All the world is aware of the ongoing conflict between the Israeli government and the Palestinian people. The Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation (HCEF) was established three years ago in order to provide spiritual and material support for the Christians who live in the Holy Land. These Christians are not immigrants to the region or converts from Judaism or Islam. Many of them are directly descended from the first Christians who followed Jesus, and they are Palestinian. They comprise only 2% of the population and, thus, their voice is rarely heard in the midst of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.
The Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation (HCEF)
**Announcement**
April 14, 2002
Dear Pastor,
All the world is aware of the ongoing conflict between the Israeli government and the Palestinian people. The Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation (HCEF) was established three years ago in order to provide spiritual and material support for the Christians who live in the Holy Land. These Christians are not immigrants to the region or converts from Judaism or Islam. Many of them are directly descended from the first Christians who followed Jesus, and they are Palestinian. They comprise only 2% of the population and, thus, their voice is rarely heard in the midst of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.
Enclosed is a flyer for the Emergency Relief Fund that HCEF has established to help our brother and sister Christians as soon as the Israeli military will allow humanitarian relief into the Palestinian cities and villages. All funds are dispensed through local Christian clergy in their own churches, since these are the leaders who are most in touch with the needs of the people.
We would like you to consider how your church can contribute to the Emergency Relief Fund for Christian Palestinians. You may duplicate these flyers. Also, if your church has a website, you could create a link to the HCEF website in order for parishioners to learn more about our foundation and make their donation online. HCEF would also be happy to arrange for a volunteer to speak at your church. If these indigenous Christians leave the region because they have not felt the support of other Christians around the world, then the local Christian holy sites will become mere museums of the lost Christian tradition in the land of Jesus’ birth, death, and resurrection.
If you are not already familiar with HCEF and would like to speak with us about our work or about how our funds are dispensed, please contact me at (301) 951-9400. You may also visit our web site at www.hcef.org. It is urgent that Christians of all denominations respond in unity for our Mother Church during this desperate time. Such an act of unity would be an extraordinary reflection of what Jesus prayed, “that all may be one . . . that the world may believe.” John 17:21
In Jesus Christ,
Rateb Rabie, KHS
President
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The Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation is a 501c3 tax exempt, non-profit organization committed to improving the lives of Christians in the Holy Land by developing bonds of solidarity with Christians in the United States. HCEF, PO Box 6687, Silver Spring, MD 20906. (301) 951-9400, Fax (301) 951-9402 email: news@hcef.org, Toll Free (866) 871-4233.
