Women Church Leaders Zero in on Mideast's Most Vulnerable
A delegation of women church leaders from the United States departed Wednesday to witness firsthand the suffering of the most vulnerable in the Middle East – women and children.
Leaders of several denominations part of the National Council of the Churches of Christ (NCC) in the USA set off to the war-torn region with the aim to see the suffering from the Palestine-Israel conflict and the refugee crisis caused by the Iraq war.
More than a dozen women led by the Rev. Dr. Thelma Chambers-Young, at-large vice president of the NCC and vice president of the North American Baptist Women's Union, will travel in the region for nearly two weeks, visiting Jordan and Israel/Palestine.
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"Women look at issues of children and what's going to happen to the family," said Chambers-Young, according to NCC. "We thought that, from the perspective of women as peacemakers, this would be an interesting way to look at this.
"I hope we will hear the concerns of women in the region and stand in solidarity with our sisters and brothers who are caught in the middle of the conflict."
In Israel, women and children are recovering from memories of last summer's bitter Hezbollah conflict while continuing to face intense hostility from the Palestinian authority.
The delegation's visit this month also occurs as the U.S. government debates funding of the Iraq war, which has caused more than 1.8 million people to seek refuge outside of the country, according to the U.N. High Commissioner on Refugees (UNHCR). Nearly half of the refugees fleeing Iraq are Christians.
It is estimated that 750,000 Iraqi refugees are in neighboring Jordan while Syria has between 600,000 to 1 million Iraqi refugees, according to UNHCR.
The U.N. estimates the Iraq war has created the largest migration of refugees in the Mideast since the 1948 establishment of the modern state of Israel.
The NCC delegation plans to visit Jordan and meet with Christian refugees from Iraq.
Two senior NCC staff members will accompany the delegation: the Rev. Brenda Girton-Mitchell, associated general secretary for justice and advocacy, who will represent the NCC's Justice for Women Working Group; and Dr. Antonios Kireopoulos, associate general secretary for international affairs and peace, who directs the NCC's efforts on Middle East peace and other international issues.
"We will listen and learn from the various parties there," said Chambers-Young. "We can come back and be more effective peace witnesses for our churches and our government."
The Middle East Council of Churches helped to coordinate the delegation's visit.
