Wars & rumours of wars…
Mark Smith reports on the recent trip of two senior Presbyterians to Lebanon, where they took part in a special conference of Christian women who are impacted by war.
“Y
ou will hear of wars and rumours of wars...” The words of Jesus, quoted by Matthew in his gospel are familiar to all. As we have probably entered into the second generation of people who did not live through what many call the Troubles, there are still many (too many) around the world, who are experiencing not just rumours of war, but war itself. In April, Rev Dr Liz Hughes, the former convener of PCI’s Council for Global Mission, and Heather Clements, convener of the Council’s Global Mission committee, were invited to a country that is all too familiar with war – in a region that is experiencing an unrelenting conflict that is rarely off our news feeds. The two senior Presbyterians were in Lebanon, taking part in a conference of Christian women who continue to be impacted by war and conflict. ‘The unheard voice: women’s persevering
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Herald July/August 2025
witness in war’ was organised by the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) – Europe, which PCI is a member of, and hosted by PCI’s partner in the region, the National Evangelical Synod of Syria and Lebanon (NESSL). Taking place at a retreat in the hills surrounding Beirut, the conference was led by the current WCRC president, NESSL’s Rev Najla Kassab from Lebanon, and brought together women from Syria, Lebanon, and Transcarpathia in western Ukraine, along with Hungarian-speaking Reformed communities in central Europe. “Of the 24 participants
…the world needs to hear from women…who bear the weight of suffering, who keep everything together…
who attended, some were pastors, or pastor’s wives, and others were women who were in leadership in their congregations,” Mrs Clements explained.
