Palestinian Christians
Palestinian Christians
"Issa", founded painted on an
East Jerusalem alley, is "Jesus" in Arabic.
One of the pleasant surprises of my trip was running into
Bible-believing Palestinian Christians in East Jerusalem and hearing about
other Bible-believing Palestinian Christians in the
West Bank and the Gaza strip.
The unpleasant surprise was learning that the Palestinian Christians are being intimidated and pushed out. From 1948 to 2000, the population of "Christians" (including Orthodox and Catholics) among the Palestinians in Israel, West Bank and Gaza dropped from 15% to 2%. The percentage of Palestinian Christians is even lower today, and of course the number of Bible-believing Palestinian Christians is a tiny fraction of even these low numbers.
The Palestinian Christians I met in East Jerusalem shared that they feel persecuted not only by Muslims and Jews, but also by American Christians, whom they say love the Jews and Jewish Christians but turn a blind eye to them and their suffering. These Palestinian Christians lamented that of the millions of American Christians who have visited Jerusalem over the years, only a handful have reached out to them.
Despite their poverty, these Palestinian Christians said that financial support isn't what they are after. What they want is fellowship and prayer in Christ. They are so few and dwindling in number, and would be so encouraged if some of their brothers in sisters from America would take the time to just come and pray with them during their visits to Jerusalem.
Palestinian Bible Society and Bethlehem Bible College are two of the groups run by Bible-based Palestinian Christians who need our prayers and support, for their sake, as well as ours:
"All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ "Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’ "Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’ "Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." (Matthew 25:32-46)
The unpleasant surprise was learning that the Palestinian Christians are being intimidated and pushed out. From 1948 to 2000, the population of "Christians" (including Orthodox and Catholics) among the Palestinians in Israel, West Bank and Gaza dropped from 15% to 2%. The percentage of Palestinian Christians is even lower today, and of course the number of Bible-believing Palestinian Christians is a tiny fraction of even these low numbers.
The Palestinian Christians I met in East Jerusalem shared that they feel persecuted not only by Muslims and Jews, but also by American Christians, whom they say love the Jews and Jewish Christians but turn a blind eye to them and their suffering. These Palestinian Christians lamented that of the millions of American Christians who have visited Jerusalem over the years, only a handful have reached out to them.
Despite their poverty, these Palestinian Christians said that financial support isn't what they are after. What they want is fellowship and prayer in Christ. They are so few and dwindling in number, and would be so encouraged if some of their brothers in sisters from America would take the time to just come and pray with them during their visits to Jerusalem.
Palestinian Bible Society and Bethlehem Bible College are two of the groups run by Bible-based Palestinian Christians who need our prayers and support, for their sake, as well as ours:
"All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ "Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’ "Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’ "Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." (Matthew 25:32-46)