Friends of the Holy Land supporters from across the country gathered online for the Christian charity’s first ever virtual event was a great success.  

They heard from Father Mamdouh Abusada the director of the School of Joy, a school for children with special needs in Beit Sahour near Bethlehem.

Father Abusada spoke about the challenge facing the people of Bethlehem especially the Christian families where more than 80 per cent of people were employed in tourism industries which have completely closed down since the outbreak of Coronavirus and it looks unlikely they will be able to return to normal before Easter next year.  

This is having grave economic consequences for the people of Bethlehem and Father Abusada warned that many of them are struggling to cope without income.

Father Abusada went on to talk about the many challenges that the School of Joy was facing in reopening this month so that they can continue to support the students and their families.  

The school will need to purchase thermometers to take the children’s temperatures as well as masks to make sure all the staff and students are safe and new uniforms in six colours to allow bubbles of children to stay separated. 

They are also instituting new systems with half as many children in each classroom and students attending only every other day to limit the number of children on site.

FHL supporters then asked a number of questions about the situation in Bethlehem and how we could best support our brothers and sisters there during these difficult times. 

Father Abusada and Friends of the Holy Land committed to remember each other in prayer during these challenging times and continue to raise awareness of the plight of our Christian brothers and sisters in the Holy Land and continue to raise funds to support them.

Friends of the Holy Land are planning more virtual events in the future and hope to see many of their old and new supporters at them in the future and are continuing their mission in standing firm with Christians in the Holy Land.

Friends of the Holy Land is small ecumenical Christian charity with groups and supporters across England and Scotland and operates an office in Bethlehem to support vulnerable Christians. 

For more details visit friendsoftheholyland.org.uk/home.