A Child of Bethlehem

Excited children just keep flooding in. The Bible Society workers had expected 120 – but more than 160 happy, expectant faces are crowding into the long, low-ceilinged room, to be welcomed by the team.

The school holidays in Bethlehem have started and we have come to see the Child of Bethlehem project in action. Although just a couple of miles from our hotel in Jerusalem, our journey has already included a trip through the checkpoint at a gap in the high, concrete, graffiti-covered wall that partitions Bethlehem from Jerusalem.

But the children aren’t thinking of divisions right now. The Child of Bethlehem team outline the exciting activities. There’s not much for young ones to do in Bethlehem – and this day is a rare treat in otherwise grey lives.

All around everyone is singing, arms enthusiastically doing the actions. Little hands – and even smaller hands – are lifted up in worship and prayer. It is moving to see these children of Bethlehem worship the Lord in the very town of his birthplace 2,000 years ago.

After worship, the children take it in turns to do activities that reinforce the teaching. The little ones stay and listen to Mai tell them the story of the wedding in Cana, while we are invited to take refreshment with Father Ibrahim, who pastors the church here and will tell us more about the project. On the way we pass the older ones hotly contesting a ‘tug-of-war’, and peep into craft rooms where careful painting is taking place with great concentration.

‘A Christian-free zone’

Father Ibrahim tells us about the large numbers of Christians leaving the Bethlehem area, and says that at current rates of emigration, Bethlehem will be a Christian-free zone in just ten years. He also talks very movingly of the debt they owe to the Child of Bethlehem project.

‘The support Bible Society is giving is so valuable – we are really happy. It is providing help we cannot find anywhere else. We cannot live without water. And we cannot live without the Bible - our spiritual drink! Your support is not in vain – it is creating new believers in Jesus.’

It’s obvious how much Father Ibrahim cares, and we warmly thank him for sharing with us. By the time we see the children again, they have all been given their precious new gifts: a CD and a Bible Story book. Excitedly, they run around comparing gifts with their friends.

A child of Bethlehem

Ten-year-old Daniel runs up to us and tells us in his broken English how much his Bible – last year’s gift from the camp – means to him. ‘I must know all the stories off by heart’, he says. Soon he is sitting down and reading his friends his favourite Bible story – the resurrection. Eleven-year-old Selena shyly says how much she too loves to read the Bible to her brothers and sisters. 

We leave Bethlehem and head for the checkpoint again. For us, Jerusalem is a short drive away, but for the children of Bethlehem it might as well be a hundred miles. And yet despite all the physical limitations, the support of Bible Society has allowed many of these children to know God’s message and grasp the key to true freedom.  Seeing their joy and their faith has inspired our hearts.

If you would like to support Child of Bethlehem and projects like it, just £15 can provide two children’s Bibles. Your Bibles will allow more children like Daniel and Selena to receive this most precious gift, enabling the flame of faith to continue to burn brightly in this cradle of Christianity.
 

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