National Evangelical Church of Beirut

Youth Intercultural Exposure in India

Nour BouMalham and Munir Paul Moacdieh took part in the International CSI-EMS Youth Exposure in India from June 24 to July 2, 2016. 22 young people from various countries (Lebanon, Germany, Indonesia, South Korea, South Africa and Ghana …) were invited for this intercultural experience. The participants visited local congregations and interacted with the local young people of many parts of India to know and understand the challenges faced in each of the different contexts. They visited the heritage sites and were exposed to the urban and rural life-experiences in India. Having this opportunity and being introduced to the socio-economic context of India will necessarily help our young people to strengthen their solidarity among each other and worldwide.

Follow the below links to read about Nour BouMalham experience and the event:

https://ems-online.org/en/news/18-07-2016-a-day-to-remember

http://www.csisynod.com/news_view.php?Id=361

(Photos from EMS website)

Württemberg Church Synod

Rev. Badr speaking to the annual meeting of the Württemberg Synod (Germany) on Friday 8, July 2016. With him is Mrs. Wadia Badr and Rev. Klaus Rieth from Württemberg Church. He spoke from the Gospel according to John 14:27: "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid." Rev. Badr distinguished between "peace of Christ" and the "peace of the world", and he said, "we must seek peace, work for peace and pray for peace. But we must also learn to wait in patience - and leave the rest to God".

Three Concerts

Three CONCERTS took place in our Church: (1) Ecole des Arts Ghassan Yammine Concert on Tuesday, June 21, 2016 at 7:30 PM. (2) Opera Singer Mirai Safa with piano accompaniment on Thursday, June 23, at 8:00 PM. (3) Violin & Piano Concert by Ihab Jamal & Liana Harutyunyan on Thursday, June 30, at 8:00 PM.

Joint Lebanese - German Worship Service

The Fifth International Consultation on Protestant Reformation organized by the Near East School of Theology (NEST) and "Studium im Mittleren Osten" (SiMO) from June 24 - 27, 2016 - Beirut, Lebanon. The theme of this consultation was focused on Protestant Reformation. Many significant lectures and profound analyses to Reformation and its impact in Middle East churches and culture took place at NEST.

On Sunday, June 26, a joint service between German and Lebanese worshippers held at our church.

The participants had the chance also to meet the grand Mufti of Lebanon, Sheikh Abdul Latif Daryan, and Bishop Boulos Matar of the Maronite Diocese of Beirut.   

Rev. Uwe Gräbe, Bishop Dr. Jochen Cornelius-Bundschuh; Prof. Martin Tamcke; Rev. Dr. Habib Badr; Prof. George Sabra

Workshop on Diakonia

Our church participated—beside others (27 participants in all)—in a workshop on diakonia that took place between 6-9 June 2016, in 'Our Lady of the Well' Covent (dair Sayedet el-Beer) Metn, Lebanon. This workshop was organized by the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) with the collaboration of the World Council of Churches (WCC). The participants gathered from Lebanon, Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Iraq as well as South Africa and Norway in order to to consolidate the cooperation among churches of the Middle East and empower the prophetic services to bring changes to the unfair political, economic and social structure that generates poverty oppression and violence.

The workshop called for ecumenical advocacy inscribing the reasons of violence and war in the region and the needs to support the massive numbers of internally displaced people, refugees and migrants. Diaknoia is the Church; it is the task of humankind toward creation and each other, as it was articulated by the speakers. This would contribute to bring a change to people's lives and to the poor, serving mainly the less fortunate ones. A second workshop will take place in November, 2016 with even more participants.

EMS Mission Council 2016

Rev. Habib Badr, as member of the Evangelical Mission in Solidarity (EMS) Presidium, attended the Spring Meeting of the EMS Mission Council in Hofgeismar, Germany, hosted by the Evangelical Church of Kurhessen - Waldeck. They will take the decision about their projects 2017 -2018. They will further support the Preschool in Kafroun (Syria), the education of refugee children in the Schneller School and the vocational training for women. 

EMS is an association of 23 churches and five mission societies in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Europe. It is active in mission and church cooperation worldwide. They work to enhance the living conditions worldwide. In particular, they advocate the rights of poor, marginalized and vulnerable people. They promote a respectful encounter over cultural and religious borders. They learn from each other and with each other, they take decisions in common and share their resources. They live a vivid and solidary partnership.

Global Christian Forum in Middle East 2016

More than 35 participants from the different Evangelical churches and members of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) were called to convene in Der Saiet el-Beer (Our Lady of the Well) from 25-28 of May 2016. This consultation was organized and supported by Global Christian Forum (GCF).

The GCF is a common space where all major streams of world Christianity could come together to pray and be enriched in their unity in Christ and discuss common challenges. GCF brings together the most diversified collection of Christianity from all church families including World Council of Churches (WCC), the Pentecostal and other kinds of Evangelicals movements.

This consultation in Lebanon for the Middle East is the second one after Amman meeting in April 2013. And our church (NECB) participated in it. The participants stressed the necessity to stand all churches together as witnesses of the one Gospel, and they discussed how to strengthen the Christian witness in the face persecution, forced immigration and martyrdom. They called for solidarity of all Christians, following up what have been accomplished with insight and discernment.

For More, Kindly follow the LINK

Reformation- Education- Transformation.. Halle, Germany 2016

In the East side of Germany, in the city of Halle (Saale), more than 100 participants from all around the world and from different Protestant churches gathered together to reflect on Reformation and Education, and how Protestant churches can be effective to transform societies. This is the second global conference of "Twin Consultation" that started in São Leopoldo in Brazil last November 2015 in preparation for the Reformation Jubilee in 2017. This project aims at reflecting upon Reformation and demonstrating its impact on our societies nowadays, particularly on the realm of education. 

Organizers: Bread for the World (BftW, Berlin)

The Association of Protestant Churches and Missions in Germany (EMW, Hamburg)

The Theological College Faculdades EST in São Leopoldo, Brazil (EST)

The Francke Foundations and University of Halle (Germany)

And many other international partners: Lutheran World Federation (LWF), World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC), the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), World Council of Churches (WCC), and The Evangelical Mission in Solidarity (EMS).

For more details in this regard, please follow THIS LINK

Halle, May 18-22, 2016 (Photo: Jürgen Reichel)

Celebrating Mother's & Father's Day 2016

On the occasion of celebrating both Mothers’ and Fathers’ Day 'Helping Hand Society' organized a Charity Lunch at the Rock Restaurant in Chemlan, Souq el Gharb, on the 14th of May, at 1:30 PM.

May the Lord bless your parents with love and happiness.

Arab Christian Hymns in Protestant Churches

On the 15th of April 2016 Dr. Adib William Saab presented to the 'Helping Hand Society' a significant study on "The Impact of Arab Christian Hymns on the Arab Renaissance." The Arab distinguished renaissance figures, said Dr. Saab, such as Nassif al-Yazigi, created new, simple and intelligible mixture of Arab poetic rhythms for the worship services. I wish, Dr. Saab continued, that some would be interested to go back to the history and study this great legacy of the Protestant Arabic Hymns. However, Dr. Saab wrote a profound article on the Evangelical hymnology few years ago and submitted to the German Academic Research Institute in Beirut.