The MECC Grants Program team conducted two advanced business start-up courses for 30 participants who passed the basic level of the course, at Al Zabadani City in Rural Damascus.

The Middle East Council of Churches represented by its director of “Diakonia” department Mr. Samer Laham attended the International consultation workshop from May 15 to 19, 2019, at the invitation of Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Mission “FELM” which celebrates the 160th anniversary of its founding.

MECC organized a crochet training course in Maaloula city in Rural Damascus. The course targeted 24 women who learned the basics of crocheting and making handbags in different colors and sizes. At the end of this two months’ course, every participant received a toolkit that will help her to start-up a small business.

Department “Diakonia” of the Middle East Council of Churches concluded a home elderly care course in the city of Tripoli in northern Lebanon, on Friday 24th of May 2019. This humanitarian program was carried out in cooperation with the LEAD Healthcare Consultancy and concluded by distribution of certificates and nursing kits to 22 women of different ages.

With the blessing of the Presidents of the Churches in the Middle East, the Association of Theological Institutes in the Middle East (ATIME) was relaunched after a strenuous endeavor of the MECC Theological and Ecumenical Department.

A coordination and planning workshop in Istanbul

The Department of Services to Palestinian Refugees (DSPR) in the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) held a coordination planning workshop in Istanbul between 12 and 13 of May 2019.

In cooperation with the Armenian Protestant Church, MECC implemented a Vocational Training Program in Aleppo aiming at supporting youth to enter the labor market. These courses targeted 200 young women and men between 18 and 45 years old.

Based on its belief that Education is the basis of peace and security in the world, MECC organized a remedial course for 50 students of the Grade 12 certificate in the city of Arbin in rural Damascus.

Believing in the need to help displaced and affected persons to secure a decent life for their families; MECC provided 37 financial grants to restore small businesses in Damascus and its rural areas.

MECC Health Program team implemented health awareness raising courses for 150 women in Bloudan, Al-Tal and Maloola in Rural Damascus, in addition to Ghabagheb and Izraa in Da’raa.

“Lebanon would never survive with half a million Palestinian refugees and 1.6 million Syrian refugees because its demography will completely change”, said the Lebanese President General Michel Aoun during a meeting held on May 9-2019 at the presidential palace, with a large group of MECC Delegates and Partners

Dhour Chweir Evangelical Center was very active early in the morning. At 8:30, everything was set for the morning prayer. Taize hymns shed peace in the air, followed by a worship from one of the Partners.

The MECC Partners Meeting is an annual meeting for its funding partners over the world, where MECC plays its role as a common platform for dialogue, relief, and communication.

The MECC Health awareness Program continuing its courses for women in Al Noama village at Daraa governate. Topics covered the most common chronic diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, heart diseases, breast cancer, osteoporosis and identified its causes and methods of treatment and prevention.

25 women attended the four-day course in which they were introduced to the healthy nutrition, first aid and pregnancy care basics, as well as the right methods to use blood pressure and diabetes measuring device. At the end of the course, every participant received a hygiene kit.

At the end of the International Ecumenical Youth Meeting held in Beirut on March 22-26, 2019, that hosted 1600 young people from 43 countries, the Middle East Council of Churches and the representatives of the Churches of Lebanon, together with the Taizé Ecumenical Community declare the following:

Brother Aloïs Löser, Prior of the Taizé Ecumenical Community in France visited the Middle East Council of Churches headquarters in Beirut and met its Secretary-General Dr. Souraya Bechealany and discussed together the preparations for the launch of the International Ecumenical Youth Meeting scheduled to be held in Beirut on March 22-26.

Once again, MECC Ecumenical and Relief Department’s team is offering his continuous assistance in supporting sheep breeding projects to secure a steady income for the people of Mseifra, south of Daraa.

A delegation from the Danish Diocese of Viborg visited Lebanon in collaboration with the Danmission organisation. The group of 20 priests and leaders of the Danish Church, met the MECC director of Theological and Ecumenical department, Father Gabi Hachem, on Thursday March 14, at the Council’s Head Office- Beirut.

Dr. Souraya Bechealany: The Youth Shall realize that the Christian element contributes to human dignity, to religious freedom and to the freedom of all religious, ethnic, and cultural identities.

Monsignor Toufic Bou Hadir: During this Meeting, the youth will experiment “the wealth of diversity” and will discover that what they have in common exceeds by far their differences.

Brother Emile: The founder of the Taizé Community visited Lebanon for the first time in 1982 to meet the family of Ghasssibé Keyrouz

Beirut will be hosting the “International Ecumenical Youth Meeting” at the invitation of the Churches of Lebanon and the Middle East Council of Churches along with the French Ecumenical Taizé Community, from 22 to 26 March 2019, under the title “The Righteous shall grow like a Cedar of Lebanon”.