Arizona Church Advocates for the Middle East is an interfaith coalition working to connect churches with their neighbors being affected by violence in the Middle East.

As a Christian, I’m motivated by the teaching and ethics of Jesus to build bridges with “those who are far off, and those who are near” (Eph. 2:17). I’m motivated to reach people in their humanity, with the conviction that every person is made in God’s image and indispensable for God’s plan to “unite all things in himself” (Eph 1:10).

As Christians, we are also called to love our neighbors, especially those who are oppressed. But we can’t love our neighbors if we don’t know them. In this coalition, we work to make that possible.

We are proud to work together as Christians, Muslims, and Jews to connect churches with communities and stories they haven’t heard yet. We’ve planned things like:

Prayer marches for peace and solidarity
Workshops and educational events
Listening circles
Bible and theology study groups

We bring our communities to the church in small delegations, representing the religious and ethnic diversity of the communities in which we live, and of those being affected by violence in the Middle East.

We seek to build relationships and to invite people on a journey of learning, connecting with their neighbors, and exploring what authentic Christian spirituality looks like in the context of the Middle East.

1 The first way we do this is through delegations.

We plan events—often in collaboration with other local organizations and churches—which are geared toward Christians who take the Bible seriously, and designed to help us reflect on what’s happening in our community and our world in the light of faith.

The second thing we do is plan community and education events.

2

For me, this is the most exciting part of our work! We are working to invite local pastors and Christian leaders to join us in parts of the community. We know that it isn’t always easy to begin engaging with people we don’t know yet, especially in the places in our community most affected by grief, anger, and conflict.

We invite Christians to come with us to a dinner at the local mosque or Arab Orthodox church, or even to join us at a protest and let us introduce them to people who can tell them why they’re there. Along the way, local Christians can also let their neighbors know that they see them, and find opportunities to live like the Good Samaritan.