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”10 minutes is the rule, so you make a lot of noise in your room at 5.50 if the other EA isn’t up.” Shepherding is early morning business, and international accompaniers from the WCC-EAPPI play a particular role, as they offer protective presence to Palestinian communities on the West Bank.

"10 دقائق هي القاعدة، لذلك عليك أن تحدث ضجة كبيرة في غرفتك على الساعة 5 و50د إذا لم يستيقظ المرافق المسكوني الآخر."

يُعدّ رعي الماشية عملاً من الأعمال الصباحية الباكرة والمرافقون الدوليون المشاركون في برنامج المرافقة المسكوني في فلسطين وإسرائيل التابع لمجلس الكنائس العالمي (WCC-EAPPI) يؤدّون دورًا خاصًا يتمثّل في توفير تواجد وقائي للمجتمعات الفلسطينية في الضفة الغربية.

Due date for demolition of Khan al Ahmar was 1 October. Though the Bedouin community still stands, the feeling is the bulldozers could show up anytime.

“Ecumenical accompaniers” (EAs) from more than 20 countries handed off the ‘road map’ of the World Council of Churches Ecumenical Accompaniment Program in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI) to a new group on 23 April.

As an “ecumenical accompanier,” Prokop’s role description might include: “walks children to school,” and “shares what he sees.” In many communities, these tasks are daily - even mundane - parts of life. But for Prokop, who has served with the World Council of Churches Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (WCC-EAPPI), walking children to school was anything but humdrum.

There is a warm buzz in the church. Happy reunions. Friends and colleagues reunited. It is a time for goodbyes for some. It is a time of being welcomed for others. Nearly 150 people gathered in St Anne’s Basilica in East Jerusalem to pray for a just peace, for an end to the 50 years of occupation and for the solidarity to be able to live side-by-side in Palestine and Israel. It is time for the ecumenical accompaniers in group 67 to hand over to those in group 68.

The WCC Executive Committee met in Amman, Jordan from 17-23 November to approve the 2018 plan and budget and prepare for renewal of the WCC strategic plan. The Executive Committee also discerned the way forward for the WCC’s involvement in Palestine and Israel by learning more about the particular situation in Jordan and the Middle East, then discussing the challenges of the churches and the WCC response. The Patriarch of the Holy City of Jerusalem, All Palestine and Jordan, Theophilos III, welcomed the group.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) executive committee will meet in Amman, Jordan from 17-23 November to approve the 2018 plans and budget, prepare for renewal of the WCC strategic plan, to discern the way forward for the WCC’s involvement in Palestine and Israel for justice and peace by learning more about the particular situation in Jordan and the Middle East, then discussing the challenges of the churches and the WCC response. The Patriarch of the Holy City of Jerusalem, All Palestine and Jordan, Theophilos III, will welcome the group.

From Geneva to Bethlehem and across the world, the World Council of Churches (WCC) World Week of Peace in Israel and Palestine inspired gatherings for prayer, reflection and action last week. Among the commemorations, a group gathered on 22 September at the Wi’am: The Palestinian Conflict Transformation Center in Bethlehem to pray for peace.

As a student back in the seventies, it took a while for Rifat Kassis to come to terms with being both a good Christian, and a Palestinian living under occupation. His call to become a reverend in the Lutheran Church in Palestine brought him to Germany to study theology 40 years ago.

The WCC is calling on Christians worldwide to join in prayer for just peace in the Holy Land by taking part in a Pentecost prayer service.

"You can use either name,” he jokes when introducing himself. A cheerful man with a strong passion for dialogue, peace and reconciliation, Zoughbi Zoughbi sees his job as a "way of living - or a commitment, rather than a task", as he puts it.

The Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel was launched by the WCC in 2002 based on an appeal from local church leaders to create an international presence in the country. So far, more than 1,800 ecumenical accompaniers have worked to create conditions for a just peace.

The WCC this week installed at its headquarters in Geneva a tapestry of traditional Palestinian embroidery donated to the WCC.

The leadership of the WCC Central Committee met in Geneva on 14-15 March to prepare for the Executive Committee meeting in June in Geneva. The WCC continues to focus on its pilgrimage of justice and peace, preparations for the 11th Assembly in 2021 as well as its upcoming 70th anniversary. The WCC was formed in October 1948 in Amsterdam. During 2018, the WCC fellowship will not only celebrate significant milestones in the history of the WCC but also continue to address modern injustices and the ongoing struggle for a just peace.

On 26 February, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas formally received the general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit for a meeting to discuss just peace in Palestine and Israel. Abbas is scheduled for a speech at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland, in the beginning of the week.