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The NCC - whose 36 member denominations comprise 50 million adherents - organized the visit by invitation of the Middle East Council of Churches and Jerusalem church leaders. Co-leader with Dr. Edgar, a United Methodist, is Elenie Huszagh, a Greek Orthodox layperson from Nehalem, Ore.

Acknowledging the security concerns, the delegation nevertheless intends to fulfill as much of its planned itinerary as possible. "We intend to meet with our Christian partners in both Israel and Palestine," Dr. Edgar said.

"We go to offer pastoral support for Christians in the Holy Land; seek ways churches in the U.S. and Holy Land can promote a just and lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians; encourage Christians, Jews and Muslims working for peace, and bring our ecumenical witness to U.S., Israeli and Palestinian political leaders," he said.

Confirmed the Rev. Riad Jarjour, General Secretary of the Middle East Council of Churches, by phone Monday (April 15) from Beirut, Lebanon, "We are expecting the delegation as scheduled. Now is really the time that you should come. Your visit is exactly what needs to be done, and will be meaningful and fruitful."

The group will meet with clergy in each country and expects to meet with several high-level political officials, including Syrian President Bashar Al Assad and Lebanon’s Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri --- who will have just returned from Washington, D.C. The delegation also intends to meet with Israeli and Palestinian government officials and with the U.S. Consul General in Jerusalem, and hopes to visit Israeli and Palestinian wounded and bereaved.

The group’s first full day in the region (April 18) will be spent in Istanbul, Turkey, in meetings with three top Orthodox leaders: His All Holiness Bartholomew, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, spiritual leader of more than 250 million Orthodox Christians worldwide; His Eminence Mor Filuksinos Yusuf Cetin, Metropolitan, Patriarchal Vicar of Istanbul and Ankara (the Syrian Orthodox Metropolitan of Istanbul and Ankara for the Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch), and His Beatitude Archbishop Mesrod II Mutafyan, Armenian Patriarch of Istanbul.

The group is to go on to Beirut (April 19-20), Syria (April 21-22) and Jordan (April 23), then spend April 24-27 in Israel/Palestine.

Delegation members are: Rev. Janet Arbesman, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Scottsdale, Ariz.; Bishop Vicken Aykazian, Diocese of the Armenian Church, Washington, D.C.; Mark Byron Brown, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Washington, D.C.; Dr. Edgar; Rev. Dr. James A. Forbes, Jr., Senior Minister, The Riverside Church, New York City; Rev. Joseph Rice Hale, United Methodist Church, Waynesville, N.C.; Mrs. Huszagh; Rev. Robert S. Jones, National Baptist Convention U.S.A., Inc., West Chester, Pa.; His Eminence Cyril Aphrem Karim, Archdiocese of the Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch for the Eastern United States, Teaneck, N.J.; Rev. William Shaw, President, National Baptist Convention U.S.A., Inc., Philadelphia, Pa.; Rt. Rev. Arthur Edward Walmsley, The Episcopal Church, Deering, N.H.; Rev. James Wetekam (United Church of Christ), Media Program Director, Churches for Middle East Peace, Washington, D.C., and Mr. James Edward Winkler, General Secretary, United Methodist Board of Church and Society, Washington, D.C.

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Nona Tess e-mailed me, and asked a bunch of questions about conditions here in Afghanistan. I wrote the note below, and I realized it was turning out to be more detailed than what I've been able to explain to you. So I thought I'd share. Feel free to share-if you like. Love, Mike

Afghanistan is devastated. Much of the country looks like a Cemetery of War. At the Airport, for example, there are bombed out planes littering the runways.

Much of Kabul has been flattened by 23 years of War in this country. I thought some of the damage must have been done by the U.S. in this War. But I'm told the U.S. was careful to avoid Kabul, and the most of the devastation here was done by Afghans to Afghans. During the Afghan Civil War, one of the Warlords launched intense rocket attacks on Kabul. The estimates I've read indicate he killed some50,000 civilians in Kabul.

It's a very primitive existence here. Many people in Kabul don't have electricity. Therefore, there isn't refrigeration. So you see pieces of meat hanging on hooks in front of butcher shops.

Plumbing and sewage treatment are virtually non-existent. It's pretty disgusting. I'll spare you the details. But we went on a foot patrol with British Peacekeepers in Kabul one day, and the back alleys of Kabul are quite unsanitary. Next topic.

There are two restaurants in Kabul westerners frequent. One is at a place called the Mustaffa hotel. It's owned by Afghan Americans from New Jersey, who have returned to run a business here. Another place is called the Herat Restaurant.

They eat a lot of souvlaki or lamb kebobs here. They also have chicken and beef. But we feel like the lamb seems to be the safest bet. They eat French fries. The produce here actually looks and tastes pretty good. They serve dumpling-type items stuffed with meat or vegetables. They also serve meatballs, rice, etc.

We're staying at the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul. If my only option was eating at the Hotel Restaurant, I'm sure I'd be down 20 pounds at this point. But we've got two South African Photographers working with us who LOVE to cook. So after they shoot an event or two each day, they go to the market to buy food for dinner. They're very careful about the meat and veggies they buy. They cook up a feast for our entire crew each night. So I've been eating much better than I expected.

This hotel is supposed to be the nicest place in town. It's suffered from 23years of War in this country. Many rooms don't have running water. Some have water, but not hot water. Fox installed a few hot water heaters, so our crew is sharing a few rooms for showering purposes.

The hotel staff doesn't have vacuum cleaners. They basically push the dust around with brooms. They don't clean our rooms. They expect us to pay them to do that. They don't provide towels. To do our laundry, we give our clothes to the young kids we've hired to drive us around and interpret for us. They know poor women in their neighborhoods who are happy to hand wash our clothes for some cash. My room doesn't have a working phone, and alarm clock, or a TV. Our hotel regularly loses power and water. When that happens, we depend on generators we bought to do our television work. So basically we're roughing it. But we're safe, and that's what is important right now.

One sweet note-two of our driver/interpreters are brothers. One is head of the house, since their father passed away. They invited us to their home today for lunch. Our whole crew went over. Their mother and sisters cooked up a feast. We took our shoes off, and walked into their modest home. We sat in a decent sized livingroom-sitting on cushions against the wall. The boys brought out a tablecloth, and then started serving big platters of food. The little girls in the family brought around a water pitcher and basin to wash our hands. They putout rice, vegetables, dumplings, Nan bread, fruit, dessert, and soft drinks.

It was really sweet. It was also really fascinating to see how shy the women of the family were around us. The women did not eat with us. Mustaffa and Massoud explained that when there are guests in the home, the women don't eat with the company. They eat with other female relatives-probably in the kitchen. It's a cultural thing, but it was fascinating to witness.

Outside the home, in the backyard, they keep chickens and little chicks. They also have a fierce fighter for the nasty sport of cock fighting. Massoud raises pigeons and songbirds as well. They aren't your typical NYC pigeons, but I still wasn't crazy about them.

So that's life in Kabul in a nutshell at this point.