A meeting between US and Middle East church officials have left them all citing a stronger bond between Christians in the US and Christians in the Middle East as a necessary priority. The meeting highlights that the Middle East is not all Muslim.

A five-person delegation, sponsored by Church World Service traveled around the Middle East from Oct. 23-Nov. 1 to Cairo, Egypt; Beirut, Lebanon; Damascus, Syria; Amman, Jordan; Jerusalem and Bethlehem.

Members of the delegation included the Rev. Randy R. Day, chief executive of the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries, Rev. Marian McClure, director of the Worldwide Ministries Division for the Presbyterian Church (USA) General Assembly Council; the Rev. William Sibert, executive director, Board of World Mission, Moravian Church; and David Weaver, director of Mission Relationships and Witness for Church World Service.

These delegates of world church organisations met with representatives of the Middle East Council of Churches, Christian and Muslim religious leaders, and several government officials, even the President of Syria.

The Christian population has been on the decline in countries such as Syria and Lebanon, which Rev. Day says is a cause for concern. Therefore, the focus should be on “how to continue to witness and function as [Christian] minorities.”

The meeting is important because it links the two regions in sharing information, mission strategies, etc.

Day said, "They were extremely open to this delegation coming. I thought it was very important for them to be connecting to Christians from the United States."

Also, the situation of Middle Eastern Christians is a cause for concern for all people, not just the Muslims. The people living there are plagued with situations of violence and unrest, such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the Iraq War.

"All of these factors weigh heavily on the communities," Day said.

The Rev. John McCullough, Church World Service executive director and the delegation’s leader said that Church World Service and its partners are troubled "by the political, economic and social factors that are provoking Christian migration from the region and severely challenging the churches and stable Christian communities there.”

For example, Christians in Syria were not only anxious about the effects of the Iraq War spilling over into their country, but they also felt the West misunderstood their country, UMNS reports.

Syria’s new president, Bashar El Assad met with the delegation, and he seemed to be "well-informed and extremely open in his dialogue with us," Day said, which is encouraging for the Christians in Middle East.

"I think we need the strong voices of moderation in the Arab world," Day said. "I’m hoping he might be one of those."

McCullough said, "Many Muslim leaders are moderate and cooperate with Christians in building good, civil relationships. Some are aware of the greater sense of vulnerability that the minority Christian community feels, and we heard specific examples of government responsiveness to that community."

Day notes the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel, launched by the World Council of Churches in August 2002 as one positive step in this direction. Ecumenical accompaniers work with local churches, Israeli and Palestinian nongovernmental organisations, and Palestinian communities to monitor human rights violations and improve the daily lives of Palestinians and Israelis.

And though Day was shocked to see the size of the wall that the Israelis are building around the Palestinian areas, symbolising the huge spiritual gap between the two nations, he still believes that a "just peace" is possible for Israelis and Palestinians and cited the possibility of a two-state solution. He concluded with his hope that the Bush administration will spotlight Israeli-Palestinian peace as a foreign policy priority during its second term (UMNS).