Five-year-old Hind Rajab was killed by Israeli soldiers as she sat in the back of her family’s car in Gaza. Her relatives were trying to evacuate. The world listened in horror to the recordings of Hind’s final pleas for help as she watched each of her family members die before soldiers took her life, too.

Hind’s name became known across the world—her story pierced hearts in a way that statistics rarely can.

Hind Rajab. Five years old.

But behind the headlines are hundreds of thousands more Palestinian children struggling to survive and grow. There are more than 2 million children in Gaza and the West Bank — most of whose lives go unseen by the world.

The pain is not only in the violence that kills children but also in the displacement and despair that scatter them. Palestinian families know that the next generation’s survival is at stake. Yet in the midst of this grief, the church has the chance to hold up a different vision:

God sees every child. And so should we.

Throughout Scripture, God makes clear the preciousness of children. Jesus welcomes them: “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me” (Mark 9:37). The psalmist calls them a heritage and gift from the Lord (127:3). Proverbs urges us to “speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves” (31:8).

In God’s kingdom, children are image-bearers. To follow Jesus is to resist any system that reduces them to numbers, collateral damage, or an afterthought. To be the church is to learn their names as God does—to bless them and to protect them.

Let Children Live

This conviction is at the heart of a new initiative from Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP). The campaign, called Let Children Live, invites Christians and congregations to receive the names of living Palestinian children and commit to lifting them up in prayer and advocacy.

It is a simple but profound act: To speak a child’s name before God in worship, small groups, or personal devotion; to remember that each one is beloved of God; and to join voices together in saying these children deserve to live—and to hope for the future.

This CMEP campaign runs in parallel with the global Let Children Live effort by Amnesty International and Save the Children.

Since its launch, the campaign has begun to take root. More than 200 churches and individuals have already registered, with more joining every week. It has drawn a coalition of 20 organizational sponsors, including major denominational bodies, Catholic religious orders, and ecumenical networks.

The National Council of Churches, Presbyterian Church (USA), Mennonite Central Committee, Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, and the United Methodist Church’s General Board of Church and Society are among the endorsers — along with Theology in the Raw, Alliance of Baptists, and Christians for Social Action.

This breadth of support reflects something remarkable: the campaign’s ability to unite Christians across theological, denominational, and geographic lines.

Read more: https://christiansforsocialaction.org/resource/let-children-live-seeing-palestinian-children-as-god-sees-them/

By Ben Norquist | christiansforsocialaction