prayer session amid air strikes.
"The Adventist Youth Federation has initiated nightly 7 p.m. prayer services at the Middle East University chapel [in Beirut] which are open to everybody," the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Middle East said in a statement obtained by BosNewsLife.
"It is encouraging to sense the courage of the people, and that one of their ways of getting through this period is by meeting for daily prayer sessions," said the church president, Kjell Aune, in published remarks distributed by the Adventist Press Service.
Foreign workers of his church are apparently not part of the prayer sessions as they have fled the country. Aune said that as "a consequence of the situation" the Adventist Church has been "obliged to provisionally evacuate its expatriate workers” under advice from embassies and consulates.
"Our expatriates have expressed strong reluctance to abandon the people whom they have been called to serve at such a critical period in Lebanon’s history, but we are powerless to act any differently in such a crisis," the official added "We are duty-bound to take responsibility for the people whom we bring into our territory."
REMAINING ACTIVE
However the church says it remains active in the region with over 250 Lebanese Muslim refugees from Southern Lebanon receiving shelter at the Moseitbeh Adventist Secondary School (MASS), a 700-pupil school located in West Beirut. Many local schools have opened their doors to provide sanctuary as a result of the weeklong air attacks across the country.
In addition, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) said it was supporting internally displaced persons in Lebanon.
"As part of an initial response, ADRA is mobilizing its resources in the region to respond to the most urgent needs. Fifteen per cent of the Lebanese population are internally displaced and are in urgent need of basic food, medicine, shelter, and clean water," said Regional Director Raafat Kamal.
The United Nations claims about 500,000 Lebanese have been displaced. Many are fleeing southern Lebanon to what they perceive as safer neighborhoods in Beirut and the northern part of that country, church workers said. In addition a further 200,000 are estimated to have fled into neighboring countries to escape the violence.
CIVILIAN CASUALTIES
Churches in the region expressed concern that civilian casualties are rising in both Lebanon and Israel, which has come under relentless rocket fire from the militant group Hezbollah.
In a pastoral letter obtained by BosNewsLife, the World Council of Churches (WCC) General Secretary Rev. Samuel Kobia encouraged the Council’s member churches “to pray for all those suffering as a result of the Middle East crisis,” and to support the appeals for emergency aid and to speak out for justice among the states and peoples in the region.
In the letter sent to WCC member churches in Europe, North America and the Middle East, Kobia encouraged them to join before God "in lamenting the loss of life and destruction of homes and livelihoods", and to pray "for the safety and well-being of all communities in the Middle East – Muslim, Christian, and Jewish."
The letter also urged churches to stay involved in humanitarian aid in Lebanon and Gaza, the Palestinian territory where fighting continues as well.
WAR RHETORIC
Earlier he asked all “all parties to immediately stop and reverse the escalation of the conflict and all use of the rhetoric of war", and insisting "fully and firmly on the need for all parties to protect civilians – Lebanese, Israeli and Palestinian – in accordance with international law."
However Israel and the United States say there cannot be a ceasefire now, as that would lead to a status quo, meaning that Hezbollah will remain in southern Lebanon from where it pounds Israeli towns, villages and settlements.
Israel has massed tanks and troops on the border after calling up reserves, and urged residents in southern Lebanon to leave their homes. Military officials reportedly confirmed that some units were already operating in Lebanon, as the army announced plans for a ground operation to destroy Hezbollah’s tunnels, hideouts and weapons stashes.
With Hezbollah’s rocket attacks and Israeli bombings undiminished, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she would visit the Middle East beginning Sunday — her first trip to the region since the crisis erupted 10 days ago, news reports said. (With BosNewsLife News Center, BosNewsLife Research and reports from Lebanon and Israel. Stay with BosNewsLife for continues coverage on the crisis in the Middle East).
