it calls “biblical reconciliation” between these two communities as a sign of hope for the wider society in Israel and Palestine. During the past 15 months or so we

have watched with interest and concern the various movements toward democracy in the Middle East. At the time of writing we are very concerned about the deteriorating situation in Syria, where the church led by the Syrian Baptist president is in one of the confl ict zones. We have also received regular reports form one of the newest EBF member churches, the one church fellowship in the Gulf state of Bahrain where there have been tensions between the ruling Sunni minority and the Shia majority. One encouraging development is that the Bahrain Baptist pastor was invited with other leaders to speak about religious freedom to some members of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, France. As a

Nazareth Baptist School students at chapel

(Photo courtesy of Nazareth Educational Ministries

Association, Inc)

result the Baptist church there is likely to receive greater offi cial recognition from the Bahrain authorities. The EBF Executive has committed itself to hold its March 2012 meeting in Amman, Jordan, preceded by a visit from the EBF president and general secretary to Egypt. We have invited all the Middle East Baptist leaders to join us in Jordan for a consultation so we can learn fi rsthand the situation of each country, and express the

solidarity, support and prayer of the EBF for them at this critical time. In the past decade there has been

an increasing number of Karen, Chin and Kachin refugees from Myanmar/ Burma moving into some countries

of

the European Union (EU). Many of these refugees are Baptists. The Scandinavian Baptist

unions, especially Norway and Denmark, have led the way in responding

APRIL/JUNE 2012

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