Faith Sustained in the Silence of Bethlehem

Bethlehem sits in an eerie, painful silence. The vibrant streets where our Lord was born—once filled with pilgrims and visitors—are now empty. With tourism completely frozen by the ongoing conflict, the local economy has utterly collapsed.

Unemployment has skyrocketed above 80%, leaving families with no income, no safety net, and no clear way to provide for their daily needs. Families have fallen far past what many would consider rock bottom. Yet, into this deep darkness, our Diaper and Food Distribution Programs have become a vital vessel of mercy.

For the poorest, the elderly, and disabled Christians who are completely unable to work during this wartime crisis, these programs are quite literally a lifeline. Currently the diaper program is providing critically needed diapers to severely disabled adults, many of them elderly.

The diaper program is also assisting vulnerable children with severe disabilities at an orphanage near the Church of the Nativity that traditionally marks the birthplace of Jesus.

Our food program is also continuing during the war devastated economy. We deliver monthly food packages to families across Bethlehem. Desperation is growing and more families are seeking aid because of lack of work. Several families, including widows caring for grandchildren, have been added to our aid lists just in the last month.

The future of the Christian presence in the Holy Land hangs precariously in the balance, with believers now making up less than one percent of the population. If these families cannot survive the economic devastation of this war, the living witness of Christ’s people in His birthplace could fade away entirely. Sadly, the wealthy Christian families who could afford to leave are not there to help!

Every single food or diaper package we deliver does far more than satisfy physical hunger or provide basic hygiene. We are making a declaration that these believers are cherished, remembered, and sustained by the global Body of Christ.

As they look upon the gifts sent by their faithful brothers and sisters in America, they are reminded that they are not alone. Your continued, compassionate support allows us to bear one another’s burdens, fulfilling the law of Christ and defending the enduring presence of His church in the very land where He was born, crucified, and resurrected. (Below from 21 years ago)

This paragraph is from my April 2005 newsletter reporting on a visit to Bethlehem.

The situation of Christians in the Holy Land is worsening by the day. During Christmas of 2004 Muslims filled Bethlehem Square, setting up loudspeakers for day long prayers so that Christians could not even get to the Church of the Nativity to pray. The Palestinian Authority Police now stand at the entrance to the church door and question each person who enters asking their citizenship and how they arrived. I have been to churches on six of the world’s seven continents and even in the old Soviet Union when it was communist and I was never before questioned by a policeman at the door. This is intimidation plain and simple.

I was looking for an article I wrote many years ago and came upon a PDF of a newsletter I wrote almost exactly 20 years ago. As you can see from this one paragraph the situation for Christians in the Holy Land was bad and it is getting worse each passing year.

Guided tours of the Church of the Nativity by Muslims? Yes! Many of the official guides giving tours of the Church of the Nativity, the traditional birthplace of Jesus are Muslim. In Islam, Jesus (Isa al-Masih) is considered a prophet and “servant of Allah.”

If the fighting stops and you can travel to Bethlehem on a pilgrimage, you may well have a Muslim guide you through the Church of the Nativity.

At the current rate of depletion of the Christian population in Bethlehem, Beit Sahour, Beit Jala and other Christian villages, there will be no native Christians in the Holy Land by the year 2100. By 2100 I would also predict that the Church of the Nativity along with the Church of St. Catherine and the Chapel of the Milk Grotto, to have been seized and turned into mosques. Please pray daily that there will be a great awakening that will reverse the decline of Christianity in the Holy Land.