A nine member church delegation, led by NCCCUSA President Rev. Michael Livingston visited Lebanon, October 10-15, 2006, as an expression of solidarity with Lebanon and its people, following the war on Lebanon.
Accompanied by the MECC General Secretary, Mr. Guirgis Saleh and senior staff, the delegation paid visits to high level government officials, including, President General Emile Lahhoud, Prime Minister Mr. Fuad Siniora , Minister of Culture Dr. Tarek Mitri, Minister of Social Affairs, Mrs. Nayla Moawad, Deputy Chief at the US Embassy, as well as heads of Christian churches and other Muslim religious leaders. The delegation met with member s of the MECC Executive Committee who shared their views on the situation in Lebanon as well as their concerns regarding the people in this torn land.
Visits were paid to the southern suburbs of Beirut and different villages i n the South of Lebanon. In Qana, the delegation visited the cemeteries where the victims (mostly women, children and elderly) of the 2 massacres perpetrated by the Israeli army (1996 and 2006), are buried. The group offered their prayers to the victims, following which they visited the very place of Jesus Christ¹s first miracle at the Qana wedding.
During the visits to the damaged areas, the delegation met with different government and community officials, clergy and lay, as well as families affected by the recent war in Lebanon. The delegation was able to see some of the MECC/ACT water and sanitation projects in a number of villages.
The visit to the south of Lebanon was concluded by an Iftar hosted by the Middle East Council of Churches, as an expression of the existential dialogue between Christians and Muslims in Lebanon, and to honor of the delegation. An important number of Christian and Muslim dignitaries and church and community leaders attended this event, illustrating the Lebanese model of coexistence.
At the press conference held at the Bristol Hotel on the second day of thei r visit, after a presentation of the members constituting the delegation, NCCCUSA President Rev. Michael Livingston stated the objectives of the visit, an expression of solidarity with the Lebanese people who have suffered from the recent violence, and a fact finding mission.
Members of the delegation said they will take back with them to their country, a different image of the situation in Lebanon from the one they ha d before leaving the US. They will also take back the courage they witnessed and the hope the Lebanese carry in their hearts for a better future. We are carrying back a message of sadness and grief but hope for justice and peace in the future. Security and peace are inter-connected and cannot be achieve d by force. Members of the delegation also expressed their hope to be contributors to the peace process in the Middle East, and that all actors would meet around the dialogue table to find out ways and means of achievin g peace. They conveyed their wish to see a world where all children of God live in dignity, hope, security and peace.
Rev. Livingston underlined that he would also convey to the people of the USA the need to find a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and to allow the Lebanese population to live in peace. Rev. Livingston assured tha t the USA government will be increasing its relief assistance to the Lebanese people.
In conclusion, the delegation members committed themselves to be advocates for the cause of Lebanon, hoping to be heard but also assuring that they will keep on talking and hoping to be heard.
Middle East Council of Churches Office of International Ecumenical Relations P.O. Box 5376, Beirut, Lebanon
Guirgis Ibrahim Saleh, General Secretary
mecc@cyberia.net.lb or guirgissaleh@cyberia.net.lb
+961-1-353-938 http://www.mec-churches.org/