Baptist, Catholic, Non-denominational, Evangelical, and other Christian faithful in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Johnson City, Tennessee came together last weekend to support the Holy Land Christians.

 

 

 

Baptist, Catholic, Non-denominational, Evangelical, and other Christian faithful in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Johnson City, Tennessee came together last weekend to support the Holy Land Christians. Two new Holy Land Christian Support Networks (HCSN) were established to provide grassroots support for aid and solidarity, and to spread awareness about the cause in area church meetings or other symposia through HCEF programs. HCEF President Rateb Rabie and Programs Director Jonathon Smith traveled to Raleigh and Johnson City to give presentations and take questions about the plight of the Holy Land Christians.

The HCSN established in Raleigh, North Carolina will serve the entire Raleigh-Durham area. It is headed by Richard Hoffmann, a business professional man who traveled to the Holy Land with an HCEF pilgrimage last month. The pilgrims had "an eye-opening experience" and came back ready to act. This HCSN is supported by the faith community at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church  in Raleigh and Immaculate Conception Church in Durham with Fr. David McBriar, OFM, and Fr. Jacek Orzechowski, OFM respectively. who are committed to advocate for peace and justice, ecumenism, and interfaith dialogue.

HCEF Pilgrim Richard Gorman, whose moving stories from his January pilgrimage can be found here (https://hcef.org/index.cfm/mod/news/ID/16/SubMod/NewsView/NewsID/1687.cfm), is heading the HCSN formed in Johnson City. Richard is a seminarian in the Emmanuel School of Religion. This will be the first HCSN founded mainly by Evangelicals, and follows the high-profile visit of 26 non-denominational, Baptist, and other Evangelical pastors to Bethlehem arranged by HCEF. Pastor Timothy Ross of Hopwood Christian Church at Milligan College, which hosted HCEF President to speak to professors and evangelical leaders, will be the Chaplain of the HCSN in Tennessee.

HCEF President Rateb Rabie commented, "I am constantly encouraged and inspired to meet the people who are willing to volunteer their time and energy to support the Holy Land Christians and become Ambassadors of the Mother Church through these networks. We all look forward to fruitful work with the new HCSNs, and I’m glad to welcome them into the HCEF family. I am especially proud to have an HCSN based in the Evangelical tradition – we need all the Christian diversity and broad support we can get to help the Body of Christ in the Holy Land. Many thanks to these new networks for their welcome and hospitality to us and our mission."

If you would like to contact the Raleigh-Durham HCSN, you can email Dick Hoffmann at DHoffmann@hcef.org or (919) 449-0840. If you would like to contact the Johnson City HCSN, please email Richard Gorman at rgorman@hcef.org or (912) 468-0781.

HCEF is a 501©3 organization dedicated to improving the lives of the Holy Land Christians through spiritual, financial, and moral support. Our mission is to replace despair with hope, fear with security, and humiliation with human dignity for all the residents of the Holy Land through increased awareness and understanding.