Middle East Council of Churches, 9th Assembly

The MECC 9th General Assembly took place in St. George Hotel, in the town of Paphos/Cyprus (26 – 30 November). The agenda of Assembly included a report from the General Secretary, reports of the Units and Departments for the past four years, business sessions of election of the General Secretary, the election of the Presidents, as well as the appointment of the new Executive Committee members. The Assembly had a half day of reporting and in depth discussions regarding the restructuring of the Council. Around hundred and twenty persons attended the Assembly including Patriarchs (Heads of Churches), sixty four representatives of member churches (Eastern Orthodox – Oriental Orthodox – Catholic – Evangelicals) who are eligible for voting, as well as guests, international partners and media personnel. The Assembly had chosen the theme from 2 Corinthians 5:20 “So we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us”, which was reflected in morning prayers and Bible reflections.
Since its establishment in 1974, the Council is representing the ecumenical movement in the Middle East and became an instrument for churches to witness their unity in diversity.

The MECC website: www.mec-churches.org

The internet is the tool of the next generation... Let's be there!

Here's what Jonathan Spangenberg at Armenian TIMES says:
Our Diaspora communities are afraid of assimilation. The structures of most of our organizations and associations are mostly centralized organs of semi function. Our brains seem to be dogmatic with concepts of the past! Our methodology of work is far from today’s reality. Fear, confusion and mistrust for something new have paralyzed our growth!
He continues:
Timing and teamwork are the key words to survive as a collective in the era of networks.
I would like to say that online media is still not taken seriously, and many do fear, specially the older generation, fearing that the control will not be in their hands anymore and things may go out of hands and into chaos. However, this is not the reality. The youth are the future, and many have proven that they are loyal and visionary.

Jonathan talks about the older generation:
Our older generation often asks “where is the new generation”? “We hardly see any at community events or community centres?” Well, my answer to the older generation would simply be look once at “facebook”, “myspace”, “linkedin” or any other platform of communication and social or professional networking. The new generation has already started to find its ways of communicating, discussing, getting organised and working in realities of the present. Unfortunately, our organizations and institutions on the face of it have not understood the power of such international networks and platforms.
also,
Our Diaspora and the Armenian reality as a whole will and has to turn into a modern network which is professional, resourceful and knowledge oriented.
Our communication, cooperation and networking in virtual systems and real life will bring us closer together than ever before.
Embracing anything new has been slow, throughout the ages. However, it is also quite interesting to see managers, CEOs, editors, academicians, principals, professors, and even our own pastors and priest in Facebook. This should mean something; that the generation which did not grow up with computers is not indifferent to the benefits of this technology in general and the internet in specific.

Kids Camp in Anjar that took place during the summer



The chanitz-agan leaders were: Jano, Nara (Emmanuel Church), Prince, Hagop (Anjar Church), Elias, Hagop (NEST students), Mrs. Ruth (First Church, as head leader) and Mrs. Missirlian (Anjar Church, as speaker).

* We received these pictures from Rev. Raffi Meserlian.

Church Banquet (Տարեկան Ճաշկերոյթ)

Sunday, Nov. 26, the Khnamagal Body of the church organized its annual banquet, that took place within the the church premises, starting at 1:00 pm till 3:15 pm.

See the pics in the slideshow below, or by clicking here if you can't see


All the groups of the church participated in this event, the ladies prepared the food, the Badaniatz and Chanitz members prepared the place, put up the table, distributed the dishes and took part in the program with sketches, and songs, the Sunday School members presented their prayers, Maral Khoshafian played on the piano, also baron Varouj, Panos Mamigonian and Garouj Aroyan took part. Dr. Avo Chakmakian led the program, the Khnamagal members made sure that everything was ready, and the pastor, Rev. Hovannes, had already brought all these teams and members together to make sure that every thing went smoothly.



Chanitz members who took part in the program: Hagop G., Raffi, Mano, Hovsep, Jano. Those who helped: Lisa, Hagop H., Hagop K., Mike, Hovig, Garo, Ara, Sam.

Women’s conference in Doha to enhance living a Godly life

November 2007, Doha: “Living a Godly Legacy” is the Conference that attracted more than 170 women from the different churches in the Gulf. The Conference took place in Doha, Qatar, from November 2 to 3, 2007 and was organized by the Grace Fellowship. The Grace Fellowship is an interdenominational church in Doha, Qatar. The guest speaker was Ms Lana Packer who encouraged women to enhance their lives for a Godly legacy.

The Bible Society was invited to provide special Scriptures for women and their role in the Christian ministry. The formalities of importing Scriptures for this special event had begun well in advance by the Bible Society Center in Qatar. The participants were all very appreciative of the role the Bible Society is playing in assisting various Christian events taking place in the region.



* We received this news from Hrayr Jebejian, General Secretary- The Bible Society in the Gulf.

Facebook and Hotmail blocked in Syria?

I have not yet confirmed this news, and we will await confirmation.

I already know that all the website addresses that end with .blogspot.com are blocked in Syria, although there are very few cases in Damascus and Aleppo, who have access, but they are the minority and an exception.

Lately, rumor has it that Facebook, as well as Hotmail (sometimes) are being blocked in many regions for some reason. In case this is true, it will hinder some of the communication between the two countries, since most of the youth communicate through Facebook and Hotmail.

We will confirm about this, as soon as we receive updates.

Update (27/Nov/07): So this is TRUE! The Syrian government has blocked Facebook. This is ironic... just yesterday, Zaven Kouyoumjian on Future TV was asking about Facebook, it seems that he will talk about Facebook next week. Also, two weeks ago, a New TV journalist talked about Facebook and how different people were meeting in Facebook groups and talking about various issues, mostly ideological views, that are censored in Arab countries.
Others tried to bypass the blockade, however, even proxy-bypassing software and anonymous web-browing website are figured out by the Ministry IT and have blocked the ports they use.

Here are some links and views:
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSOWE37285020071123
http://www.mideastyouth.com/2007/11/24/syria-blocks-facebook/
http://www.globalvoicesonline.org/2007/11/19/syria-facebook-banned/