A Special Week: Remembering Christians in the Middle East

Your church has probably received a packet from the Office of the General Assembly exhorting us to "Celebrate a Week of Prayer and Witness with Christians in the Middle East."

Each church is asked to select a week between Easter and Pentecost to reflect on the Christians living in the Middle East, the birthplace of our faith. The packet includes a very attractive and informative booklet called The Cradle of Our Faith: The Enduring Witness of the Christians of the Middle East, which tells of the churches in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Iran, Israel/Palestine, and Egypt. The ancestors of these Christians were in some cases the first converts to Christianity and trace their roots to the Pentecost event.

The 217th General Assembly overwhelmingly passed an overture inviting all of our PCUSA congregations to join in this special week of observance. Activities your congregation might participate in might include:

• A special emphasis in Sunday worship – In the packet there is material in a brochure called "The Resurrection Hope" which gives litanies, prayers, a bulletin insert and suggestions for music.
  
• Study of the history of evolving Christian traditions in the Middle East
  
• Speakers, films, guided discussion
  
• Educational projects for children and youth
  
• Congregational meals to be cooked and eaten with Arab, Jewish and/or Persian neighbors
  
• Planning for travel opportunities to the Holy Land

Resources may be found in the packet and also by going to the PCUSA web site. Click here.

It is hoped that many churches in Mission Presbytery will take advantage of this opportunity to draw closer to our Christian brothers and sisters in the countries of the Middle East.