Revd Richard Wise (also Area Dean of Eastleigh) is a volunteer for Friends of the Holy Land, helping spread the charity’s message across our diocese. In light of the ongoing conflict in Israel-Palestine, he shares a few words about the work of FHL…
As Winchester Diocesan Coordinator for Friends of the Holy Land, I’d like to let you know a little about their work. FHL is a non-political, ecumenical Christian charity, and their mission is to secure a resilient and enduring Christian community in the West Bank, Gaza, Israel and Jordan. This year, they have launched a Christmas appeal in response to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza as well as the huge needs in the West Bank – Don’t Let Their Light Go Out, and I’d be really grateful if you’d take a look at it. You may wish to support it as an individual or as a church.
Join the FHL for an ecumenical Advent Service at Glasgow Cathedral via the livestream to pray for all those suffering due to the war in the Holy Land.
Don’t Let Their Light Go Out
As violence rages in the Holy Land, the situation for our Christian family there has gone from very difficult to critical. Caught in the middle of terrible conflict after a year of pressure, many more families from places like Bethlehem, East Jerusalem and Ramallah are thinking seriously about emigrating. We face the possibility of the last members of the ancient Christian community leaving the homeland of our faith forever.
The Holy Land’s Christians have been a light, both spiritually and practically, in the region for thousands of years. They follow Jesus where he walked and love their neighbours by providing the vast majority of hospitals, quality schools, universities and social care in the Palestinian territories. The main message of this campaign is that we can’t let that light go out in our generation.
With FHL’s office in Bethlehem, they are well-placed to use your donations to respond very quickly to families’ urgent needs. With emigration looking more and more like Christians’ only option, this is the time to help and invest in this vital community’s future.
What Does Friends of the Holy Land Do?
In ‘normal times’ – which I hope and pray will return as soon as possible, but with a renewed effort for peace – one of FHL’s aims is to encourage UK Christians to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. They are particularly keen that pilgrims don’t just see the holy sites but meet the people. They are able to help tour leaders to plan an itinerary which includes visits to the projects they support or to insert visits into an itinerary that has already been planned.
That’s the sort of pilgrimage I went on for the first time just over 25 years ago and it was life-changing. I would therefore love it if many more people could encounter the Holy Land in that way. If we don’t engage with our sisters and brothers in Christ who live there, we miss out on something very precious. And not surprisingly, the Christians are really encouraged when pilgrims make the time to go and see them: it shows them that they are not forgotten.
There’s much more information on the FHL website, including prayers for peace, and I commend it to you.
Please feel free to contact me on rwise@talktalk.net or FHL direct if you would like to know anything at all about their work. It would be really good to hear from you and to hear of any support within our diocese for the Christians of the Holy Land.
