National Evangelical Church of Beirut

A New Web Channel for Kids

On Wednesday 20^th of Nov. 2013, our church attended the celebration of launching a new channel to Tele Lumiere: NOURKIDS internet channel.

Nourkids is fully dedicated for children and over 24 hours online broadcast, aiming to promote the welfare of children and make awareness of their rights through its programs.

The channel was launched on the Universal Children’s Day 2013 because children have rights to say, to echo their voice, to express themselves, to live in a safe world and to take active role in their future.

Follow them on www.nourkids.tv  

Interfaith Dialogue and Meeting in our Church

A group from interfaith dialogue seminar taking place in Lebanon visited our church last Sunday on the 17th of Nov. 2013 and they interviewed Rev. Badr. They referred to cooperative and positive interaction between people of Beirut, and in particular the experience of our church in this regard. But at the same time they focused on the challenges to transform this interreligious energy into movements for peace and justice. Any real dialogue is possible if the interlocutors are committed, resolute and uncompromising in their own faith traditions. 

Balsam's President, Our Guest Speaker

Balsam's President, Dr. Hibah O'thman was invited by the 'Helping Hand Society' to speak about her work and experience on Friday Nov. 15, 2013. Dr. O'thman said, "we are providing medical services as well as psychological, social, and spiritual support within the family and home environment." Dr. O'thman spoke about her personal experience in relieving suffering patients and improving the quality of their life. "No one should live in pain, no one should live in fear".

Working with the Poor

Rev. Robert Hamd, pastor of the International Community Church of Beirut has published recently an article in which he tackled the history of the Protestants in Lebanon and focus on their role of caring for the poor. Please follow the below pdf article link. 

Working with the Poor

The Article appeared on the Evangelical Review of Theology (ERT) July 2013, Vol. 37, III.

http://www.worldevangelicals.org/commissions/tc/ertcont-article.htm?id=2579

A Distinguished Conference in Amman

A distinguished two day conference on the challenges facing the Middle East’s Christians was held in Amman from 3-4 of September, 2013. The conference is called by Jordan’s King Abdullah and organized by his chief adviser for religious and cultural affairs, Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad. 

About 70 Eastern and Western Christian leaders and scholars were invited. Rev. Habib Badr was invited in his own right and also represented the president of the Supreme Council of the Evangelical Community in Syria an Lebanon. The Vatican was represented, the two Greek Orthodox Patriarchs: John X of Antioch and Theophilus III of Jerusalem, the Melkite Patriarch Gregorios III of Antioch, the Patriarch of Latin Fuad Twal, Patriarch of the Chaldean Church Louis Sako, the Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem Nurhan Manougian, Bishop of the Anglican Church of Jerusalem, Bp. Munib Younan of the Lutheran Church of Jordan/Palestine, and current president of the Lutheran World Federation, as well as Bp. Avak Assadourian of the Armenian Orthodox Church of Iraq were among the participants. The Coptic Pope Tawadros of Egypt sent a word that was read, and Patriarch Al Raii could only attend for a few hours at lunch at the King’s Palace. in addition to retired Cardinal McCarrick, of Washington D.C.  Canterbury was represented by Bp. Michael Langrish.  Olav Fykse, General Secretary of the WCC was also present and spoke, so also did Rev. Dr. Ian Torrence, a prominent Presbyterian leader from Edinburgh (and ex-president of Princeton Theological Seminary).  Noteworthy also was the presence of certain prominent North American conservative Evangelical leaders and representatives.  Worth mentioning are: Pastor Rick Warren (who said the opening prayer at president Obama’s first inauguration), Rev. Dr. Geoff Tunnicliffe, Secretary General and CEO of the World Evangelical Alliance (who claims to represent 600 million Christians around the world), the Baptist pastor and professor Dr. Paul Fiddes of Oxford University, and Mark Burnett and his wife Roma Downey, the producers of the famous “The Bible” series that aired on the History Channel in the USA.  They are also ambassadors for the World Evangelical Alliance.

Let us hope and pray for a brighter, more secure and peaceful future ahead for all of us living in this troubled region of the world.

(the photo is taken from www.abouna.org) 

A Pampering Day

Taking care of our residents and making time to pamper them could not be more important. There is nothing like a beauty treatment to leave them feeling relaxed and looking good inside and out. Moadieh residents participated in a 2 hour activity enjoying a range of body and beauty treatments.

They enjoyed their day feeling refreshed, relaxed and utterly gorgeous. 

Kingdom Rock Summer Camp

The summer camp of our church was a wonderful adventure for our kids, helpers and teachers. At "Kingdom Rock" kids experienced God's word in an unforgettable ways and spent great time in the beautiful nature at Theopolis, Mount Lebanon. On the last day, August 2, parents were invited to watch the nice performance, songs, and dancing of their kids. Kids with teachers transformed the chapel into a majestic castle where they demonstrated their faith in God. Later, parents joined their children for BBQ.

Children Singing at Our Church

Children and youth choir have performed beautiful and inspiring concert at our church on Friday, July 12, 2013. More than 20 boys and girls from International Music and Arts Center directed by Mr Nabil Melki offered a wonderful musical performance and the audience enjoyed it a lot.

New General Secretary for EMS

Rev. Habib Badr participated in the festival service of inducting Rev. Jürgen Reichel as new general secretary of the Evangelical Mission in Solidarity (EMS). The installation took place at St. John's Church Ettlingen, Germany, on Sunday, June 9.

The service was attended by the 17 members of the International Mission Council as well as numerous guests from Germany, Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America. Rev. Jürgen Reichel regarded it as a very special and meaningful moment. He said, "I am extremely pleased to be working in a worldwide fellowship like EMS... EMS is a healthy fellowship in which the members support one another in prayer and in practical solidarity"

For more on this please CLICK THIS 

MECC Conference: Presence and Witness

Middle East Council of Churches organized a conference from May 21 to May 24 at Noter Dame Du Mont Monastery - Adma - Lebanon. More than a hundred representatives of the churches in the Middle East and abroad participated in the conference: "Christian presence and witness in the Middle East".

The participants prepared a statement about the future of the Christians in the Middle East. it focused on the acute changes occurring in the region. Rev. Habib Badr, the official spoke person in the conference, in the opening session, called the churches to take active role in the transforming social life and work to initiate cultural renaissance. “We have always been, as Arab Christians, building our societies, loyal to our countries and nationalities, bringing hope in hopeless situations,” said bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land.

The statement which came out of the conference will be carried to the Assembly of the World Council of Churches that will take place in Busan - Korea, from 30 October to 30 November 2013.