Filmmakers draw attention to plight of Middle East Christians :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

Washington D.C., Feb 19, 2014 / 04:35 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Christians in the West must take seriously their duty to support those suffering in the Middle East, the birthplace of Christianity, said a team of filmmakers working on a documentary about the subject.

“Christianity began in the East, and Christians in the West seem to have forgotten that fact,” said Drew Bowling, a Washington, D.C.-based writer working on the documentary project.

“It's tragic to see Christianity in the East under threat, and see Christians in the West who are not under such threats ignore it or fail to do what they can,” he told CNA in a Feb. 4 interview, noting that many in the West simply do not realize the challenges being faced elsewhere.

Bowling is working alongside writer Andrew Doran and filmmaker Jordan Allott to create a documentary about the violence and discrimination facing Christians in the Middle East.

Allott said he wants to bring attention to the matter and to put “pressure” on lawmakers in the West “to stand up for Christians.” He hopes viewers of the documentary will “feel a connection with the subjects,” and want “to help them in a time of need.”

“Our faith is what it is here because of what their ancestors did there,” Allott said, stressing the link between Christianity in the West and its roots in the Middle East.

The filmmakers hope to demonstrate the charity, resilience and determination of Christians in the region. Allott pointed to one man they met in Beirut, Lebanon, named George Maalouly. An Orthodox Christian, Maalouly was actively engaged in the Christian community, praying the Rosary and hosting prayer groups in his house.

Maalouly also helped those in need, regardless of faith, Allott said. He housed two Muslim Syrian refugees in a van, giving them electricity and food, and he “even came by with Christmas presents for the children.”

This example is not isolated, Bowling said, pointing to the charity of the Good Shepherd Sisters in Lebanon’s Beqaa valley, who work to shelter and feed Syrian refugees.

Many of the refugee camps have become sites for increasing extremism, due to radical rebels, lack of resources and dire situations; however, these sisters and other Christians caring for largely Muslim refugee populations “provide filters for radicalization” and an example of interreligious cooperation.

“Despite the fact that they are the ones marginalized, they are the ones serving Muslims” who are injured or displaced by conflicts in the region, Doran said. “They are bridges to peace for their own communities and for the outside world.”

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Filmmakers draw attention to plight of Middle East Christians :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)