Dec 21st Holy Land Christians in Worship

Hear their Story and see their beautiful Olive Wood Crafts

On Dec. 21, 2025, and during the service, we will be hearing about the Christians of the Holy Land.  After the service, handmade olive wood religious articles from Bethlehem will be available for purchase in the narthex. These carvings include Nativity sets, crosses, Christmas ornaments, candle holders, angels, and many other items that could make nice wedding, baptism, confirmation, Easter, or Christmas gifts. The carvings are handmade by Christian families from Bethlehem, and all proceeds support them.

More than 70% of the Christian Community in the Holy Land depends on tourism as its only source of income. For decades, those Christians have been enduring many hardships as tourism in Bethlehem has plummeted and access to other sources of income has been sharply restricted due to the ongoing conflict, the wars, the 12-yard wall built around Bethlehem, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the catastrophic ongoing war.  Tourists are afraid or unable to visit the Holy Land. This made it very difficult for the Christian families to find their daily bread and forced them to flee their homeland in search of income. The Christian population of the Holy Land was 30% in the last century; today, it is less than 1%.  If it continues like this, in a few years, we will find no Christians in the land of Christ.