Middle East Updates

Leaders and persons from across Mennonite Church Canada are following closely the recent escalation of hostilities in the Middle East. Keep watching this page for news regarding Mennonite workers there, what Mennonites in Canada can do, and helpful links to what other church partners are doing. Note: Due to high traffic on some of these web sites, you may receive errors or messages such as "Server is not available" when you click on these links.

• Updates from local church leaders on the ground in the Israel/Hezbollah/Lebanon crisis will be updated as information becomes available.

• An update from Northern Israel, by Badur Mansour. Badur serves with the Association of Baptist Churches in Israel and is a friend of Ginny and Michael Hostetler, Mennonite Church Canada Witness workers and ministry leaders of Nazareth Village (www.nazarethvillage.com). Badur is also a board member of Nazareth Village. (link posted August 17, 2006)

• THE MADNESS OF WAR Hizballah and Israel - An article from the Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center, Jerusalem (link posted August 16, 2006)

• Lebanese Baptist schools sheltering refugees (link posted August 16, 2006)

• A “Prayer” to Ms. Rice Rev. Dr. Riad Kassis (link posted August 2, 2006)

• Prayer for Peace in the Middle East (a litany/resource for congregations in prayer; 52 kb Word Doc; posted July 27, 2006)

• Letter to Prime Minsiter Stephen Harper (posted July 27, 2006)

  • Letter to Prime Minsiter Stephen Harper [50 KB DOC file - Help with DOC files]
  • Letter to Prime Minsiter Stephen Harper [30 KB PDF file - Help with PDF files]

• Regarding Nazareth (Mennonite Church Canada Witness has a presence in Nazareth through the ministry of Nazareth Village):
  Rocket deaths highlight Nazareth's torn loyalties (link posted July 27, 2006)
  Nazareth attack underscores threat (link posted July 27, 2006)
  U.S. insurers declare Israel to be a war zone (link posted July 27, 2006)
  Are we here for a purpose? (link posted July 27, 2006)

• Stories from Lebonese Christians, via Christianity Today:
  Evangelical Blindness on Lebanon; Who Is My Neighbor' in the Lebanon-Israel Conflict?
  by Martin Accad, Dean of the Arab Baptist Theological Seminary in Beirut and graduate of the Near East School of Theology (links posted July 26, 2006)
  The Silent Human Conscience by Riad Kassis, 2005/6 Old Testament Teacher at the Near East School of Theology
  (link posted Jluy 26, 2006)

• Mennonite Church Canada News: Danger for ministry in Lebanon, Israel; As missiles fly, workers in Middle East look for hope (added July 20, 2006)

• Kairos, an ecumenical peace initiative of which Mennonite Central Committee is a member, has some information here: A Call from our partners to press for diplomatic solution to the current crisis in Palestine and Israel (added July 20, 2006)

• The World Council of Churches has relevant information here: Middle East peace: end violence, protect civilians, cease rhetoric of war, urges WCC. (added July 20, 2006)