+ Newslet ter Issue 23 Winter/Spring 2021 +
Newsletter issue 23 Winter/Spring 2020-2021 School of Joy students
“Thank you!” ...from the Holy Land Last year your generosity, dedication and prayers helped see so many of our Christian brothers and sisters through some of the darkest times they have experienced in living memory. Our beneficiaries in the Holy Land, our team in Bethlehem and our partners thank you and ask for God’s blessings on you. We have been able to maintain our existing commitments and distribute additional grants due to your swift and generous response to our Christmas Appeal, including a further 120 families in Bethlehem
and 30 in Gaza, to see them through Christmas and New Year. We now have funds to send to families in Jordan, East Jerusalem and the wider West Bank. Our Silent Nights campaign generated over £130,000! Your generosity, putting your faith into action, is greatly appreciated by everyone. You are the crucial constant in all our work. Your contribution is the foundation of everything we accomplish. We thank you as we all await an uncertain 2021. +
Do not miss out on this wonderful resource: Holy Week Voices from the Holy Land – Poems and Reflections for Lent and Easter. Peter Rand, FHL’s Vice-chair, writes, “Encouraging prayer for our Christian brothers and sisters in the Holy Land is at the heart of the objectives of FHL...” Continued on pg.11
In this issue... Our sincere thanks to our dedicated team in the Holy Land; who have worked hard throughout the extreme conditions of 2020
Lenten book
+ Updates from families we support in the Holy Land + Giving thanks for the life of one of our founders + Engaging young people + and plenty more...
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Newsletter Issue 23 Winter/Spring 2021
The reality of COVID-19 in the Holy Land The pandemic continues to drastically affect the people of the Holy Land.
with the goal of vaccinating all over-16s in the population by the end of March. Almost a month into the programme they are well on track to hit this target, giving out 150,000 vaccinations per day.
Public celebrations over the Christmas period in Bethlehem and elsewhere were almost nonexistent and the few events that went ahead had tight restrictions on attendance.
The Church of the Nativity, usually bustling, completely empty during December 2020
In the West Bank, there is a continued curfew at weekends and every evening. However, cases and deaths are still on the rise with around 10% of the population infected. Schools have been closed for the first two weeks of the new term; when they eventually open students will be restricted to 2 – 3 days per week. Universities remain closed and classes are conducted online. Unemployment remains rife, and is up to 80% in tourist centres such as Bethlehem. People are scrambling to find other ways of making a living. In Israel, as cases continued to spike, a third national lockdown began on 27 December, initially projected to last 14 days. On 19 December, Israel began a record-setting vaccination drive
Meanwhile, the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority is rushing to get vaccine supplies. There have been no announcements from them relating to the availability of the vaccine to the public, how they will be distributed, and at what cost. However, when asked for a timeframe, Ali Abed Rabbo, Director-General of the Palestinian health ministry, estimated the first vaccines would probably arrive in February. These disparities could see Israelis return to some form of normality within the first three months of this year, while Palestinians remain trapped by the virus. In Gaza the timeframe could be even longer than in the West Bank. Authorities there, have been unable to contain the virus or source the vaccine. World Health Organisation’s head office in Jerusalem said it could be “early to mid- 2021” before vaccines on the Covax scheme (aimed at helping poorer countries source vaccinations) were available for distribution in the Palestinian territories. Under Covax there is a pledge to vaccinate 20% of Palestinians. +
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Holy Land news A bittersweet season for the Hazboun family Suheil Hazboun (pictured) got married just before the pandemic hit. Up until his wedding he had been employed in a souvenir shop. Unfortunately, we can all guess what happened next. The shop has been closed since last March and he has been unemployed all that time. The Hazboun family have had to get creative to make ends meet; what could have been a very bitter Christmas was sweetened somewhat by home-made traditional Christmas desserts, which they baked and sold to other families in their neighbourhood. Friends of the Holy Land has given them an emergency grant of NIS 1,000 (approx. £230) in December – from the money raised through our Christmas Appeal – to help cover their basic living expenses over the festive period. +
Family of five recovering The Qahaza family, based in Bethlehem, are a family we have known for some time. Michael & Nissreen, and their three children (pictured), are all in work or education but from time to time have needed our help. Nissreen, the mother, works at a local nursery. In December we were able to add a further 1,000 NIS to the family’s income, effectively doubling Nissreen’s monthly salary which is NIS 1,000. Michael, the father, who normally works in an electronics factory, hasn’t worked there since spring 2020. However, we recently heard the great news that the factory is reopening, meaning he can go back to work! Jeries, the oldest child, studies at Bethlehem University. Jizille, aged 16, and Christina, 12, are studying in a public school. All are in good health. +
Giving hope to vulnerable Christians
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Newsletter Issue 23 Winter/Spring 2021
Tuition fees paid for by FHL’s Christmas appeal Living east of Bethlehem in a small town named Beit Sahour, the Abu Hanna family have been dealing with a major loss of income and recurring health problems in recent months. Samer, the father, was working as a tour guide at the Nativity Church of Bethlehem. His salary was NIS 2,500 per month; a lifeline to the family. In March 2020 that lifeline was taken away. He was unwell throughout 2020 and his health problems persist - as does his search for work. He and his wife Mary – who works at a Nursery in Bethlehem – are doing their best to provide for their two children. But her NIS 1,000 salary is barely enough to put food on the table for the four of them, let alone cover the tuition fees for their little boy Nasri who attends a special education school. Seeing the need, FHL was able to pay Nasri’s school NIS 1,000 in tuition fees. Contributions from our dedicated supporters make these gifts possible; we are deeply thankful for your help! + Our Christmas appeal, above, raised thousands of pounds for families like Samer’s
Samer Hanna the mosaic maker You’ve heard the old adage. Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, you feed him for life. But what about those who are already fishing? Well, the best way to support them is to buy their fish! That is how Friends of the Holy Land are wanting to support Samer Hanna (not to be confused with Samer Abu Hanna from the article above!). He is a talented mosaic worker in Bethlehem, and one of many artisans who have seen the demand for their products vanish since March 2020, when pilgrims disappeared from their city. Continued overleaf
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We want to help get his products to a new market. We will be offering a small selection of his work in our online shop in time for Lent and Easter to make distribution in the UK easier for him. In the meantime, please visit his website www.bethlehemmosaics.com to see a range of his products. If there are any items available on this website that draw your eye and you wish to commit to, please either email or call the office so we may include it in the consignment he is sending to us. SOMETHING SPECIAL FOR A CHURCH NEAR YOU THIS HOLY WEEK Last year, Samer completed a breathtaking work of art: a marvellous set of 14 “Stations of the Cross” for a bespoke order. Tragically, the effects of COVID-19 forced the hand of the buyer away from Samer’s works, making his mosaic business vulnerable to collapse. Each station of the cross is a handcrafted masterpiece containing around 2,500 mosaic stones, each intricately placed on a background of 24 carat gold leaf. The stones were gathered from special places in the Holy Land such as a column outside the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem (with permission!), from the area in Jerusalem near where Jesus was crucified, and from the wilderness between Bethlehem and Jericho. In the words of Samer himself, “These works of art were designed for display in the sacred space of a church sanctuary where their beauty will not only be admired but they will also be hung in remembrance of what our Lord Jesus sacrificed for us.” The price is US$2,000 per station (around £1,500), with each station measuring 32” x 24”. If you know of a church seeking new stations and/or a benefactor, please contact our office. Samer has offered to accept payments by monthly instalment and, if a confirmed buyer is found in the UK, Friends of the Holy Land have agreed to pay the shipment cost for the set (US$1,200). Samer, age 38, has been working with mosaics for 20 years and now rents a gallery space and a workshop. His monthly expenses, including rent, water and electricity bills, amount to £1,020. Like everyone in Bethlehem, he receives no support from the government. Together, we hope we can help Samer to get back on his feet, to ensure he can pay his rent, feed his family and resume sales to pilgrims when they return. +
Giving hope to vulnerable Christians
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Newsletter Issue 23 Winter/Spring 2021
UK news Young people enthralled by FHL’s work Students at The Cedars School Sixth Form, Croydon, so enjoyed a presentation by our Executive Director Brendan Metcalfe that a follow-up Zoom call with fifteen Holy Land students was quickly penned in the diary. Christian students of a similar age from schools in Nazareth, Ramallah, Bethlehem and Gaza joined in a virtual meeting with Cedars School sixth formers using Zoom. A presentation in early October was delivered to all students of the sixth form in south London. Brendan Metcalfe had been fortunate enough to be invited by Mr Chris Doran, the Head of the Sixth Form, to lead a presentation about the Friends of the Holy Land. The Q&A session went so well that Brendan felt the natural next step was to connect the sixth formers to students out in the Holy Land. Brendan writes, “I would not have been able to arrange this without the help of our partners at schools in the Holy Land, however, once the invites were out, there was such a strong interest from the Holy Land students to meet and engage with their UK counterparts online that I was able to organise the event in a week.”
Cedars School Sixth Form, Croydon
In advance of the Zoom call, six discussion topics were sent to all the students involved. These topics formed the basis of the Zoom call, but there was plenty of time for spontaneous conversation, and even prayer. “The zoom meeting opened with a prayer and a welcome in Arabic from one of the UK students and then we were off,” Brendan explains. “The questions, comments and opinions flowed thick and fast. Chris and I did little except to monitor the discussions and ensure the participation of all. It was very interesting to see the very similar goals and aspirations voiced on both sides and then the differences highlighted in a simple comment, such as when one of the students from Gaza commented he may have to leave the discussion early as he was running out of fuel for the house generator!”
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The event lasted longer than expected - one hour and a half and according to Brendan the time “flew by”. On the back of the Zoom call, the students wanted to organise a fundraiser on behalf of Friends of the Holy Land, to help our school fees programme. There is a certain virus going around that had other plans for schools’ attendance, though, so this has been postponed until later in 2021. Quite amazingly, though, the students between them purchased £280 worth of cribs from our shop in December. ENGAGING MORE YOUNG PEOPLE “This has been an exciting and most engaging way for us to interact with a school,” Brendan comments. “I believe it could be a model for us to use in approaching many other schools, bearing in mind it is a priority of the Government for schools to reopen and the opportunity for schools to arrange extra-curricular activities for their students, safely, is limited by social distancing restrictions.” The virtual meeting with Holy Land students may open the door to unique opportunities with schools throughout 2021 and beyond. This type of dialogue concerns several areas of the school curriculum so could become a very popular method in the future. Our supporters may wish to approach their local schools to replicate this event or something similar. If you are inspired to try to make such an approach, please contact our office for more information. +
Patrick Horsfield Obituary Patrick (pictured) was one of our four Founder Trustees. He died peacefully at home on Sunday 3 January. Peter Rand, FHL Vice Chair, who has known Pat for over 30 years, writes: “Pat had a great love for the Holy Land and was approached in 2008 by FHL Chairman, the late Dr Michael Whelan, to help establish FHL. Despite increasing immobility, he remained a trustee until 2019 and provided quiet and reassuring support to the work of the Charity. He lived in Stratford-uponAvon and was active in many charitable initiatives, with St. Gregory’s Church, the Alms Houses, the Catenian Association and as Chair of Governors at St. Benedict’s Catholic High School in Alcester. In 1996 he was invested as a Knight of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem and in 2012 was appointed as a Knight of the Order of St Gregory the Great. We offer our prayers and condolences to his friends and family. May he rest in peace”. +
Giving hope to vulnerable Christians
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Newsletter Issue 23 Winter/Spring 2021
New year, new online presence
I hope you will have noticed our new website which we launched in early November. If you haven’t yet seen it, please go to www.friendsoftheholyland.org.uk; your feedback and comments are very much appreciated. There are a few reasons why we’ve changed our website: + to update the design + to move the website to a platform where we could offer full functionality to help us engage and support you in your efforts + to help with efficiencies in the office (given our small team) + to build our online presence. As many of you know, we now have an online shop! This has proven to be very popular with new and existing supporters. It has helped us to sell new products, like the Christmas cribs, and boosted sales of our existing products; our Christmas card sales doubled this year! These sales generate funds for our mission, and in the case of the cribs it directly helps unemployed craftsmen. Please monitor our shop page on a regular basis; we will be adding new items soon. GIVING IS NOW EASIER… Starting in January, we have activated the full potential of the website which means that anyone visiting the site can donate directly on our webpage rather than transferring to Virgin Money Giving. The new donations page can handle one-off donations and can also be used to set up regular giving. The advantages, which benefit our supporters and our office staff, are: + a simpler process with less steps + no issues with connecting to another site + all data collected is contained internally with the charity so no issues with third-party marketing + automated acknowledgements and thank you messages are sent to the donor + integrates with our database to update all details automatically.
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...AND THERE IS GOOD NEWS FOR FUNDRAISERS! We can set up distinct fundraising pages in support of any individual or group fundraising project. This means that we can now work more closely with you. We can help make your fundraising activity a greater success by giving you a dedicated online link to promote your project in a similar way to Virgin Money Giving or JustGiving. We can then work with you to market your project and fundraising page using our social media and other avenues. To find out more please email office@friendsoftheholyland.org.uk. +
What will you be remembered for? This January, we have more time to take stock of our lives at home due to the intervention of the pandemic, and think of the future. As we do, can we ask ourselves: what have I done with my God-given ‘talents’ and how have I used them so others will remember me and the legacy of my life? How can we show a return on these gifts we have enjoyed in our life in fulfilment of God’s will and teachings? DEBT OF GRATITUDE One way to clearly show your love in action, recognising God’s blessings in your life, is to pass on these fruits by making a will. After you have taken care of your loved ones in your will, please consider widening your care to include your Christian brothers and sisters in the Holy Land through a gift in support of the work of Friends of the Holy Land. All of us owe a debt of gratitude to these Christian communities, the foundations of which were laid by the Apostles who had been called by Jesus himself. Imagine a world in which that first generation of Christians had not been faithful in following Christ’s command to share the faith, and the hope and the love that this world sorely needs, especially now. Through the practical work of Friends of the Holy Land you have the power to make lasting change in the areas of emergency help for the health of the elderly and infirm, family support and housing renovation for the most vulnerable and support in meeting the cost of education and business development for the next generation. You will leave an eternal legacy to build a brighter, sustainable future for the families in these communities and thereby ensure a continuing Christian community in the land of our Saviour’s birth. Be assured that your gift, no matter how big or small, will change lives! Please email office@friendsoftheholyland.org.uk or fill in the form enclosed for our Legacy information pack. +
Giving hope to vulnerable Christians
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Newsletter Issue 23 Winter/Spring 2021
Beard grows £600 of support! A father, egged on by his son – and permitted by his wife – has raised over £600 for Friends of the Holy Land. His Santa-esque beard, seen pictured, was grown just in time for Christmas day. “Nick, our 19 year old son, challenged me to grow a beard between October 1st and Christmas,” Pete Moss shares. “I have been clean shaven all his life and he was curious to see what a difference a beard would make to my appearance.” His wife Ingrid even granted permission for Pete to stop shaving, “despite her aversion to facial hair”! What started as a bit of fun soon became a fundraiser for people in the Holy Land who are living in need. “In January of 2020 my wife and I had the pleasure of accompanying the Bishop of Warwick on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land,” Pete says. “Our visit to the School of Joy near Bethlehem was a humbling experience which prompted us to sponsor Joyce, a child with similar educational needs to those of our 15 year old son Christian.” The Moss family hope that the funds raised will help the School of Joy in some way. +
The transformation of Pete and Nick Moss
One man’s generosity enjoyed by many Rev Canon Don Binder Phd, Chaplain to the Archbishop at the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, had been planning for some time to publish a booklet titled “The Gates of Jerusalem”, a richly illustrated walking guide to the Old City’s historic gates. On the first Monday in Advent, soon after the launch of our Christmas Appeal, he released a digital copy ready for download by donors, announcing on Facebook, “for everyone who donates any amount to one of [the Diocese of Jerusalem’s] international partners over this next month, I will send you a free e-copy of The Gates of Jerusalem as my personal thanks to you for your support.” As a significant charity partner of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem in the UK, we thanked Rev Don for his generous offer and promoted it extensively on social media and by email throughout December, with the result that over 70 donations were received claiming the e-book, with a total value of over £2,500. Our sincere thanks to Rev Don Binder and his followers. +
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Zoom meeting updates During Advent, over 150 people – including many new to FHL – joined nine evening Zoom meetings to learn about the reality of COVID-19 in the Holy Land. Led by Peter Rand, international attendees from as far afield as Bermuda and Uruguay heard the very latest information on the number of cases, the trends, and the specific impact of COVID-19 on East Jerusalem, Nazareth, Bethlehem, Gaza and Jordan. The Holy Land from above (Google Earth)
Peter writes, “Brendan and I are in frequent communication with members of our local committee, Nancy and Reem in our Bethlehem office, our beneficiaries and partners throughout the pandemic. This enables us to understand COVID-19’s impact, especially in the West Bank and Gaza, where there has been no government help for individuals or businesses, and the fragility of the health system has been exposed. “One of our local Committee, Laila Asfoura, shared moving first hand experiences of the devastation caused as a result of 80% of families in Bethlehem and beyond, dependent on pilgrimages and tourism, losing their income since last March. The continuation of support from FHL is vital. I plan to be providing further updates on Zoom meetings after Easter. If you would like to join, please email me at peter.rand@friendsoftheholyland.org.uk” +
Lenten book Continued from front page “...as we strive to maintain a Christian presence in the Land of the Holy One. So, what a wonderful opportunity it was when Fr. Richard Nesbitt contacted me last October to support his initiative for a Prayer Resource for Lent and Easter, bringing together 15 poems he had written with reflections from 15 Christian voices from the Holy Land. The book has been endorsed with forewords by Cardinal Vincent Nichols and Archbishop Justin Welby, and is for use as a prayer resource by individuals or groups, providing a prayerful and practical support to Holy Land Christians through FHL. “An order form for both hard and digital copies is included with this newsletter. They are available now for immediate dispatch at just £7.99 with all funds raised going to FHL. Please share with your local clergy, your friends, family and local community. Please consider using for prayer groups during Lent and beyond either using hard copies or on zoom. Initially, please ensure you order a copy for yourself. You will be inspired by the poems by Fr. Richard and the reflections from the Holy Land, including those from HB Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa and the soon to be appointed Anglican Archbishop of Jerusalem, the Rt. Rev. Dr. Hosam Naoum plus senior lay and clergy partners of FHL across the West Bank, Gaza, Israel and Jordan.” +
Giving hope to vulnerable Christians
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Breathe new life into the Holy Land There are four ways to help us breathe new life into the Holy Land this year...
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FUNDRAISE | PLAN A PILGRIMAGE
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