HEAR THEIR STORY AND SEE THEIR BEAUTIFUL OLIVEWOOD CRAFTS
On Sunday, May 17 at the end of both services, we will be hearing about the Christians of the Holy Land, and after each service we will be hosting at the church a nice display of handmade olive wood religious articles from Bethlehem available for purchase. These carvings include olivewood Nativity sets, crosses, Christmas ornaments, candle holders, angels and many other religious crafts that could make a nice wedding, baptism, confirmation, Easter, and Christmas gifts. The carvings are handmade by Christian families from Bethlehem who rely on it for their daily bread.
More than 70% of the Christian Community in the Holy Land depend upon tourism as their only source of income. For decades those Christians have been enduring many hardships as tourism in Bethlehem has plummeted and access to other sources of income has been sharply restricted due to the ongoing conflict, the wars, the 12-yard wall built around Bethlehem, the COVID-19 pandemic , and recently the catastrophic war in Gaza for the more than two years. Due to this, tourists are afraid and unable to visit the Holy Land. This made it very difficult for the Christian families to find their daily bread and forced them to immigrate and flee their homeland since they lost their source of income. The Christian population of the Holy Land was 30% in the last century, today it is less than 1%. If it continues like this, in few years we will find no Christians in the land of Christ, which could cause tragic consequences to our faith and holy sites.
Please help support our Christian brothers and sisters in the town of Bethlehem where Christ was born by purchasing their carvings. A Christian family from Bethlehem will be telling us the story of the Christians of the Holy Land and they will be presenting these carvings after the services. It is never too late to help. All proceeds go to support Christian families from Bethlehem.
Let us carefully tend to our roots, Christian children of God in the Holy Land. And let us pray together for peace in the land where our Savior once walked to tell the world the good news of salvation. Thank you for your support.
Sincerely in Christ,
Dr. George Ghanem
Holy Land Christian Solidarity Cooperative
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