Lebanon-born Ali Elhajj came to faith in Christ
while living in America. As he encountered
evangelical culture, he became troubled by how
deeply American Christians misunderstood Islam
as well as Christianity in the Middle East.
After the 2006 Hezbollah-Israeli war, Elhaji and
his wife launched the fledgling Bethlehem
Christmas Project from their dining room table in
Weston, Florida. The idea was to invite Americans
to travel to Bethlehem in early December to help
local believers distribute Christmas gifts to needy
families regardless of religion.
So during the 2007 Christmas season, a small
team of Palestinian, Israeli, and American believers
handed out gifts to 200 children in Bethlehem. As it
turned out, the greatest needs were at an
orphanage and schools for children with disabilities.
The gifts themselves were mostly clothes,
educational toys, and basics for school and home,
not the latest electronic gadgets.
An Israeli volunteer, Alex Voitenko,
participated in the gift distribution, first had to
overcome the suspicion he felt toward Elhajj
because he was an Arab. But now, Voitenko
describes Elhajj as "an angel" He says "This war
[has] already continued a long time—for
generations. I don't see any solution without
Christ".
Abdullah Awwad, director of the Al-Basma
Center for Children with Special Needs, remembers
the reaction of children. "They don't think about
who [the gifts] come from. They just see the gifts
and feel happy with it. They are deprived of the
simplest means of life".
This glues together the pieces from Elhajj's
original vision: Israeli, Palestinian, and American
believers all working to address needs in the Middle
East. He explained “You try and find folks who are
open, are ready to learn, and want to do the will of
God".
Hope for peace has been tried this year as
much as ever. The demands for justice and
freedom, for resistance to evil and cruelty, for
working toward a better future for all people
involved, amid generations of conflict and limited resources
make any progress complicated. But
when Christmas becomes a time for faithful
celebration and border-crossing reconciliation,
believers may rediscover the hope of the “Prince of
Peace.” Even when the steps seem small and
uncertain. Even as in our families and church and
town, we strive to be people of peace.
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