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Our partnership with the Latin Patriarchate School in Palestine |
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We exceeded our goal for 2004-2005, raising $1751. **News**: Our 2004 Peacemaking Offering *News*: A member of the Global Outreach Committee |
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Children: Hope for the future |
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| Our goal: As we listen to the biblical lessons each week, our thoughts turn to the lands of Israel and Palestine, where Jesus lived and where the Church was born. The land of his birth remains the home for many children, both Israeli and Palestinian, Jewish, Moslem and Christian. It is a very difficult time to be a child on either side. The problems sometimes seems too big to tackle as individuals. We searched for a way to help some of the children caught in the midst of the violence. This project arose from that search. |
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| Our partners: We have entered our fourth year of partnership with the Latin Patriarchate School in Zababdeh, a small village on the West Bank within miles of Jesus' childhood home in Nazareth. The village of Zababdeh is 75% Christian, and the school serves ~600 Christian and Muslim boys and girls from Preschool through the 12th grade. We were introduced to the school by Marthame and Elizabeth Sanders, Presbyterian missionaries working in the area, who taught at the school from 2000-2003. |
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The first three years: In the first year of our partnership, we had two goals. First, we wanted to raise $1000, through the Church School offering, to help the Latin Patriarchate School meet the difficult challenge of maintaining a strong and nurturing educational environment despite the violence and economic upheaval troubling the region. Second, we wanted to build ties between the Church School students in Zababdeh and those in Chapel Hill. Both efforts succeeded beyond our expectations! The children raised more than $1250 in the first year. Their work was capped off by a check signing at the Church School Year's End Celebration. Inspired by their efforts, two anonymous donors matched their donations, and a second match was provided by the Outreach Committee, raising the total to nearly $4000. Father Hijazin, Principal at the Latin Patriarchate School, conveyed his thanks for this effort. In addition, children from both Chapel Hill and Zabadeh began kid-to-kid diplomacy, exchanging holiday cards and letters about their respective families and school and church homes. The Church School classes also created their own view of the bridges being built across the world. In the second year of our partnership, we built on the first year's successes. Our fundraising goal was $1500, to raise money for much needed equipment for the Latin Patriarchate School. This was an ambitious goal, but we achieved it due to the children's boundless enthusiasm. Matches from our Outreach committee and anaonymous donors raised raised the total to nearly $4000. Second, the personal ties between students here and in Zababdeh continued to grow. We received a package of letters from the school in Zababdeh last summer, and our high school and 6th grade classes sent letters and our 1st and 3rd grade students sent Christmas cards. Finally, we were blessed by a visit from Father Hijazin, Amal Kasabry of the Parish Council, and Marthame and Elizabeth Sanders, who joined us at the year end Church School celebration. Marthame preached and the Sanders screened part of their documentary on the Christian communities of the Northern West Bank, an ambitious project they hope to complete by the end of 2004. |
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| The Latin Patriarchate School was also featured in the Peacemaking offering in October 2003 and October 2004. Each congregation selects a project to receive the local portion of the money collected (25%), and the Outreach Committee designated those year's funds to go to the School. Our congregation raised $4590 in 2003. Our local share was $1148. This helped provide much needed renovations for the kindergarten playground at the Latin Patriarchate School. In 2004 the Outreach Committee once again chose the LPS as the recipient of the local portion of the Peacemaking Offering. This year our congregation raised $3312, of which $828 will go to the school. A partial match of $500 will be added to this. Father Aktham will use the money to help modernize the foreign language lab. |
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| Year three: In the third year of the partnership between UPC and Zababdeh, the Church School Offering once again went to support a project at the school. Our goal was once again to raise $1500. We exceeded this goal, raising $1751! Two anonymous donors matched the first and the last $500 raised by the students, and the Outreach Commitee added a $1500 match at the end of the year, for a total of $4251. These donations will help Father Aktham complete an ambitious plan to turn a gravel lot next to the school into a park and playground that will serve as a center for both the village and the church communities. |  |
| In September 2004, Mark Peifer, a member of our Global Outreach Committee, had a chance to visit the school and see first hand the work they are doing, teaching the children ways to work for peace and justice in a world surrounded by war. He brought over posters created by our Church School students and also presented them with a banner to remind them of their friends in Chapel Hill (sorry Duke fans). He brought back posters the students there made for our church. You can learn more about his visit at this link. |
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Want to learn more? Elizabeth and Marthame Sanders maintain a terrific website with more information about Zababdeh, the Latin Patriarchate School, and their work. You can learn more about these at: Zababdeh: http://come.to/zababdeh http://www.pcusa.org/missionconnections/profiles/sandersm.htm |
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