|
As the festive season approaches and
Christmas shopping begins, we are asking you to consider giving a gift
to help us make the Holy Land a better place for the poor, vulnerable
and disadvantaged.
The cosy Christmas card image of the star over the stable in Bethlehem
could not be further from the truth as families struggle to survive
financial ruin in an economy devastated by the impact of travel
restrictions.
In Gaza too, the need is overwhelming as child malnutrition stalks the
land and the Al Ahli Hospital has over 500 families waiting to join
their food programme.
It is impossible to tell all the individual stories but one such
family is Ahmad’s. After the collapse of his business and destruction
of his home during the conflict, he is left as a shadow of his former
self. His wife struggles to hold the family together as they survive
in a makeshift tent in a local cemetery.
Please give a gift this year, whatever you can afford will help us to
make a difference to these shattered communities.
Please
donate
online or send your cheque or charity
voucher (with your name and address, or supporter reference, on the
back) to me at BibleLands Christmas 2007 Appeal, FREEPOST, PO Box 50, High
Wycombe, Bucks, HP15 7BR. I will ensure that it is used wherever the
need is greatest, and that together, we will make a real difference. Thank you |
You may also be interested in
Salaam
Bethlehem - a play being presented by the
Riding Lights
Theatre Company across the UK during November and December.
The play invites you to experience the hopes and fears of Bethlehem's
Christian community...
Holy
Land Facts:
-
The incidence of low birthweight
for Palestinian babies has doubled in the last 12 months
-
10,000 children die in the
Palestinian Occupied Territories each year, mostly from preventable
diseases and poor care for newborns
-
Literacy and numeracy scores for
young Palestinians have plummeted in the last year
-
40,000 children work in the
Palestinian Occupied Territories, 73% of whom are forced to work due
to dire financial conditions
-
The Gaza Strip is a tiny patch of
land 20 miles long by 5-10 miles wide. It has one of the highest
overall growth rates and population densities in the world. More
than half the population are children.
-
Due to closures and curfews, more
than 226,000 children in 580 schools in the West Bank find going to
school impossible, irregular or dangerous
-
In Gaza and Bethlehem up to 70%
of the population live below the poverty line
-
Those living in the West Bank
survive on one third of the World Health Organisation's minimum
water requirement
Find
out more about BibleLands' supported projects in the Holy Land
|
