Global Ministries

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.

“Hope can endure if we keep God first.”

Even in the midst of a terrible civil war, the Christian church in Syria is strong and committed to caring for people who have been affected by the conflict, said Najla Kassab, president of the World Communion of Reformed Churches, during the Stob Lecture wrapping up this year’s Calvin University January Series.

Kassab pointed out that Calvin University, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA, was where the World Communion of Reformed Churches was founded in 2010. She has been involved in its work since then and was elected president in 2017.

The Theological and Ecumenical Department of the Middle East Council of Churches has launched its process entitled " Kairos Middle East Towards Churches Global Compact " in a first consultation seminar that brought together about 25 experts in theology and geopolitics from Iraq, Egypt, Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, Cyprus and Jordan. The seminar took place over a three-day period from 6 till 8 December 2019 in Bethania, Lebanon.

Lampedusa: Events of the last few weeks

Leggi in italiano Rome (NEV), 18 October 2019 – After the commemorations of 3 October, Lampedusa has fallen back into its tragic routine. In the last two weeks, 20 people died in the Mediterranean, their bodies were recovered by the coastguard and brought to the island. As for the landings, in the same period 21 fortunate people made it safely.  Read more....

This summer, the Orthodox Initiative (OI) has continued to serve Syrian and Iraqi refugees throughout the Kingdom. The OI has also provided support for Jordanian families in the areas surrounding refugee camps, especially in the vicinity of the Al-Faisaliya Refugee Camp at the Northern Badia (Northern Desert) region of the Mafraq Governorate. We also continued to serve Iraqi refugees who remain the country. The OI has provided support for low-income Jordanians, especially in the area of education.

The new issue of the Middle East Council of Churches' quarterly magazine, al-Muntada, (September-October 2019) is now available.  Al-Muntada is a platform where all free voices can be heard with your participation and support!

Click here to read the magazine.

Seventy-one Palestinian civilians, including 28 children, were injured due to Israeli soldiers’ excessive use of force against peaceful protestors at the 78th Great March of Return, on Friday, 11 October 2019. The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights’ (PCHR) fieldworkers documented 33 injuries with live-bullet wounds; 3 civilians, including 2 children, with critical wounds; and others with wounds in the upper body due to direct targeting with rubber bullets and tear gas canisters.

Lord, we come before you ready to lay our anxieties and fears at your feet and ask that you would guard our hearts with your peace which surpasses all understanding. We pray for the peaceful protestors in Gaza and that others would be led to express their grievances using non-violent means. Lord, in your mercy…hear our prayers.

The General Secretary of the National Evangelical [Presbyterian] Synod of Syria and Lebanon, the Rev. Joseph Kassab, has provided the following update on the situation in northeast Syria.

The latest invasion by Turkey to the Syrian territories at the Northeast opened a new phase of the war in Syria. The U.S administration decided to leave the fate Kurds in the hand of Turkey after they used them in the last four years in fighting ISIS. 60,000 fighter, mostly Kurds, were recruited by the US and armed under the title of “Democratic Syrian Forces”. Today, the Trump administration strikes a deal with Turkey to create a 30 Km “safe zone” alongside the Syrian-Turkish borders. The claimed target of this operation is to push the anti-Turkey Kurdish militias away from disturbing the national security of Turkey. The second is to move about 2 million Syrian refugees from Turkey into the safe zone.

WASHINGTON: The National Council of Churches joins the Middle East Council of Churches in raising prayers for peace and for an end to the cycle of violence now expressed through Turkish attacks on northeast Syria. While the primary target of the Turkish invasion is the Kurdish population, for whom we are urgently concerned, we also have serious concerns for the Christian communities that are in the path of the Turkish military, including Syrian Orthodox, Armenian, and Assyrian Christians, as well as for the plight of the Yazidi peoples.

As a result of armed struggles and conflict, the beginning of the 21st century was branded as an era of forced migration. Millions of people were forced to leave their homes and belongings, in an attempt to escape the violence and merely rekindle hope for a brighter future. This led to unforeseen socioeconomic ramifications and pressures on host communities; a point which in no ways whatsoever should be blamed on those forced to displace.