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06363 July 18, 2006
PC(USA) mission personnel, partners in Middle East escape injury
by Patrick Cole
Worldwide Ministries Division communications officer
LOUISVILLE * Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) mission workers and ecumenical partners in the Middle East have not suffered physical harm from the violence that is gripping Lebanon and Israel.
"All our mission workers, partners and other colleagues are reported safe," Victor Makari, the PC(USA)'s area coordinator for the Middle East, said on Tuesday (July 18). "This includes pastors in southern Lebanon very close to the border with Israel. All our colleagues (in Lebanon) are stuck in their homes, some sleeping in hallways away from windows and outside walls."
The violence between Israel and Hezbollah, which began July 12, has claimed the lives of 210 Lebanese and 24 Israelis as of Tuesday, according to media reports.
Nuhad Tomeh, a PC(USA) mission worker in Lebanon, was in the United States when the fighting broke out and is scheduled to remain through the end of this month. Tomeh serves with the Middle East Council of Churches and is the PC(USA)'s regional liaison for Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and the Gulf region.
Presbyterian work in Lebanon dates back to the 19th century and the PC(USA) continues close ties to its partner church in the nation, the National Evangelical Synod of Syria and Lebanon.
The denomination also maintains partnerships in Lebanon with the Lebanese American University of Beirut (which it founded) and the Near East School of Theology (NEST). The PC(USA), along with the Reformed Church in America and the Evangelical Lutheran Church, supports the mission service of Jon Hoover, a professor who teaches at NEST. He serves in Lebanon with his wife, Jacqueline.
The PC(USA)'s Jinishian Memorial Program, an endowed relief and development program that serves Armenian communities in several countries overseas, works in the Armenian Quarter of Beirut. All its staff are safe, Makari said.
Makari reported that conditions are calm in Jerusalem and Bethlehem, where four PC(USA) mission workers and others related to the PC(USA) serve. The denomination's seven mission personnel assigned to Egypt are also safe, he said.
Meanwhile a PC(USA) national staff member, Elias Sahiouny, and his wife, Elian, are in Lebanon on vacation and are awaiting evacuation instructions from the American Embassy in Beirut, Makari said. Sahiouny, a native of Lebanon, is financial services manager for the PC(USA).
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