American Baptist Missionaries Safe In Lebanon After Israeli Missile Strike
VALLEY FORGE, PA (ABNS)-International Ministries (IM) has confirmed missionaries Dan and Sarah Chetti <http://www.internationalministries.org/profiles/profile.asp?id=548 and volunteer Jennifer Wallace are safe in the Middle East country of Lebanon following Israeli air strikes Thursday on the capital city of Beirut. The Chettis serve at the Arab Baptist Theological Seminary in Beirut. Jennifer Wallace, from the First Baptist Church in Hamilton, Ohio, is currently a volunteer at the seminary.
IM staff is in continuing contact with Wallace, the Chettis and the seminary. Rev. Reid Trulson, IM's area director for Europe and the Middle East, is urging American Baptists to be in prayer for our personnel, the students and staff of the seminary as well as the people of Lebanon and Israel.
According to media reports, fighters from Hezbollah-considered a terrorist organization by Israel and the United States-launched a Wednesday morning assault into Israel, killing six Israeli soldiers, and kidnapping several others. Hezbollah reportedly hopes to swap the Israeli soldiers for the several hundred Hezbollah fighters now in Israeli prisons. In response, Israel sent armored forces into southern Lebanon for the first time in six years, and it bombed the runways at Rafik Hariri International Airport in Beirut, shutting down the facility. Israeli naval ships are also blockading Lebanon's ports, to prevent Hezbollah from receiving weapons shipments.
Andrew C. Jayne American Baptist Churches, USA Mission Resource Development http://www.abc-usa.org/