wfn.org | [PCUSANEWS] Abu-Akel urges Middle East caucus to focus on

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Note #7759 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

Abu-Akel urges Middle East caucus to focus on evangelism
GA03070

Abu-Akel urges Middle East caucus to focus on evangelism

by Alexa Smith

DENVER, May 27 - The Rev. Fahed Abu-Akel, moderator of last year's 214th
General Assembly, suggested a three-point agenda for the National Middle
Eastern Presbyterian Caucus during its Assembly dinner. 

	Abu-Akel urged the organization to focus on evangelism, education and
advocacy.

	The Tuesday-night event was the caucus' first official Assembly
gathering, and participants were happy to greet the first Arab-American
moderator of the Presbyterian Church (USA). It was a celebration of the
denomination's sensitivity to matters-Middle-Eastern, and a celebration of
ministry yet-to-be for the newest of the church's racial-ethnic caucuses.

	"In this experience of being moderator," Abu-Akel said, "I have felt
the love and prayers of the Presbyterian Church - all over the United States,
all over the world. And I thank God this gift came my way.  It is something
I never dreamed of."

	The former moderator then told his listeners that evangelism ought to
be its No. 1 priority, that it must help Middle Eastern immigrants experience
Jesus through fellowships, prayer groups and Bible studies.

	The second priority should be education, he suggested, calling on
PC(USA) churches to develop sister-relationships with Middle Eastern
congregations in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Egypt. The denomination has had a
mission presence in the Middle East for more than 180 years.

	He said Americans need to learn about Middle Eastern churches already
in their midst, such as the Orthodox and the Marionites, and about Islam. He
said learning can help prevent a "bloody future" resulting from a Crusade
mentality, and help combat the stereotype of the dirty, untrustworthy Arab
that is perpetuated in so many American films.

	The third item Abu-Akel encouraged the caucus to put on its agenda is
leadership and advocacy for Arab-Americans, the same kind of advocacy black
Christians undertook in their fight against racism. It must do this, he said,
"for the sake of the Arab-American community, the sake of the Arab world, and
the sake of the U.S.A."

	The caucus presented a $2,000 check to Abu-Akel to be passed along to
a charity of his choice that works with Palestinian children. The group also
announced that it is creating an annual leadership award for a person of
Middle Eastern descent.

	In past years the caucus has assisted children in Iraq and Sudan
through its "Save Pennies for Middle Eastern Children" project.

	The Rev. Miti Raheb of Bethlehem, a scholar-in-residence with the
PC(USA), said Christians in the United States and in the Middle East can
serve as bridges in a war-torn world. "We can build bridges with the message
of Christ," said Raheb, whose hometown was shelled by the Israeli army in
2000.

	"Our bridges are a way of trying to keep the world together, a world
that is threatened not only by war but hate," he said.

	Douglas Dicks, a PC(USA) mission co-worker - who has been based in
Jerusalem for more than seven years, spoke about how important it is for U.S.
Christians to visit the Holy Land now, to become acquainted with the
Palestinian Christian community and to witness to the U.S. government about
the lesser-known casualties of political conflict there.

	Dicks said regular programming on U.S. network television was
interrupted last week for a story about a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv in
which three people died. "But at least 12 Palestinians have been killed since
the 'road map' was announced  and my programming hasn't been interrupted,"
he said. "That is not making the news."

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