Common Global Ministries Board of Directors, representing the Europe region and partners.]

HRCA Medical Team serves to Rohingyas

The Hungarian Reformed Church Aid (HRCA) aims to help and serve among Rohingya refugees in Kutupalong, Bangladesh. The HRCA has launched a donation campaign in order to support this mission. 

The World Council of Churches Central Committee, during its meeting on 15-21 June, issued a statement reiterating its grave concern regarding the alarming and rapidly deteriorating situation of Christians in the Middle East.

The Central Committee called for the release of two Syrian archbishops who were kidnapped near Aleppo, Syria.