The Youth of Lebanon Continues Their Environmental Mission in the Bekaa - Lebanon

With the Middle East Council of Churches and Danmission 

Within the framework of the “Environmental Days” that the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) had previously launched, the Theological and Ecumenical Department, EcoJustice Unit, with the support of the “Danmission” organization, organized an environmental activity in the Bekaa region in Lebanon. It was held with the aim of promoting the environmental culture and working to take care of God’s creation that He has entrusted us with.

Participants were a group of youth from the Syriac Orthodox Church, Bet Tarbitho (Center of Religious Education) in Mount Lebanon, the Armenian Orthodox Army of Hope, and Our Lady of Jamhour Jesuit School, where they gathered since the early morning in the Bekaa to finish planting orchards.

The activity began with a Divine Liturgy in Zahle, and a visit to the Shrine of Our Lady of Zahle, after which the participants moved to the miron grove in Taalabaya, which was established on the Feast of the Annunciation. They planted around 300 olive trees, under the guidance of the Archdeacon Garen Yosolkanian, Manager of the MECC EcoJustice Unit.

Then, the youth went to the historic Anjar Castle, and learned about the environment’s role and the importance of preserving it. Afterwards, they continued their tour in the Church of St. Paul the Apostle, where they remembered the Syriac and Armenian martyrs who fell as a result of the Syriac “Sayfo” and Armenian genocides.

In addition, the meeting included various Prayers and hymns, an agricultural awareness segment presented by the Engineer Nareh Havatian Koshkarian about the importance of agriculture in Lebanon and the continuation of this work, especially with the country’s youth, in addition to planting other types of trees such as the Platanus Orientalis, Kalanchoe, and Callistemon Laevis.