An accidental faux pas sometimes teaches you a lot about a culture. On this occasion it was a warning from a Lebanese friend that saved me – a Lebanese American living in Beirut – from breaking convention. What crime against custom had I been about to commit? Simply, I was planning to wear my very Californian flip flops in public. […]
Learning to forgive – November 2015
Iranian songs of fellowship
Newly returned from a marathon recording session in Finland of 44 Iranian worship songs, London-based worship leader Hovan Hovsepian-Mehr spoke to Wazala about the importance and nature of worship in the Iranian diaspora Church. In many ways Christian worship is in Hovan’s blood. His father, Edward, is one of the most respected leaders of the Iranian church and was for […]
The Briefing – November 2015
Another eventful month saw Russia and Iran join the Syria talks table, a shock election result in Turkey, and a thumbs down for ideas of an autonomous Christian region in Iraq News from the region It has been a year of surprises in Turkey and last week brought the latest. No one, including the ruling AK Party itself, expected a […]
Bridge building through art in Alexandria
Wazala profiles a pioneering cultural project that is bridging religious and social divisions in Egypt What does it take to unify a country? Five years ago it was a national hunger for political change that brought Egyptians of diverse creeds and backgrounds together. At that time they were calling for the end of the rule of President Hosni Mubarak. But […]
Priest's remarkable escape from IS
Assyrian Christian leader tells how his humanitarian aid inspired a friend to plot his escape, on a motorbike, disguised as a jihadist fighter FATHER Jacques Mourad has told how he escaped the so-called Islamic State (IS) in Syria with the help of a friend whose family had been helped by the priest’s programme of aid to the poor and disadvantaged. […]
Televised Conference In the Desert Energises Faith In Egypt
A Christian youth festival in Egypt was so packed that people were “squashed in the aisles”, but that did not deter the spiritually hungry crowd! The sixth annual OneThing festival in Wadi el Natroun took place from 1-3 October with around 7,000 people attending each day. One of the main speakers, Rev. Sameh Maurice (below right), said that the packed […]
Televised conference in the desert energises faith in Egypt
A Christian youth festival in Egypt was so packed that people were “squashed in the aisles”, but that did not deter the spiritually hungry crowd! The sixth annual OneThing festival in Wadi el Natroun took place from 1-3 October with around 7,000 people attending each day. One of the main speakers, Rev. Sameh Maurice (below right), said that the packed […]
Urgent prayers requested for SAT-7 Egypt team
On Saturday 10th October, Officers from Egypt’s Censorship Department came to the SAT-7 studios with a search warrant and removed items of equipment, including cameras and computers used for editing. The Office Director, Mr. Farid Samir, was detained for 6 hours but then released. Mr Samir (left) faces four charges relating to operating a satellite TV channel without the necessary […]
With the Christian exiles from ISIS – October 2015
Grace discovers faith, pain and a shared understanding when she meets Iraqi Christians sheltering in Jordan It is interesting how God often speaks to us, beautifully and inspirationally, when we least expect it. Returning last month from a short visit to the USA, I had to go through Jordan, as Palestinians are not allowed to travel through the Israeli airport. […]
Practical support for asylum seekers
How to fulfil Matthew 25. The UK government has agree to accept 20,000 of the most vulnerable Syrian refugees over the next five years. A Middle East writer living in the UK offers some practical suggestions to help us care for these new arrivals and other refugees already living among us. “Then the King will say to those on his […]