An extraordinary meeting of the Executive Committee in Bkerke

During the year 2020, that is coming to an end, the 12th General Assembly of the Middle East Council of Churches, entitled “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid” (Matthew 14:27), was supposed to take place in September at the Maronite Patriarchate in Bkerke, Lebanon. However, the unpleasant circumstances imposed by the Coronavirus pandemic impeded it, which led the MECC’s Executive Committee to hold an extraordinary meeting on the 17th of September, during which the member churches’ representatives decided to set a new date for the General Assembly in September 2021.

New aids for the homeless & the affected

In a latest update on the Beirut Blast case, Caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab, refused to be questioned by a judge who accused him and three former ministers of negligence in connection with the explosion.

Believing that education is the foundation of peace and security in the world, MECC implemented remedial classes for the 9th grade’ students in Aleppo and Rural Damascus within the activities of the Education Program.

Syria and Lebanon

Humanitarian Update

Reporting period: from 7 to 13 December 2020

The week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2021”, from 18 to 25 January 2021. With the title “To remain in God’s love and in self-reconciliation" John 15: 1 -17.

The judge Fadi Sawwan investigating the Beirut port explosion has charged Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab and three former ministers (former finance minister Ali Hassan Khalil, public works ministers Ghazi Zeaiter and Youssef Finianos) with negligence which led to the devastating event in which 200 people were killed and swathes of buildings left in ruins.

Through the Incarnation, the love of God was made manifest among humans; as a result, the human rights started by preserving the justice, peace and social harmony.

MECC implemented a WASH campaign within its Cash for Work Program aiming at providing a temporary employment to unemployed people in Izraa and Sheikh Meskin in Dara’a.

Syria and Lebanon

Humanitarian Update

Reporting period: from 30 November to 7 December 2020

Developing together the ecumenical and ecclesiastical relations

Dr. Michel Abs, the Middle East Council of Churches Secretary General, held on 2 December, an online meeting with the Gulf Fellowship of Churches (GFC) Executive Board Moderator HE Bishop Mesrob Sarkissian.

French President Emmanuel Macron and United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres chaired on the 2nd of November, Wednesday, a virtual international conference to "support the Lebanese people", four months after the devastating explosion in the Beirut port. Heads of state, international organizations, multilateral donors, non-governmental organizations and representatives of the Lebanese civil society were invited to participate in this conference.

“The Churches Witnessing with Migrants” (CWWM)

Dr. Michel Abs, the Middle East Council of Churches Secretary-General, and Mrs. Seta Hadeshian, MECC’s Executive Assistant has responded to the call of “The Churches Witnessing with Migrants” (CWWM) organization, for an online meeting, that gathered a group of partners, Churches’ representatives, and leaders from many international and Middle Eastern organizations.

The directors and communication officers of the regional councils and faith-based organizations held their online monthly meeting in response to the call of the Communication Department at the World Council of Churches.

Syria and Lebanon

Humanitarian Update

Reporting period: from 16 to 23 November 2020

Dutch Subtitles

Dr. Michel Abs, MECC Secretary General, was the guest of “Wakfe… wa Mawkaf” program on Voice of Van, with the journalist Hala Haddad to discuss the statement issued by the Council in which it calls the parties and international stakeholders to guarantee that the ceasefire holds in Artsakh.

The Middle East Council of Churches, its General Secretary Dr. Michel Abs, and the entire family of the Council’s General Secretariat, congratulates His Excellency Dr. Aude Kawas, Chairman of the Central Committee of the Department of the Service for Palestinian Refugees in MECC, for being nominated as a member of the Jordanian Senate on November 26, 2020.

Qatar supports the Lebanese education sector

In a constructive step forward, a fragrance of hope transpired over the past few days. According to a judicial source, the investigator assigned on the Beirut Port bombing case asked Parliament to investigate current and former ministers on suspicion of committing violations or crimes related to the disaster in the Lebanese capital.

Keep talking about Beirut

In two minutes and 17 seconds, the Lebanese director Nadine Labaki conveyed the first horrifying minutes of the Beirut Blast on the 4th of August, which took place at 6:07 PM, and destroyed the entire capital. She documented these moments in a new video that will be added to the archive of this apocalyptic explosion.

As an aim to serve society, MECC team visited 1000 families in Al Mesmieh, in order to raise health awareness about Covid-19. The team provided all necessary information related to the virus transmission, the infection and ways to strengthen the immune system.