Caught Between Israel, Iran, and the USA

A Special Reformed Church Center Program That’s Important to Everyone

Christians throughout the Levant and the Gulf are caught in the crossfire of the wars between the US/Israel and Iran and the attacks from Israel on Lebanon. They largely feel ignored and abandoned by their Christian Brothers and Sisters in the West. Recent threats against Oman have come as a shock and have continued to harm the feelings between the general Omani population and the US, including RCA missionaries there.

The Reformed Church Center is partnering with Al-Amana Centre in Oman—an ecumenical and interfaith organization working to facilitate understanding and trust between people of different religions and cultures—to present a special webinar, “Caught Between Israel, Iran, and the USA.” Join Rev. Justin Meyers and Christians from Lebanon and Palestine as they discuss the effect of this war on how Christians in the Middle East on Wednesday, July 1, 12:00 noon to 1:30 pm Eastern Time on Zoom.

Justin Meyers is an ordained minister in the Reformed Church in America with degrees from Western Theological Seminary and the University of Winchester, UK. He is currently working on a DMin at NBTS. After serving churches in Schenectady, New York, and Flushing, Queens, New York, he and his a family moved to Muscat, Oman in 2013 to work with Al Amana Centre, where he currently serves as Executive Director. He specializes in inter-religious dialogue and encounters. He has a passion for helping people wrestle with differences and live within the tensions of different cultures.

Salim J. Munayer was born and raised in the city of Lydda and is currently living in Jerusalem. He is the founder and Senior Consultant of Musalaha: A Vision of Reconciliation He holds degrees from Tel Aviv University, Fuller Theological Seminary, and the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies (UK). Dr. Munayer has written extensively on theology, reconciliation, and the Israeli-Palestinian context. He is also an adjunct professor at Pepperdine University and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and serves as Regional Coordinator for the Peace and Reconciliation Network (PRN) in the Middle East and North Africa (NENA) region under the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA).

Shireen Awwad Hilal is the Director of Community Outreach and Development of the Bethlehem Bible College. She holds degrees from Bethlehem University, Texas A & M University, and Tel Aviv University.  As part of her work, she manages the work of the Shepherd Society, the social outreach arm of the Bethlehem Bible College, which offers both emergency assistance in the form of food, medical assistance and so on, and also durable solutions through job creation and micro-finance projects. This emergency assistance has more recently extended to Gaza.  She has a passion for humanitarian and development work as well as peace with justice, and she has been a peace activist for many years.

Martin Accad is President of the Near East School of Theology in Beirut, Lebanon. Formerly Chief Academic Officer at the Arab Baptist Theological Seminary in Beirut, Lebanon, he transitioned to form a new research initiative in public affairs, Action Research Associates, in January, 2021. He holds PhD and MPhil degrees from the University of Oxford in the UK. He teaches and publishes in the fields of Islam, Middle Eastern Christianity, contextual hermeneutics, Christian-Muslim Relations, and peacebuilding, and is heavily involved in grassroots dialogue and peacebuilding activism with Christian and Muslim faith actors, political activists, and other public figures in Lebanon.

Chaden Hani is a researcher and activist in peace and reconciliation studies and co-founder/Director of Action Research Associates (ARA). She works on several initiatives and research projects focused on dialogue between emerging political actors and activists of the change movement. ARA is concerned with the history of the Lebanese civil war, and Hani is involved in a project entitled “Truth and Reconciliation,” which employs a multiple-narrative approach towards reconciliation. She holds degrees from Lebanese American University, The Arabic Baptist Theological Seminary (ABTS), and the Institute of Middle East Studies (IMES), based at ABTS, and is a Ph.D. candidate at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. She is also active with the Forum for Memory and Future FMF, Women for Peace Network in Lebanon WPNL and the Peace and Reconciliation Network PRN-MENA under World Evangelical Alliance WEA.

Like all Reformed Church Center programs, this special program is free and open to everyone, but registration is required. 

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