Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest (Mark 6: 31)
MECC Implements a New Session of the “Spiritual and Psychological Support” Program in Iraq
Amidst the worsening security, social and economic crises afflicting the region, the Eastern people live in front of an unknown future as a result of the difficult living conditions that have burdened them and plunged them into a cycle of despair and endless daily challenges. Therefore, today, spiritual and psychological support has become an urgent necessity for many people, especially for Church workers who help the needy and affected people to overcome life’s difficulties with deep faith and firm hope.
In this context, the Theological and Ecumenical Department at the Middle East Council of Churches continues to implement the “Spiritual and Psychological Support” program in various countries of the Middle East for Churches’ ministers and their assistants, both consecrated and lay people, who lived harsh experiences due to the various crises and difficult conditions that the region is suffering from, or who are accompanying, in their turn, people who have experienced trauma in their lives.
The new session was held in Iraq under the title “Jesus said: “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest” (Mark 6: 31), over a period of five days, between Monday 17 and Friday 21 June 2024, at the Shimon Safa Priestly Institute, Ankawa - Erbil.
This session included times of Prayer and meditation, group participation meetings, as well as individual spiritual and psychological counseling sessions, in addition to recreational periods and religious tourism activities. The participants were also accompanied by a team of Fathers spiritual guides, and specialized psychologists with experience in this field, and the Middle East Council of Churches had previously cooperated with them over the past years in similar sessions conducted in Iraq, Egypt, Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon.
It is worth mentioning that this program contributes to improving the participants’ abilities and developing their skills, as well as building new ecumenical friendships.
