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The Bethlehem Christmas Project helps the needy children

By Dan Wooding, founder of ASSIST Ministries

The Bethlehem Christmas Project, co-founded by Ali and Jennifer Elhajj, was inspired by Ali’s visit to Israel and the West Bank in November of 2006. While there, Ali interacted with local individuals and humanitarian organizations. He witnessed great suffering among the Palestinian population in the Occupied Territories as well as fear in the hearts of average Israelis.

Upon his return, Ali, who is from Lebanese extraction, and his wife Jennifer, who live in Weston, Florida, brainstormed ways to help bring Israelis and Palestinians together. What better way to do so, they agreed, than by helping children? And what better time to do this good work than Christmas?

Once the concept was hatched, and they contacted Salim Munayer, founder of Musalaha (a non-profit organization that promotes reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians) about working on the project. Their partnering with Musalaha, one of the most effective reconciliation ministries in the region, was a natural next step in the process.

I caught up with Ali Elhajj at the recent NRB 2008 Convention in Nashville, Tennessee, and asked him to share more about the project he and his wife founded.

“The Bethlehem Christmas Project is a very simple concept,” he began. “What we do is we take Israeli, Palestinian and American Christians and we all work together to deliver gifts to children. The idea is that, as the non-believing world looks in this is a ministry, they will wonder why Israelis and Palestinians and Americans are working together.

“The answer is very simple. We’re one body, united in Christ. That is the Gospel in action. We also help to strengthen the relationship between Israelis and Palestinians and, as they get engaged in one another’s lives, they then start to think about the welfare of each another.

“Finally, we affect the next generation the youth that are coming up.”

I then asked Ali why he chose Bethlehem for the project.

He replied, “Bethlehem is the birth place of Christ. It’s a city that we think of from the stories in the Bible, but we don’t see it as a living place where there’s a Church that is very much in need. So we want to bring people to Bethlehem and also to Israeli cities to be able to do this work together.”

I told Ali that the last time I was in Bethlehem, my wife Norma and myself were held up by five teenage gunmen who were going to kill us because they thought we were Jewish settlers. Fortunately, I told him, our Arab taxi driver saved our lives by explaining we were from the United States and they let us go.

So wasn’t Bethlehem a dangerous place to take Americans to at this time?

“Well, we don’t have a safe faith,” said Ali. “Christ came to die, so that is a cross that we pick up we don’t know what will happen to us. We haven’t had any problems so far, but it is always a possibility. But if the Church doesn’t stand in the gap and live that ministry of reconciliation, who’s going to do it? So we pray and we go.”

I pointed out to Ali that many Christians seem to be leaving Bethlehem because of the ongoing violence there and he said, “Well, certainly, they’ve been living in conflict for so long. So think about it. As a Palestinian Christian, where do you want your children to grow up? There’s really very little hope for them if the Church in the West doesn’t support them, equip and enable them to do the work that needs to be done in their city.”

I then asked Ali to describe what his team does when they go to Bethlehem at Christmastime.

“We bring gifts to the children,” he said. “We have orphanages that we go to, as well as schools for children with special needs, and also a school for children suffering from post traumatic stress. So what we do is again try to connect the Church with these needy kids.

“If you think of it, we in the United States are the richest, most powerful country in the world. We’re very proud of that, but only two percent of funds for missions go towards the Middle East. So we want to change that. We want to get the Church involved in reconciliation. We know that there will never be a perfect peace there, but the Christian mandate that we have as Christians is to love one another. So Israeli Christians must love Palestinian Christians and Palestinian Christians must move Israeli Christians so that the world can look in and say, ‘They are His disciples.’”

I then asked Ali why he hadn’t gone to Lebanon rather than Bethlehem.

“The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has echoed all over the world and it is the thorn between the western world and the eastern world,” he said. “So there was a real need there and we just want to be able to diffuse the tensions. I realize that there is also work to do in Lebanon, but the real need is the situation between Israelis and Palestinians.”

He said that he is looking for Americans to join with him this coming Christmas and he said they can connect with him via his web site which is http://bethlehemchristmasproject.info.

“We want people to come with us,” said Ali. “We haven’t quite decided what the gifts will be yet. Last Christmas we delivered clothing, toys, and some educational materials. We had been told by people at the orphanages that they wanted to teach the orphans how to tell time, so we also brought watches. So we need the helping hands of people to join us.”

Ali concluded by saying, “We have a responsibility as Christians. We can’t just live our lives and let the world be. We are God’s instruments in this world. So if we do not do this work, what will happen to the world? Who will do it?”

A powerful question for all Christians around the world to answer.

[04/29/2008]

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