On Saturday, October 10, St. Athanasius, along with the Lexington-area Orthodox parishes and the Jessamine County Ministerial Association, co-hosted a special Reception & Presentation on the Syrian Crisis. The educational event, which also served as a fundraiser for the vital work of the International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC), featured a panel of speakers with direct experience of the ongoing humanitarian disaster in Syria. Fr. Thomas Gallaway, pastor of St. Andrew Antiochian Church in Lexington, introduced our panel and moderated the event, offering the unique perspective of a Christian community still based in Damascus, Syria. Additional panel speakers included Drs. Rezkalla Butros and Majd Makoul, who both addressed life in Syria before the recent conflict broke out. Iyad Jabbour and one of his relatives spoke about the ravages of war, displacement, and terrorism. The speakers all emphasized how complex the problems facing the Syrian people–and the Christian community there in particular–are. They all agreed it is vital to support the Syrian Christian community. At present there are only two legal ways to do this, due to sanctions placed on Syria and the freezing of assets flowing into Syria: the Patriarchate of Antioch and the IOCC. If you would like to give to either of these causes, you may continue to give electronically via St. Athanasius’ new paypal portal. Please note “for the Antiochian Patriarchate” or “for IOCC.”
Bulletin October 18, 2015