Post by J. Daryl Byler, MCC Rep for Iran
Cindy Byler visits pottery shop in Qom
Six Mennonite universities plan to send their president, academic dean or a professor to Iran, Oct. 4-10, to explore possible professor and student exchanges with Iranian universities.
The participating Canadian and U.S. schools are Conrad Grebel University College (Waterloo, Ontario), Canadian Mennonite University (Winnipeg, Manitoba), Eastern Mennonite University (Harrisonburg, Virginia), Bluffton University (Bluffton, Ohio), Goshen College (Goshen, Indiana) and Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary (Elkhart, Indiana). Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), which has worked in Iran for nearly 20 years, is sponsoring the trip.
Visas have been approved for 8 of the 9 trip participants — but actually picking up the visas at the Iranian Embassy in Ottawa and the Interests Section in Washington, D.C. has proved to be quite a challenge given the Eid holidays, which are celebrated at the end of Ramadan.
In Iran, the group will be hosted by the Center for Interreligious Dialogue — part of the Organization for Culture and Islamic Relations.
The delegation will visit universities in Tehran and Qom.
October 6, 2008 at 8:04 pm
Very interesting accounts. We wish you Godspeed on this journey.