Newsletter Issue 24 Summer / Autumn 2021 by FHLoffice

+ Newslet ter Issue 24 Summer/Autumn 2021 +

Thank you

for breathing new life into the Holy Land! Picture: Girls looking on the bright side in Jifna

Dark times in the Holy Land – your help is so important. The whole world has faced challenges due to the pandemic. In response, the great British spirit of Christian giving has been evident. Friends of the Holy Land has seen unprecedented generosity from you, our donors. THANK YOU! Many of you have faced difficult circumstances, yet you have seen how those in the Holy Land lack the basic support available to us in the UK. As a result, Friends of the Holy Land increased grants

The school fees of this young man, and many more, are being paid for by your generous giving.

by 55% over the previous year! We thank you sincerely for your steadfast solidarity with our Christian brothers and sisters. Without your help, we can do nothing. The level of need caused by unemployment has risen exponentially. Many faith schools are in a financial crisis as families struggle to pay fees. Routine pharmacy, grocery and utility bills become difficult to meet. Other than in Israel, COVID

is only slowly coming under control. The challenge now is the economy as pilgrims are unlikely to return in significant numbers until deep into 2022, leaving many without any income for two years or more. We need to offer a glimmer of light and hope. Your continued support is so much appreciated as we expand the programmes we started last year. +

In this issue... + The difference you make in Gaza, the West Bank, Israel and Jordan + Celebrating your success in responding to the Pentecost Challenge + Opportunities to get involved as we emerge from lockdown + …and much more!

Newsletter Issue 24 Summer/Autumn 2021

News Round Up It has been a long, hard six months for the people and communities of the Holy Land. Here is a quick round up of our latest news.

Father Fadi and his family

Bethlehem

Israel

The problems of unemployment and ill-health associated with the pandemic continue to plague the people of Bethlehem, where roughly 50% of the Christians of the West Bank live.

A world-beating level of vaccination roll-out within Israel means that society has been able to open up, and there are glimpses of tourism returning. Economic recovery will still take time. We continue our support for education in Nazareth and in May, began support for the vulnerable in the newly reopened Anglican church in Jaffa.

Thanks to your generosity, in April, Friends of the Holy Land were able to expand our Family Support Programme to provide support to 100 families (see page 4 for more details). In addition to our routine projects, we were able to increase the number of emergency cases we support every month and we were able to make a one-off grant of £13,333 (NIS 60,000) distributed equally between 40 people with a chronic illness to cover the cost of their medication for three months. In addition to the 210 students we helped with school and university fees in November as usual, we added a further 70 students at a cost of £15,555 (NIS 70,000). Hopefully, the generosity of your response to the Pentecost Challenge will allow us to continue this increased level of support.

The conflict in Gaza brought with it street violence and turmoil for the first time to many Christian citizens of Israel in places such as, Haifa, Nazareth and Lod. The violence exposed tensions and left the already vulnerable Christian communities anxious for their safety. Please join with us in praying for peace in ALL communities across the Holy Land.

In happier news, Friends of the Holy Land is delighted to welcome the Revd Fadi Diab to the Holy Land Committee. Father Fadi ministers at St Andrew’s Anglican Episcopal Church in Ramallah and we are excited to have his input into our work. Just over 20,000 Christians live in Nazareth in the north of Israel

Jordan

Fr George Kopti

As with the West Bank and Israel, the effects of the pandemic rumble on in Jordan. Iraqi Christian refugees already face issues with being able to find work to support their families, so the increased levels of unemployment in the country is only making this more difficult. As you will read later, through our relationships with the Latin Patriarchate parish in Amman, we have provided funding to help launch an ice-cream business which opens in July. Earlier this year in partnership with Fr George Kopti of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem parish in Ashrafieh, we funded a mixture of projects providing training workshops for 25 women, medicines for those without medical insurance, support with school fees for 13 families and a variety of musical instruments for the children to learn music. The combined amount of this support to both parishes was £17,500. Thank you for making this possible.

Gaza Earlier in the year we had extended our funding for the cost of medication for six months to 20 elderly Christians and had sent further funding for emergency needs through the YMCA. Then, the situation got worse. May saw some of the worst violence between Israel and Gaza since the last major conflict in 2014. Fortunately, a ceasefire is now in operation; however, the aftermath of this devastating event continues to cause suffering for the already vulnerable Christian community in Gaza. You will read in our separate information profile on Gaza that, thanks to your past generosity, Friends of the Holy Land were able to respond immediately and sent a total of £36,500 (US$50,000) from our emergency reserve to support two projects where support was urgently needed. You will appreciate that these measures are a first step. We can only act so swiftly due to you past generosity and hope we can rely on your continued help.

To keep up to date with the situation there and to leave a message of support for our partners there, please go to https://www.friendsoftheholyland.org. uk/Blogs/holy-land-conflict-may-2021 . Please consider making a donation to enable us to expand our emergency and longer-term support for the Christians of Gaza. Please use the response form included with this newsletter, or visit https://www. friendsoftheholyland.org.uk/donate .

Giving hope to vulnerable Christians

Newsletter Issue 24 Summer/Autumn 2021

Holy Land News A Helping Hand There are times in nearly everyone’s life when they face a period of financial uncertainty when a gift or loan of a small amount of money can make a big difference. For so many individuals in the Holy Land, their entire community is living on the breadline making it impossible to ask for such help from a friend or family member. In the case of the elderly, their children may have emigrated. This is where our Family Support Programme can step in and offer a helping hand. Last year we were able to add 16 families to the programme taking the total to 100 vulnerable families. This programme gifts a regular sum of money straight into the hands of those who need it the most. The needs of the family are re-assessed and reviewed once a year by our team in Bethlehem on the anniversary of the first gift; hopefully some families will have been able to turn their financial situation around within the year and no longer need such support. Sadly, we know this will be unlikely for many of the elderly cases. We have an extensive waiting list of families who need such help so our team do their best to give priority to the most vulnerable. Each family receives £334 (NIS 1500) a quarter and the recipients are free to decide how best to spend this money; in most cases, it goes towards basics such as food, medicine and rent. During the last year, thanks to your generosity we have invested around £135,000 into this programme. Here are the stories of three individuals we are helping:

From left to right: Bassam and family, Fesal, Diana

Bassam has been part of the Family Support Programme since it began. Despite his efforts to secure regular employment as a gardener or labourer, he struggles to find enough paid work to support his wife and three children, so the money he receives is a great help in meeting their general needs. Seventy-year old widower Fesal has a large family, but sadly, his son with whom he was living passed away unexpectedly six months ago. This, combined with a shortage of work for his other son because of the pandemic, means his daughter is trying to support her wider family with just her salary. Fesal requested our help to ensure his grandsons receive the milk that they need, and because of your generosity, we were able to add him to the programme. As an unmarried woman of 54, Diana lives alone. Before they passed away, Diana was the primary caregiver for her parents meaning that she never had a career. Now she is unable to work due to ill health, which is exacerbated by the poor condition of her home. With few people to support her, our Family Support programme has been able to help Diana to try and improve the quality of her life. It is thanks to your continued support that we are able to run this programme and touch the lives of people like Bassam, Fesal and Diana. You enable us to be the helping hand these people so desperately need, so thank you.

Anyone for ice cream? We have supported the projects of Fr Mario Cornioli, a priest working in a parish of the Latin Patriarchate, Amman for several years. He has established a dress- making workshop, a cheese factory and a pizzeria restaurant as small businesses to usefully employ Iraqi Christian refugees living in the parish – all have been successful once they have got going with our help. Now, we have Zakissima – La casa del gelato (The house of ice cream!) Fr Mario’s latest project. We have made a grant of £10,000 enabling this new project to increase ice cream production and open a new distribution shop this July. Based at the Mar Yousef Pastoral Centre in St Joseph’s Parish in the area of Jabal Amman, this job creation project is providing an income and invaluable work experience for three young Iraqi Christian refugees, a salesman and two making the ice cream, who without the support of the parish would be unable to obtain work elsewhere. The shop is near to the pizzeria restaurant and altogether these projects now employ 29 refugees.

The grant is paying for an ice cream display unit and freezer, plus salaries and raw materials for six months. The hope is that within six months, the project will be self-sustaining with the profits being split equally between reinvesting into the project’s running costs and contributions to medications, clinical examinations and PCR tests for the Iraqi Christian refugee community. This project is a good example of how we try to build work experience and the possibility of a future income for individuals which improves the overall sustainability of the community in our small footprint development projects. Thank you again for making such support possible.

Father Mario with a refugee family

Medical support paid for by your kindness. Seventy-seven year old Nemeh is well-known at the Friends of the Holy Land office in Bethlehem. A widow with only a small income from her stepchildren, Nemeh struggles to pay for the basics. Not only that but she suffers from serious health issues such as heart problems, asthma and diabetes which means that the medical insurance she receives from the UN is insufficient. Since 2015, thanks to your support, we have been able to help her numerous times with essential purchases such as a washing machine and medicine. In March this year, she was a beneficiary of one of our grants to meet the costs of her medication for three months. Nemeh sends her best wishes and grateful thanks to you for your continued support.

At Friends of the Holy Land we are working with those in great need, their stories are true, but names and images may have been changed to protect their privacy. Thank you for your understanding.

Giving hope to vulnerable Christians

Newsletter Issue 24 Summer/Autumn 2021

Retirement of Archbishop Suheil Dawani and Jaffa project. Friends of the Holy Land has had a successful partnership with the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem for many years under the leadership of Archbishop Suheil Dawani. Working with the diocese’s schools and helping vulnerable Christian patients with treatment in its medical centres – St Luke’s Hospital and the Cardiovascular and Diabetic Centre in Ramallah. More recently in the Covid pandemic, we have funded emergency relief to 87 families identified by the social services of the diocese to be in desperate need. Archbishop Suheil retired in April and to reflect our gratitude for his help in our making a difference in the lives of the Anglican community in the Holy Land, we have established a grant of £7,300 (US$10,000) in his memory. This grant is to support the work of the Revd Kevin Cable to support the vulnerable in the community of St Peter’s Church, Jaffa. St. Peter's closed in 1948 because of the war which saw the expulsion of the family of Archbishop Suheil, whose father had been on the parish vestry. Re-opening this church has always been close to AB Suheil’s heart and is now a reality as Fr Kevin Cable arrived in April from Winchester Diocese. The parish will have a specific outreach ministry to Seafarers through the ports of Jaffa and nearby Ashdod, Israel's largest port.

New Archbishop Hosam (left) and Archbishop Suheil (right)

The historic church of St. Peter’s in Jaffa which has recently reopened

New Anglican Archbishop installed in Jerusalem. On May 13, 2021we celebrated the Installation of The Most Reverend Dr. Hosam Elias Naoum as the new Anglican Archbishop in Jerusalem. AB Hosam is well known to Friends of the Holy Land as he has been a member for many years of our local, volunteer Holy Land Committee. Working with Embrace the Middle East, we organised a short video of tribute to the retiring AB Suheil and welcome to AB Hosam from the friends of the Diocese in the UK which can be seen on YouTube here - https://youtu.be/3blyK5OJZ1E . To mark this occasion, we have made a further grant of £1,825 (US$2,500) to the exemption fund we maintain with St Luke’s Hospital to cover some of the cost of treatment for poor patients.

UK News

Pentecost Challenge Results In spring this year, as the effects of the pandemic continued to affect the livelihoods of Christians in Israel, the West Bank, Gaza and Jordan, we launched our Pentecost Challenge appeal – an 84 kilometre virtual pilgrimage from Bethlehem to Nazareth.

FINISH

So, we asked for help and you responded. In fact, we were overwhelmed by your support for this challenge! Over 120 people signed up to complete the challenge and they were supported by over 700 of their friends and family. Well over 1,000 people donated directly to us through our website, by post or bank transfer. What an incredible effort! As we go to press, we calculate the total raised as around £115,000 with more funds trickling in The Palestinian school year has come to an end, but we know our office will be busier than ever meeting with needy parents and schools to assess where best to provide support towards school fees for the new academic year which begins in mid-August. We are relieved that through your generosity we can continue to safeguard the wellbeing and future prospects of children growing up in such a difficult environment.

START

From our experience last year, without any government support or income, many families have increasingly been faced with difficult choices. Our appeal specifically sought to protect the futures of Christian children by ensuring their education is not disrupted due to a change in a family’s financial situation. We also sought to protect the future of Bethlehem’s School of Joy. This specialist school is the only one of its kind in the area, providing education for children with learning disabilities. As Friends of the Holy Land are now the sole funders of this school, securing its future is a priority. Children at The School of Joy celebrating the end of the school year

Giving hope to vulnerable Christians

Newsletter Issue 24 Summer/Autumn 2021

We have received so many messages of thanks, sincerely felt from the beneficiaries we have helped in the past year and we know the same families will be so grateful their children can continue with their education next year. Thank you for making such a great difference in these young lives! We hope that those of you who walked enjoyed the experience and found new insights into the little known isolated communities you visited, we hope to provide more support to them in 2021. You have truly breathed new life into the lives of young people in Holy Land!

Here are just a few of the students your fundraising has supported – budding doctors securing the future of their community!

From left to right: Pier, 5th year medical student, Narmin, 6th year medical student Yousef, 9th grade student with aspirations to be a doctor.

Making the headlines in St Albans In June, Parishioners from St Alban and St Stephen Parish made the local news for their Pentecost Challenge endeavours. All eight members of the team completed the full 84km, with a few doing the return leg, too! Thanks to their efforts, they featured in The Herts Advertiser in celebration of them raising more than double their initial target of £1200. Thank you to them for this sum, but also for increasing awareness of our mission, too.

Pentecost Challenge reaches from the top of the UK to the bottom! A Shetland Pilgrimage A group of supporters led by Fr. Ambrose Flavell have just completed a pilgrimage from the most southerly tip of Sumburgh Head to North Roe in the north of Shetland’s main island, a distance much the same as from Bethlehem to Nazareth.

Father Ambrose Flavell was joined by Shetland Islanders from all denominations as the various Christian communities have a strong ecumenical outlook, co-operating in sharing facilities and, in some remote areas, churches around the island. As they walked together in our Pentecost Challenge, they were also celebrating the 1500th anniversary of the birth of St Columba who led the Celtic monks who brought Christianity to Shetland in the 6th and 7th centuries. This long history of Christianity combined with the small, isolated communities of believers in Shetland has clear parallels to the remote Christian communities living within the Holy Land. While the roads and paths they walked during the challenge were not the same, Father Flavell reminds us that, “…the act of walking with a purpose is more important than where we start or finish.” Team Shetland Pilgrimage exceeded their goal and have raised an incredible £1,590 so far. We are most grateful for the efforts of this inspiring group of new supporters. Thank you!

Team Blessings Jersey Down south, we know we can rely on the support of Friends of the Holy Land in Jersey who have been fundraising for us for many years. Therefore, it was no surprise that they took on the Pentecost Challenge with their characteristic “enthusiastic vigour” this year! Unfortunately, Deacon Iain MacFirbhisigh, who was set to complete the challenge in celebration of his 80th birthday, was unable to do so due to personal circumstances. However, Team Blessing formed around him and walked, cycled, and even swam an impressive 412 miles raising over £13,900! Thank you so very much!

The power of social media in your hands Did you know that easiest way for us to find new supporters is by connecting with them on social media? You can help us to do this very easily, in very little time and at no cost to you! Simply follow our page on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or LinkedIn and take a moment each week to like and share our posts. Simply by doing this, you will bring our posts and messages to thousands of new people! Five minutes a week can make a big difference to us. It really does work! @friends_of_the_holy_land /friendsoftheholyland @Social_FHL

Giving hope to vulnerable Christians

Newsletter Issue 24 Summer/Autumn 2021

Get involved Pilgrims to the Holy Land – it’s vital they return. The complete absence of tourists and pilgrims since March 2020 has had a devastating impact across the Holy Land. Many of the 44,000 Christians in the West Bank, as well as those in key pilgrimage destinations in Israel, such as Nazareth, are dependent on visitors for their income, 80% of the people in Bethlehem alone depend either directly or indirectly on tourism for their livelihood. The Friends of the Holy Land office team in Bethlehem have witnessed first-hand the result of so many losing all their income overnight as a record number of needy people come to the office for help.

What can you do now? Friends of the Holy Land is taking a leading role in supporting accredited pilgrimage operators in the UK to encourage everyone who has been prevented from travelling on pilgrimage in 2020 to take up opportunities and join others from different parts of the country. Some pilgrimages are already planned this autumn and may be ‘open’ for general participation. This will allow those of you who have been disappointed to travel now rather than to wait on the uncertainty of new arrangements being made. Such pilgrimages, currently being planned as we go to press are:

+ JC Journeys Fri 26th Nov – Sat 4th Dec leaving from London. + Tangney Tours Mon 8th – Mon 15th Nov leaving from London. + Lightline Pilgrimages Mon 29th Nov – Mon 6th Dec leaving from Luton and Heathrow. We expect to have details from other operators McCabe, Maranatha and Pilgrimage People soon. All are subject to sufficient take up and regulations permitting. If you would like to know more and to receive the latest information on the situation in the Holy land, please email the office office@friendsoftheholyland.org.uk or telephone 01926 512980. We hope to add information on further tours as they become available.

And in the next few months….. It might be some time before Parishes and Dioceses have the confidence to attract sufficient numbers to confirm a dedicated pilgrimage, however, planning such a pilgrimage will usually take at least a year so it is not too early to start now. So, even if you would rather wait until next year, take action now to encourage your Parish or Diocese to start their plans. For every week that goes by, families working in hotels, restaurants, transport companies and ground handlers remain with no income. Doing nothing and waiting until deep into 2023 ‘when everything will be better’ is not an option for those who are relying on you. Without income, some will have little alternative but to emigrate and the challenge of maintaining a Christian community in the Holy Land is diminished. The seriousness of this situation cannot be overstated.

Lend us your voice!

Give in celebration

As we begin to emerge from lockdown, Friends of the Holy Land needs advocate volunteers to speak on our behalf in churches, schools and elsewhere within their local area. In the past, we have received a lot of support as a result of such events and now public worship is restarting, we need your help to get out and about and share our mission. You do not need to be an experienced public speaker to get involved, just someone who understands our vision and wants to help others connect with the Holy Land.

There have been many birthdays, anniversaries and other milestones which have gone uncelebrated in the past year, and perhaps you are considering catching up on some of these celebrations as life returns to some form of pre-Covid normality.

We provide the resources and a mentor you to get you started. We also set appointments for you; we just need you to lend us your voice! For more information or to offer your services, please register as a volunteer here: https://www. friendsoftheholyland.org.uk/volunteer, email office@friendsoftheholyland.org.uk or call the office on 01926 512980.

As we are finally able to meet up and embrace our loved ones, why not consider marking your postponed celebrations by raising money for a good cause? Instead of receiving unnecessary presents, you might consider asking guests to make a donation in your honour to Friends of the Holy Land to make for a truly meaningful gift for you. See https://www.friendsoftheholyland.org.uk/give-incelebration for more ideas.

Christmas is coming! Our Christmas card designs are out, so why not hop onto the website or use the order form enclosed to get yours today while stocks last. All profits go to beneficiaries in the Holy Land. Our new book – “Christmas Voices from the Holy Land. Poems and Reflections for Advent and Christmastide”, continues the series from our successful Lenten Book. Once again, it includes poems authored by Fr Richard Nesbitt. It can be ordered now with your Christmas cards on the order form or from our on-line shop, for delivery in October.

Our online shop continues to stock handcrafted olive wood items and now also has the beautiful mosaics by Samer Hanna highlighted in our last newsletter ready to order. Pre- Covid, Samer and his fellow craftsmen made their living selling their work to the tourists who pass through Bethlehem; obviously, this has not happened for 18 months. Our shop is now one of the few ways they can make an income. Why not take a look today?

Giving hope to vulnerable Christians

of prayer THE POWER

For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them. (Matthew 18:20)

Prayer is central to our mission; prayer brings hope and that is what we so desire to see for our Christian brothers and sisters in the Holy Land. Our beneficiaries frequently tell our team that your prayers are a source of strength and inspiration to them.

Perhaps you can ask your Minister, Priest or Pastor to include this prayer in your regular services and for the parish to commit to regularly praying for the Holy Land.

This summer, we’re asking you to join with us in praying for peace and prosperity to return to the Holy Land. Jesus promises us that as we gather together He will be among us, so as we begin to gather together again in worship, please form prayer groups to intercede for the real and pressing needs Christians are facing there.

May the gentleness of Christ prevail through the pain of conflict and mistrust,

Lord of all Compassion, we pray during these difficult days for all the peoples of the Holy Land.

May the presence of Christ heal the wounds that are inflicted, May the hope and courage of Christ be with all who are desperate and dying,

Remember our team in Bethlehem, all the priests and religious we work with, as well as our beneficiaries, also pray for you. They follow the news and know it has been a very difficult year for everyone in the UK. They pray that you have felt the comfort of God’s love in your lives and thank Him for the blessings of your support.

May the truth of Christ enlighten those in positions of authority to seek new ways of living that foster harmony and mutual respect, and

For further ideas, resources and to register as part of our Prayer Bank, go to https://www. friendsoftheholyland.org.uk/prayer . Thank you in advance for praying with us for hope to reign across the Holy Land.

Amen.

May the peace of Christ dwell deep within the hearts of all in this the Land of the Holy One. We ask this and all our prayers through the same, Jesus Christ, whose way is the most excellent way of love.

@FriendsoftheHolyLand @social_FHL @friends_of_the_holy_land www.friendsoftheholyland.org.uk

Farmer Ward Road, Kenilworth, Warwickshire, CV8 2DH Tel: 01926 512980 Charity number: 1130054