by Heather Bowser, Daily News-Record

A local Mennonite couple that fled Beirut at the start of the recent conflict between Israel and Hezbollah will return to the Lebanese capital this week, despite continuing tensions in the region.

The Harrisonburg couple, Ken and Kathryn Seitz, went to Beirut in 2004 to begin a five-year assignment for the Mennonite Central Committee, based in Akron, Pa. But the Seitzes returned to the Valley in July, a week after fighting between Israel and the Lebanon-based Hezbollah broke out. Before the conflict began, the Seitzes had already planned to return to the United States in July for a previously scheduled three-month leave. But instead of flying out of Beirut International Airport, as planned, the couple had to be evacuated

Kenneth and Kathryn Seitz are in much more peaceful surroundings than they were a week ago.

But their minds are still on the people and the country they hoped to make a better place.

Now, they keep tabs on the Middle East, praying for the battles in Lebanon and Israel to end. Somehow.

On A Mission

Only a few days ago, the Seitzes were in Beirut, Lebanon, as part of a humanitarian mission with , based in Akron, Pa. The couple, graduates of Eastern Mennonite High School and teachers at 91¶ÌÊÓƵ from 1979 to 1986, spent two years in Lebanon as part of a five-year mission.

The armed conflict between Israel and southern Lebanon-based Hezbollah forced them to flee. The Seitzes, both 68, had already planned weeks before to take time off. The hostilities between the Israeli military and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon altered those plans, forcing them to leave a week earlier.

Early Sunday morning, they arrived in Harrisonburg, where Kenneth Seitz

Ken and Kathryn Seitz were expected to be aboard a ship bound for Cyprus this morning. Back home, the Seitz family remained upbeat about the couple who have been on a humanitarian mission to Lebanon.
Courtesy Photo

Sitting together in a room at Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community on Wednesday afternoon, the Seitz family carried on as normal.

Eunice Wenger had come over to give her mother, Grace Seitz, her weekly manicure.

Across the globe, though, Seitz�s son and daughter-in-law, Ken and Kathryn Seitz, are two of the thousands of Americans awaiting evacuation from Beirut, the capital of Lebanon. The Middle Eastern nation has been under siege for a week as Israel continues to fire missiles into Lebanon in an effort to root out the militant Islamic group Hezbollah.

Ken and Kathryn Seitz are humanitarian workers with Akron, Pa.-based Mennonite Central Committee. They also are graduates of Eastern Mennonite High School and former teachers at 91¶ÌÊÓƵ, both in Harrisonburg.

As they await the couple�s arrival in Harrisonburg, Ken and Kathryn Seitz�s family is concerned, but upbeat.

‘Trusting in the grace of God’

“We�re hopeful,” said Kenneth Seitz Sr., Ken�s father. “We as a family are less used to transience and not being always sure of just how things will work out. But we�re trusting in the grace of God and trusting that God will take care of us.”

Ken Seitz, 68, and Kathryn, 69, have been working in Lebanon since June 2004. They were scheduled to leave Beirut for the island nation of Cyprus at 1 a.m. EDT today, which is 8 a.m. today in Beirut, the elder Seitz said.

Before the current crisis began, the Seitzes had been scheduled to leave Lebanon at the end of July for a three-month furlough at 91¶ÌÊÓƵ.

Despite the situation, Wenger, Ken�s sister, said she is not nervous.

“No, I�m not worried. Ken and Kathryn are very capable people,” she said.

Seitz Sr., 89, spoke to his son and daughter-in-law briefly Wednesday afternoon before the couple went to bed.

The couple, who were living in an apartment in Beirut, had moved to a hotel so that a co-worker from southern Lebanon would have a place to stay, Seitz Sr. said.

The couple had hoped to leave for Cyprus on Wednesday morning, but their names were not on the list for the day�s evacuations, Seitz Sr. said.

Once in Cyprus, the couple plans to return to the United States on Saturday, Seitz Sr. said. They hope to be back in Harrisonburg with family by Saturday night.

Before The Evacuation

The couple knows the region and its problems. They have spent time in the Middle East before, Seitz Sr. said.

In 1978, the pair spent a year in Jerusalem. While there, Kathryn taught English at Bethlehem University, Wenger said.

A few years later, the Seitzes returned to Jerusalem for three years while Ken Seitz worked with peace organizations in the region.

“They have a lot of experience in the Middle East,” Seitz Sr. said. “They lived there for a three-year period in Jerusalem during the Intifada. Being in the Middle East is always quite tentative. So this is not surprising, although it came very suddenly and unexpectedly.”

The Intifada was a series of violent uprisings among Palestinians in Israel during the 1980s and 1990s.

While in Lebanon, the Seitzes have supported local humanitarian organizations, Seitz Sr. said. They have worked with Palestinian refugees, Sudanese refugees and an orphanage for troubled youth, among others.

Friends and Acquaintances Praying

Seitz Sr. said many friends and acquaintances have promised to pray for his family and Ken and Kathryn as they are evacuated. While the family appreciates the support, they hope the community does not forget the residents in the war-torn area.

“We don�t want to be overly concerned with our son,” Seitz Sr. said. “We want people to be concerned with the other people who are in danger or suffering or who have lost family members, and the situation in general.”

The younger Seitz is not optimistic about a quick end to the fighting, his father said.

“[Ken] said the situation was not very hopeful right now,” Seitz Sr. said. “There is no immediate end or resolution to the war situation as he sees it now. It�ll probably be quite a while until things settle down.”

Despite the continued fighting, the Seitzes plan to return to the region at the end of their three-month furlough in Harrisonburg, their family says.

“Ken and Kathryn said they will be needed more than ever,” Wenger said.

Humanitarians with ties to Harrisonburg are among the thousands of Americans being evacuated from Lebanon as Israel and the militant Islamic group Hezbollah trade attacks in the region.

It is still unclear when the U.S. military will evacuate Ken and Kathryn Seitz, a husband-and-wife team stationed in Lebanon with , but it will be in the coming days, according to the Akron, Pa.-based group.

The couple are in the Lebanese capital of Beirut, which has been under heavy fire from Israeli forces since last week. Israelis say they are defending themselves after Hezbollah captured two of Israel

"," a music group from Damascus, Syria, will bring its unique style of music to Harrisonburg, Va., in a "Concert for Peace," 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 27, in Lehman Auditorium at 91¶ÌÊÓƵ.

As their name suggests, Dialogue ("Hewar" in Arabic) seeks to build understanding and trust between people in America and the Middle East through music, the universal language. The group combines the Middle Eastern music of their homeland with the beat and style of contemporary jazz.

Musicians of Dialogue/Hewar include Kinan Azmeh, clarinet; Issam Rafea, oud (an instrument in the lute family); Dima Orsho, vocals; Omar al Musfi, percussion; and David Phillips, double bass.

Dialogue has developed an enthusiastic following through their performances across the Middle East and in Europe. The Daily Star of Beirut, Lebanon, said of their performance that Dialogue was "lovingly received by the audience," incorporating "a blend of Western and Oriental traditions."

This Concert for Peace tour is a follow-up to a similar tour last year during which Dialogue performed at seven churches in the U.S. The group has been invited to a return engagement at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., where they performed last year. Dialogue will also perform in Lancaster, Pa.; New York City; Dearborn, Mich.; South Bend/Elkhart/Goshen area of Indiana; Elgin, Ill.; and Rockford, Ill.

Advance tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for students and children age 5-12 and are available by calling the 91¶ÌÊÓƵ box office, 540-432-4582.

Kulna Sawa/Together, a music group from Damascus, Syria, will bring their “Concert for Peace” tour to the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.

Kulna Sawa, which means “All of us together” in Arabic, combines the distinctive sounds of Middle Eastern music with the beat and style of American music for a unique sound.

The group will be in concert 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 23, in the Eastern Mennonite High School auditorium.

The 11-member band is comprised of highly accomplished young Christian and Muslim musicians from Syria. The group has already made its mark on the Middle East music scene with their distinctive blend of traditional Arabic music of their homeland with the sounds and rhythms of American pop and jazz. They have recorded several successful CD’s and have performed internationally to enthusiastic audiences.

In the midst of the current tensions and conflict between East and West, the virtuoso musicians of Kulna Sawa/Together will use music, the universal language, as a way to build understanding and trust between Americans and the people of the Middle East.

The group’s appearance here is part of a tour of 20 major cities across the United States. They will perform in both English and Arabic.

The tour is being sponsored by the Culture for Peace Program, which is part of the Royal Academy of Science International Trust (RASIT). RASIT, a non-governmental charitable organization, has been serving education and science since 1969. The Culture for Peace program of RASIT was formed in 1996 to create dialogue and understanding between East and West through cultural exchange to build respect for each other’s culture.

Kulna Sawa/Together in concert

The Daily Star, an English-language newspaper in Beirut, Lebanon, said that Kulna Sawa/Together “is breaking new ground with their fusion of Western and Middle Eastern music styles.”

General admission is $10. Advance tickets are available by calling the 91¶ÌÊÓƵ box office, 540-432-4582.

For more information, contact Brian Martin Burkholder, 91¶ÌÊÓƵ campus pastor, at 540-432-4196.