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Kuwaiti attends Assembly to say thanks
GA04044
June

Kuwaiti attends Assembly to say thanks

Believes Middle East church must foster Christian-Muslim dialogue

by Nancy D. Borst

RICHMOND, June 29 - Who is that man walking around the 216th General Assembly
in a flowing robe and turban?

He is the Rev. Amanuel Ghareeb, an Ecumenical Advisory Delegate from Kuwait.
He also is a geologist and chemist, a husband and father. But in the context
of this Assembly, he especially wants you to know that he is a pastor and a
brother in Christ.

Ghareeb leads the 70-member National Evangelical Church in Kuwait City. The
church is housed on a former American mission project site in the heart of
downtown.

Ghareeb, who has traveled extensively around the world and speaks fluent
English, said he is "grateful to God" for the opportunity to participate in
the Assembly.

"My purpose here is to show, as a Kuwaiti citizen, our gratitude as a country
for setting us free from the tyrant Saddam Hussein in 1991," he said.

He also brings thanks to the Presbyterian Church (USA), with which his church
is a partner through the Fellowship of Middle East Evangelical Churches and
the Middle East Council of Churches. Kuwaiti churches have received
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance funds.

"Thank you for what God has done through you," he said.

He said his hope is for peace in the Middle East, so that "love will
prevail."

Christian churches in Kuwait have been active partners in humanitarian relief
to the citizens of Iraq during the current war. Much of that relief, he said,
has come from the United States.

Ghareeb believes his church is called to foster dialogue between Christians
and Muslims in the Middle East, to encourage them to explore their
similarities rather than fight over their differences.

People in the West must come to realize that not all terrorists are Muslim.

"Terrorism is not exclusive to Muslims," he said. "There are Christian
terrorists, Hindu terrorists, Jewish terrorists. Such people are
narrow-minded extremists."

Arab Christians are in the "peculiar position" of having lived alongside
Muslims for centuries, he said.

"This is the role of the Arab Christians after 9-11," he said, "to act as a
bridge. You don't know the Muslims as we do. The church can build a bridge to
(that) society."

Kuwait's citizens enjoy many freedoms, he said, but there are lines they
still cannot cross. Christians cannot openly evangelize in public, for
instance. The right to vote is restricted to civilian men over the age of 21,
although the government is debating whether to extend the right to women.

"Pray for us," he urged his brothers and sisters at this Assembly, "that we
can continue to have religious freedom and for more freedom."

There will be a presentation on Middle East issues from 10 to 11:30 a.m.
Wednesday in the Worldwide Ministries Division area of the Exhibit Hall.
Ghareeb is scheduled to participate, along with an Ecumenical Advisory
Delegate from Iraq and other guests from the Middle East.

This story and many others may have photos, media, video clips that can be
found at http://www.pcusa.org/ga216/.

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