Wednesday 18 May 2011

Reflections on Middle East & ACN support

This morning I visited 5 of the 50 families around Bethlehem who make and handcraft wooden crosses, rosaries & Christmas decorations for the Tabash family & for ACN. The oldest person was Joan aged 101 years...who loves to put the wooden roasaries into pouch packets! I assured them of our prayers. It was a privilege to meet young & old alike on behalf of ACN. At 6am Mass in the Holy Grotto priests from Wonersh Seminary celebrated the hope of the Incarnation - & I led the singing of the Salve Regina with the seminarians for the suffering Church. The hope of Christ is alive - the Hope born for us in Bethlehem. Pope Benedict reflected on the situation in the Holy Land & one of the priests reflected on his words and said: "We are asked to nurture & care for Christians in the Holy Land & Middle East, just as we would care for the baby Jesus Himself." In the midst of worry, fear, violence & suffering your help through ACN sustains hope Himself born for us. Thank you. Neville, Jerusalem, 18 05,11

ipadio: The latest news from Aid to the Church in Need - 11th phonecast

Sunday 15 May 2011

ipadio: The latest news from Aid to the Church in Need - 7th phonecast

Palestinian prayers & tensions

As developments and breaking news report - there are uprisings and tensions throughout the Middle East. Sunday has been a day of mourning for Palestinians 1948 & all that has happened since....Nakba, disaster. Whilst borders have been crossed from Lebanon & Syria, internally it has been a very tense day. On the road from Jericho late afternoon there were 3 check points & Palestinians were being prevented from travelling to specific areas. Tonight Sunday evening there were even some clashes on the streets of Bethlehem near a check point. I witnessed control being taken - riot shields and batons were used...and the stones + bricks being cleared away, but still a man waved a Fatah flag in the street. Prayers please for oppressed peoples and for peace. ACN is commited to help Christian communities wherever they are in need. Neville Kyrke-Smith, Aid to the Church in Need, Bethlehem, 15.05.11


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ipadio: The latest news from Aid to the Church in Need - 6th phonecast

Nakbah Day

Here in Bethlehem this Sunday there are prayers for peace on Nakbah Day - a day of mourning for Palestinians for 1948 & for all that has happened to them. In much of the Middle East there are clashes, violence & some deaths. Patriarch Rai in Beirut  spoke of "a political & social earthquake which has struck the Middle East"...& the reverberations + after-shocks ripple across all borders.  Yet the people search for hope. At Mass in St Catherine's Church in Bethlehem over 100 young children made their First Communion today. Let us pray with our brothers & sisters...and help sustain hope. Neville, Bethlehem, 15 05 11

Thursday 12 May 2011

ipadio: The latest news from Aid to the Church in Need - 3rd phonecast

Monastic prayer in the mountains of Lebanon

Just come from the dusty streets of Tripoli, north Lebanon, where black Sunni flags fly from houses and banners proclaim 'There is only one God and Mohammed is his apostle'
. Now visiting Monastery of St Anthony, Qozhaya high up in the mountains & just met Fr Joseph Sleiman, a Maronite monk...until recently Principal of a school in Sydney Australia. All the villages & small towns here in the mountains around Qadisha Valley are Maronite - this is where they came here to flee centuries ago. History may never quite repeat itself, but the long shadows of history & persecution are never far away. Prayers from near the Cedars of Lebanon.

Neville, north Lebanon

ipadio: The latest news from Aid to the Church in Need - 3rd phonecast

On the Green Line

Last night in downtown Beirut we parked on the old Green Line, the frontline in the 1975-90 War. Posters of more recently murdered politicians - e.g. Rafiq Hariri, murdered in 2005 - hang from buildings. Now in a more peaceful time - here in the Middle East at least - despite armed soldiers and check points the Lebanese enjoy sitting outside smoking their water & tobacco narguileh pipes or eating together. Western style dress mixes with Muslim hijabs on the streets & an Arab in a full shadour walks past on his mobile & then soldiers with guns at hand walk by. Cultures and religions mix in Beirut once again, but it is not 'the Western playground' of the 1960s. Beirutis always went out to eat even when the bombs came down...now there is some peace and they always hope.

Neville

Wednesday 11 May 2011

ipadio: The latest news from Aid to the Church in Need - 1st phonecast

Beirut faith

Meeting with Iraqi refugees. Now fearful of more fleeing Syria...where they have already fled to. Some now going back from Syria to villages in northern Iraq. Yet encouragement
from great faith of Jacques Kalassi at Tele Lumiere witnessing to Christ throughout the Arab world. Faith & fortitude...all with hope. Great ACN support - really appreciated. In prayer from Beirut - Neville

Tyre - but don't tire of prayer

Just passed UN post on way from Tyre to Sidon...Sour to Saida...after Bishop Hajj had appealed to ACN to help "the villages and home of Christianity". He asked for solidarity & prayer in this part of the Holy Land where Christ & his Mother came. "One bullet could ignite a renewed conflict. " He and others are  involved in dialogue between Christians, Muslims & Druze. Today a new centre for dialogue sponsored by the Sultan of Oman opened in Beirut. Talk fine - but where is the action? Neville

Lebanon
10.05.11

Sidon

Dialogue & inter-religious meetings take place in Sidon (Saida) + two bishops speak of good relations with Sunni, Shia and Druze. Worries about possible Syrian refugees - perhaps 300,000 Melkites amongst 2 million Christians. How do we at ACN help sustain Christianity here? Archbishop Nassar of Sidon pleaded - "Help us to witness to Christ where Christ & His blessed mother came."
Just arriving in Tyre (Sour)...after passing UN armoured vehicles.
Neville
10.05.11

Beirut & Middle East

In Lebanon today there seems to be a mixture of fear and also relief. Fear at the unknown consequences of what Patriarch Rai calls 'a political and social earthquake in the Middle East' and the critical situation nearby in Syria + Egypt. Yet, also relief...that- for all the political in-fighting - that there is no actual conflict taking place in Lebanon. There are deep anxieties amongst Christian communities about what is happening to their brothers & sisters throughout the Middle East + a real worry about a possible flood of refugees. Yet the Lebanese live on hope...& trust in God + look to charities like ACN to help them. Neville K-S, Beirut, 09.05.11

Lebanon

En route to Beirut for Aid to the Church in Need. It will be interesting to see how the religious & political landscape is being impacted upon by Middle East upheavals. Challenging for
Christian communities and others.Will speak to those caring for Iraqi refugees and orphans, new Patriarch & different communities.
Neville
08/05/11