Ken and Kathryn Seitz are seen with a photo of Lebanese children from the Home of Hope orphanage in Beirut that is funded by the Mennonite Central Committeephoto by Michael Reilly
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