Child of Bethlehem Update

 

Not just for Christmas!

The Palestinian Bible Society (PBS) works throughout the year to bring the message of God’s love to His children. Working within churches, villages and schools, the PBS is reaching out to children and young people. Using a Bible-based programme of fun days, trips, conferences, puppet shows and Christmas and Easter programmes, the staff of the PBS help the young people deal with their feelings, and to understand change and hope. 

 

 This project has been having a big impact on the people of the area.

Throughout 2009 large numbers of people were reached: 
• 7,000 children were served in cooperation with their churches
• 10 youth groups and their leaders were served through different activities
• 40,000 different scriptures including Children’s Bibles and colouring books were distributed.
• 5 Summer camps were run

 

The message of the team of staff and volunteers continues to be that of hope and love. The amount of children exposed remained to be very high throughout 2009, and the demand on the programme increased each month. So much was achieved:

 

• The team was able to train two different Christian groups and support them with puppets and a stage, which has enabled them to host their own shows and develop their own stories based on Christian teachings.
• 5 summer camps were supported financially and with Scriptures and Bibles.
• Support was given to different local churches with Bibles and Christmas gifts, especially those living in isolated villages that are considered a small minority among a majority of Muslims.
• The Easter Programmes were supported with Scriptures, in coordination with local Churches.
• At Christmas gifts of a colouring book, sweets and a Scripture booklet were prepared for children. These were distributed through churches and centers in Ramallah, Bethlehem, Jericho, Zababdeh and Tobas.
• Family Packages were also distributed at Christmas, including booklets of ‘Meetings of Christ’, ‘Miracles of Christ’, ‘Parables of Christ’, ‘Teaching of Christ’, ‘How to Read the Bible’ and ‘God is My Shelter’. These were placed in a Christmas envelope with some goodies and sweets and distributed in different locations.

 

The response from the communities who received these gifts and teaching was encouraging; many poor families couldn’t afford to buy gifts for their children so the PBS gift came at the right time. It is our hope that through these programmes children will continue to know the love of God, and that in an atmosphere of unrest and worry people will seek to find their strength in God’s Word.