EMS Mission Council Meeting 2019
For the first time since its foundation, EMS Mission Council, of which Rev. Badr is the deputy chair, will be held in Lebanon from June 25-27. The delegates from Germany, Korea, South Africa, Ghana, Indonesia and India started to arrive as of Sat. 22. for an exposure trip to our church's activities and projects.
On Sunday 23, the group joined our worship service. Rev. Anne Heitmann from Baden- Germany preached, Rev. Kerstin Neuman, EMS deputy General Secretary, gave a word of greeting and introduced the delegation. Rev. Godfried Cunningham of South Africa, joined Rev. Badr in the pastoral prayer. After the service a luncheon was held at Charles Saad Hall for the delegation and members of the Church Council and Schneller Board. In the afternoon Rev. Rima Nasrallah led the group on a tour of the historic sites of Downtown Beirut. The group is staying at Dhoor Shweir Evangelical Center until Tuesday morning, after which they transfer to Schneller School for the council meeting.
Church Building 150th Anniversary
The National Evangelical Church of Beirut celebrated on Sunday, March 31, the 150th anniversary of the building of the Church (1869-2019) with the attendance of all the architects and engineers who helped in the rebuilding process after the war. At the same time Rev. Badr and the church council honored Dr. Raja Illiya with the medal of service. He was the first engineer who started working on fortifying the church tower in the early 1990's.
International Ecumenical Youth Meeting in Lebanon - Taizé
On Sunday afternoon March 24, 2019, Rev. Habib Badr introduced the history of our church to a group of the international ecumenical youth who are meeting in Beirut from March 22-26. He and Dr. Reem Deeb taught them two of the hymns we sing at our church. A reception followed at Charles Saad hall. It's worth mentioning that Rev. Dr. Rima Nasrallah is a member of the preparatory organizing committee of this international youth meeting.
Mother's Day at Moacdieh Center
The Helping Hand Association celebrated Mother's Day at Moadieh Evangelical Center for Assisted Living on Friday, March 22, 2019. God bless all mothers.
Academy of Technology Project in Abey- Lebanon
After attending the presidium meeting of EMS in Stuttgart on Monday and Tuesday of March 11 & 12, 2019 , Rev. Badr visited on Wednesday noon the bishop of Munich Rev. Susanne Breit-Kessler accompanied by Messers Rink and Sonnenborn of the Rotary Club. They discussed the German Evangelical Academy of Technology (GEAT) project in Abey (Lebanon) that NECB is embarking on.
(Members of the EMS presidium at dinner in Stuttgart) 
(Bishop Breit-Kessler at her office)
(Rev. Badr offering the book he edited on the history of Christians of the Middle East)
(Messers Sonnenborn {Left}, Rink, Bishop Breit-Kessler, Rev. Badr and the bishop’s assistant Rev. Gloël)
Farewell to Rev. Nabil Maamarbashi
On Sunday, March 17, 2019 Rev. Nabil Maamarbashi gave his last sermon in our church. Rev. Maamarbashi served the church for more than 10 years pastoring the community of the National Evangelical Church of Hadath and assisting Rev. Habib Badr in the community of Beirut. Now he is going to join his family in Germany and stay there. After the sermon, Rev. Badr with Mrs. Aida Abdel Samad, secretary of the Church Council, decorated Rev. Maamarbashi with a Medal of Service and a pin on which the biblical verse John 3:16 is written.
Rev. Maamarbashi was born in Aleppo and graduated from its University with a BS in Physics. In 1993 he came to Beirut to study at the Near East School of Theology (NEST). He graduated in 1998 with a Masters degree in Theology and got married to Sylvie Avakian. Together, Rev. Maamarbashi and his wife served in the Armenian Evangelical Church of Anjar, Lebanon, and in its Boarding School. At the same time, Rev. Maamarbashi served the Armenian Evangelical Community in Damascus for more than 4 years. In August 2006, he moved with his family to serve at the Johann Ludwig Schneller school in Bekaa-Lebanon as a Chaplain and Boarding Director, caring for the Christian Education there. In August 2008 he moved to Beirut and got ordained at the National Evangelical Church of Beirut and since then he has been pastoring the National Evangelical Church community of Hadath and assisting Rev. Habib Badr in his various church-commitments.
Documentary on Wadi3 Philisteen
The Helping Hand Association hosted in Mach 7, 2019 a special event to view a half hour documentary that tells the story of how the famous Egyption journalist, author and literary critic Wadi3 Philisteen donated his extremely valuable library and personal correspondence to his former student Mrs Selma Mirshaq Sleem. Selma is a member of Helping Hand and our church. It's worth noting that Wadi3, who is now 98, belongs to the Evangelical church in Egypt.
