Four Virginia Baptists have joined other Baptist leaders in North America and Europe in calling for an end to violence in Lebanon.
The leaders are asking prayer for:
• “An end to the escalating violence between Israel and Hezbollah.”
• “Discerning governmental leadership that will see the wisdom in and work swiftly for an immediate ceasefire.”
• “The safety, courage and witness of our Baptist family in Lebanon.”
“As Baptists, who believe the whole Bible, we know that Jesus calls us to peacemaking,” the leaders said. “We know that praying for peace and witnessing to the state are things that make for peace.”
Signing the statement, which was initiated by the Baptist Center for Ethics and released July 23, were John Upton, executive director of the Baptist General Association of Virginia; Jerry Jones, team leader of the Virginia Baptist Mission Board's glocal missions and evangelism team; Beth Fogg of Richmond, a former BGAV president; and Tom Leland, pastor of University Baptist Church in Charlottesville.
Other signers are Jim Hill, executive director of the Baptist General Convention of Missouri; Emmanuel McCall, moderator of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship; Gary Nelson, general secretary of Canadian Baptist Ministries; Robert Parham, executive director of the Baptist Center for Ethics; Tony Peck, general secretary of the European Baptist Federation; and Charles Wade, executive director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas.
Roy Medley, general secretary of the American Baptist Churches in the U.S.A., later joined the call for a ceasefire in a July 24 letter to President George W. Bush.
Churches for Middle East Peace — whose members include the Alliance of Baptists — earlier called for a ceasefire. Other members of the umbrella group are the American Friends Service Committee, the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, the Mennonite Central Committee, the Roman Catholic Conference of Major Superiors of Men's Institutes, the Presbyterian Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the United Methodist Church, the Episcopal Church, the Unitarian Universalist Assocation and the United Church of Christ.
Also calling for a ceasefire are World Alliance of Reformed Churches, the National Council of Churches and the U.S. Catholic Bishops Conference.
In their statement, released July 23, the Baptist leaders quoted a letter from Nabil Costa, executive director of the Lebanese Society for Educational and Social Development, a Baptist organization.
“The current disaster places the Lebanese believers at a crossroads,” he wrote. “Either we willingly work to lift up the weak and the weary, endangering our lives to save others, or we can choose to run and hide, hunkering down until this tornado passes by.
“For us Lebanese believers this is not so easy,” he continued. “Those we are helping are linked to those who tried to destroy us during the Lebanese war (1975-90),” an apparent reference to the thousands of Shiite refugees who have fled southern Lebanon, many of whom are sheltered at the Beirut Baptist School and the Arab Baptist Theological Seminary.
“But the loving eyes of our crucified Lord have directed us to the narrow road, to be his heart and his hands to those in need. … It was as if God were telling us, ‘It is not easy for you to go to these people, so I will bring them to you to serve them and reveal to them my love.”