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Jerusalem
and the Middle East
Church Association

(Registered Charity No. 248799)
Return to the homepage of Jerusalem and the Middle East Church Association
Bible Lands - the magazine of Jerusalem and the Middle East Church Association

News

  • Diocese of Cyprus and the Gulf
  • Diocese of Egypt with North Africa
  • Diocese of Iran
  • Diocese of Jerusalem

    • Book Review

  • A Faithful Presence

    • Obituaries

  • The Revd Dr John Coleman
  • The Very Revd Bryan George Henry

    • Bible Lands Pentecost 2003

    Bible Lands Christmas2002

    Christmas 2003

    Editorial

    Seven Arrested

    How would your church react if seven leading members, clergy, treasurer, secretary and organist, were all arrested? This is what has happened to the tiny Anglican church in Isfahan. They are all now out on bail but awaiting trial before the religious court.

    Bishop Iraj asks, “Will the church be faithful? Pray that she will fix her eyes on the faithful One, the dead, the resurrected and the coming One.” Please pray for the Church in Iran; for those awaiting trial, for the Bishop and other leaders, and the congregations, that all may have courage and faithfulness and receive justice.

    The Anglican church in Iran was in the news in 1980 when Dr John Coleman and others, including Iraj Mottahedeh, now Bishop in Iran, were arrested, and eventually released through the intervention of Terry Waite among others. Dr John died recently. Please read his obituary written by Terry Waite, and Bishop Iraj’s news.

    News from around the Province

    In other parts of the Province, there is news of an earthquake in Algiers, training and a play school in Ethiopia, oppression in Israel/Palestine, and reconstruction in Cyprus. Bishop Clive reports on his visit to Baghdad.

    Many thanks to all our readers who support the Province of Jerusalem and the Middle East by prayer and gifts. Where the money has come from and how it has been used is shown in the Financial Report.

    Please send a donation at Christmas if you can, (remembering to Gift Aid it if you are a British tax payer), so that those in trouble may be supported, the sick healed, and the work of the church in many places may continue and grow as the Good News is shared with those who long to hear it.

    Advent is a time of warning, a time of preparation, a time of hope and a call for justice. It leads to joy and amazement at God’s greatest gift in Jesus Christ, the helpless baby of Bethlehem, the Saviour of the World.

    May God bring peace and justice to the many troubled areas in the Bible Lands, and bless you all in Advent, at Christmas and throughout the New Year.
    Request a copy of Bible Lands. Maureen Lampard - Editor

    Special thanks

    Smarties
    Meditations

    Special thanks to the Revd Stuart Hadley and churches in Barkston and Hough in the Grantham area. At the beginning of Lent, church members were given tubes of Smarties and challenged to bring them back full of money to help the church in the Middle East. At Easter sixty tubes came back, and JMECA received the splendid sum of £579.53. An idea worth copying.

    Special thanks also to the Revd Canon Hugh Hopkins, who has put together a booklet Meditations through the Centuries, a selection of devotional readings by writers from the Middle Ages to the present day. This is available from him at 2 Bush Gardens, Bushmills, Co Antrim, BT57 8AE, price £5.49 including postage and packing. All profits go to JMECA.
    Top How you can help the JMECA:
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    		• Copyright JMECA 2004
    Page updated 9th January 2004 by Peter Chapman