Rev. Rob Waller, the pastor of St. Andrew Catholic Church in Milford, Ohio, has been selected to receive the 2007Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation Award. This award is made to individuals who have shown extraordinary commitment to peace, justice and well-being for the Christians of the Holy Land.

Rev. Rob Waller, the pastor of St. Andrew Catholic Church in Milford, Ohio,   has been selected to receive the 2007Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation Award.  This award is made to individuals who have shown extraordinary commitment to peace, justice and well-being for the Christians of the Holy Land. 

The award will be presented to Rev. Waller at a banquet held in conjunction with the Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation’s Ninth International Conference, which will be held on October 26 and 27, 2007, at National Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C.  The theme of the conference is “Walking the Path of Peace.”  The Award Banquet will take place on Friday, October 26, at the Marriott Bethesda North Hotel, 6701 Marinelli Rd., North Bethesda, MD 20852.  

As pastor of St. Andrew’s, Rev. Waller has supported a number of the programs of the Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation (HCEF) designed to provide moral, spiritual and financial support to Christians of all denominations in Palestine, Israel and Jordan.  

With the strong encouragement of Rev. Waller, St. Andrew’s has spearheaded a Holy Land Outreach Committee to serve all of the Christian churches in the Greater Cincinnati area.  That initiative has raised funds which now support over 300 students in Christian Schools in the Holy Land.  In addition, the joint effort has led to the sale of over $40,000 worth of religious gift items made by Holy Land artisans, providing significant economic support to a cottage industry that has fallen on hard times.

Fr. Waller was a principal organizer of the HCEF’s Children’s Peace Program, which places Christian eighth-grade students from Palestine in Christian schools in the United States.   He has also planned and led pilgrimages to the Holy Land’s Christian shrines, institutions and families – the “living stones” of the first Christian church. 

In commenting on Rev. Waller ‘s work, Rateb Rabie, HCEF’s President, said, “Father Waller is truly a voice for the Holy Land Christians and a model for others. He has been remarkably effective in helping people to become aware of the suffering of sisters and brothers in the Mother Church of the land of Christ, and to assist them.” 

All those interested in the Holy Land are invited to HCEF’s October Conference in Washington. For specific information about the conference, consult the following web sites:

Conference Registration:  
https://www.hcef.org/index.cfm/ID/466.cfm
Award Recipients 2007:    
https://www.hcef.org/index.cfm?mod=arts&id=453   
Hotel Accommodations:   
https://www.hcef.org/index.cfm?mod=arts&id=450
Endorsement Letters:       
https://www.hcef.org/index.cfm?mod=arts&id=459
To be a sponsor:                
https://www.hcef.org/index.cfm?mod=arts&id=456
To place an ad:                   
https://www.hcef.org/index.cfm?mod=arts&id=462

To donate a gift to the Silent Auction: https://hcef.org/publicfiles/conference/8thconference/DonationForm.pdf