Rev. Badr: “Persecutions against all religions, especially Christians, have reached an unacceptable level”

For the second year in a row, the MECC, represented by Rev. Dr. Habib Badr, President of the National Evangelical Union in Lebanon and of the MECC Evangelical Family, participated in the “Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom” conference

The MECC’s team participated in a training workshop on “Team Building and Management” strategies, which was organized by the Council in collaboration with the “Institute for Leadership Development”. The participants were instructed by the Secretary General of the Bible Society Mike Bassous.

The MECC team distributed hygiene kits to 800 returning families to Kafr Nasej in the northern rural of Daraa, as part of its ongoing relief program.

The MECC Theological and Ecumenical Department (TED) organized, an ecumenical program of Trauma Healing and Spiritual Counseling for pastors in Iraq on June 9 to 15, 2019. Eighteen priests, pastors, nuns, and laymen in leading positions of the local church institutions benefited from the five-days program which took place at the Chaldean Catholic Patriarchal Seminary of St. Peter, in Ankawa – Irbil.

The Middle East Council of Churches condemns the terrorist bombing which took place on Thursday July 11, 2019, in front of the Church of Our Lady in Qamishli-Syria. In a phone call to His Holiness Mor Ignatius Aphrem II, Patriarch of the Syriac Orthodox Church, MECC Secretary General Dr Souraya Bechealany denounced this criminal act and declared complete solidarity with the Syriac Orthodox Church, especially the faithful in Qamishli. Dr Bechealany said that “our faith will not falter before this treacherous crime nor will our determination waver.

A Delegation from the Danish Ministry of Foreign affairs visited the MECC Head Office in Beirut on Tuesday July 9. They were received by MECC Policies and Communication Advisor Ziad El Sayegh and MECC Director of the Communication and Public Relations Department Huguette Salameh, representing MECC Secretary General Dr. Souraya Bechealany.

The MECC team conducted vocational training courses on the mobile maintenance, women hairdressing and cooking principles and basics for 50 participants from both men and women, in Tartous governorate. The courses lasted for two months and a half, and were followed-up delicately and continuously evaluated by the MECC team.

The MECC Diakonia Department organized an awareness course against sexual harassment as part of a program launched to fight Gender-based Violence. The three-days course was held at the “Our Lady Dispensary” of MECC in Sabityeh – Lebanon. It targeted Lebanese, Iraqi and Syrian children aged 6 to 12 years old.

After enduring persecution, violence and uprooting, a group of Iraqi religious and laypeople are on the path to healing.
“They are suffering, in their minds and in their souls,” said Melkite Father Gabriel Hachem, part of a team from Lebanon that conducted trauma healing sessions in Irbil, Iraq.

The issue highlights the massive relief and development work carried out by the Department in the Holy Land, Gaza, Jordan and Lebanon.

Ziad EL Sayegh from MECC: “Religious authorities should stir the leap towards a healthily diversity management, away from generating xenophobia”.

MECC participated in a conference on ” The Crucial Role of Local Faith Actors Delivering the Global Compact on Refugees”, held on Tuesday, the 18th of June, at the Issam Fares Institute, American University of Beirut.

A delegation of 16 students from the Catholic Institute of the University Aix-la-Chapelle in Germany accompanied by three of their professors, visited the MECC Headquarters in Beirut on Wednesday June 12, 2019.

At the invitation of the Danish diocese of Aalborg, a delegation from the Middle East Council of Churches conducted an Ecumenical visit (May 24-31, 2019) to learn about the Lutheran National Church, its service and life in Denmark and to acquaint the parishes and the believers with the situation of the Church in the Middle East, and the council’s humanitarian and social situation.

The MECC Grants Program team conducted two advanced business start-up courses for 30 participants who passed the basic level of the course, at Al Zabadani City in Rural Damascus.

The Middle East Council of Churches represented by its director of “Diakonia” department Mr. Samer Laham attended the International consultation workshop from May 15 to 19, 2019, at the invitation of Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Mission “FELM” which celebrates the 160th anniversary of its founding.

MECC organized a crochet training course in Maaloula city in Rural Damascus. The course targeted 24 women who learned the basics of crocheting and making handbags in different colors and sizes. At the end of this two months’ course, every participant received a toolkit that will help her to start-up a small business.

Department “Diakonia” of the Middle East Council of Churches concluded a home elderly care course in the city of Tripoli in northern Lebanon, on Friday 24th of May 2019. This humanitarian program was carried out in cooperation with the LEAD Healthcare Consultancy and concluded by distribution of certificates and nursing kits to 22 women of different ages.

With the blessing of the Presidents of the Churches in the Middle East, the Association of Theological Institutes in the Middle East (ATIME) was relaunched after a strenuous endeavor of the MECC Theological and Ecumenical Department.

A coordination and planning workshop in Istanbul

The Department of Services to Palestinian Refugees (DSPR) in the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) held a coordination planning workshop in Istanbul between 12 and 13 of May 2019.

In cooperation with the Armenian Protestant Church, MECC implemented a Vocational Training Program in Aleppo aiming at supporting youth to enter the labor market. These courses targeted 200 young women and men between 18 and 45 years old.