by Melissa Ramirez Cooper, ELCA News Service
Unable to return home to Lebanon from the United States since
July 16, Barakat Rahme, development officer, Contact and Resource
Center (CRC), Beirut, said he is "worried about everything,"
particularly his family members "who are displaced (from their
homes) somewhere in the mountains" of Lebanon. Rahme addressed
an evening general session July 28 with more than 1,300
participants of the 2006 Global Mission Event of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). He shared some of his fears
and thoughts about the Middle East conflict and escalating
military action that has now expanded into Lebanon. Co-sponsored
by the Episcopal Church and endorsed by the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in Canada, the GME brings together participants of all
ages from across the United States and around the world July 27-
30 to the University of Massachusetts in Amherst.
Along with some high-school-age Lutherans from his home
congregation in Lebanon, Rahme attended the ELCA Youth Gathering
in San Antonio earlier this month and has not been able to return
home. In Lebanon "Christian neighborhoods are also being
attacked not only Hezbollah," Rahme told GME participants. "Many
people (in Lebanon) are trying to witness that Christians and
Muslims can live together," he said. While angry about the
political situation in the Middle East, Rahme told participants
not to be angry. "I want you to learn more and more about the
situation there," he said. Standing alongside Rahme, the Rev.
Said Ailabouni, program director for Europe and Middle East, ELCA
Global Mission, told participants that ELCA International
Disaster Response sent an initial $15,000 to support the work of
the CRC, an institution designed to enhance the future of people
with disabilities. Rahme said a woman from the CRC made 500 tote
bags in 25 days that participants received when they registered
for the GME. He said the woman no longer has a house or sewing
machine due to the military attacks in Lebanon.
Members of the Al Raja Folkloric Dance Troupe also shared their
hopes and dreams with participants. Al Raja is an 18-member
artistic dance group of Palestinian Christian and Muslim students
from the Evangelical Lutheran School of Hope in Ramallah, a
school of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy
Land (ELCJHL). The high-school-age students are on a six-week
tour of the United States as a "living expression" of the
relationship between the ELCJHL and ELCA. A male member of the
dance troupe told GME participants, "We are dancing for hope,
dancing for peace. Please pray every day, every moment for
peace" in the Middle East. Participants left the evening session
in silence and walked outside of the building toward "prayer
stations" to pray for peace.
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About the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America:
The ELCA is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States, with 2.8 million members in more than 8,500 worshiping communities across the 50 states and in the Caribbean region. Known as the church of "God's work. Our hands.," the ELCA emphasizes the saving grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, unity among Christians and service in the world. The ELCA's roots are in the writings of the German church reformer Martin Luther.
For information contact:
Candice Hill Buchbinder
Public Relations Manager
Candice.HillBuchbinder@ELCA.org
