It is known in the bible as a place when the angle came and declared to the shepherds about the birth of our savior Jesus Christ. My family is a Palestinian Christian family who live in the Holy Land. The church of the Nativity, which is the place where Jesus was born, is only 7 minutes away from my house by car. Bethlehem city used to be mostly Christian. But now we are only 50% Christians living
in the city and the other half is Muslims. Unfortunately, so many Christian are leaving the holy land because of the very bad economic situation and the close that the Israeli government forced. In 2001 when the Israeli army came to Bethlehem to arrest some people, it wasn’t safe to be outside of the house. There was shooting everywhere, I was so scared and I cried a lot asking God to stop that. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict makes it so hard to find work or to live in rest and peace. The situation in my city is so hard and it’s hard to live there nowadays due to the war, and economic is getting worse and worse everyday. We, Christians should stay in this land. It’s the land of our savior. We are the only people in that area who believe in Jesus and his land. Jew don’t believe that Jesus already came so they don’t believe in or care about the places where Jesus was such as church of nativity, shepherds field church and other many spots where Jesus put his leg in. And Muslims as well don’t care about the fact it is Jesus land. We once made up 63% of the people in the Holy Land but now we are less than 2% of the whole population. We are facing curfews, roadblocks, miserable living conditions because of Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the prejudices against Christians in the Middle East. But by Jesus standing next to us and helping us, the city of David is still breathing and looking for a better life or for a way to make fix and cure all the wounds that it had from the Israelis- Palestinian conflict or any other situations. The main source of income here is the olive wood handcrafts. Holy Land Christians are known worldwide for their carvings made out of olivewood. Generation after generation, families have taught their children to carve religious figures from olive wood by hand. For two centuries Catholics have been able to support their families by selling these unique carvings to pilgrims who visit. Fewer and fewer pilgrims have come now, all due to the conflict. These olive woodcarvings are very beautiful. The Olive tree is an ancient symbol of peace, wisdom, glory, power and pureness. The olive tree and olives are mentioned over 30 times in the Bible, in both the Old and New Testaments. Many olive trees are said to be several centuries old. Darker wood from these olive trees is said to be from the time of Christ. What I’m doing now and how I Started? I started my own small place where I can make my own olive wood handcrafts. I took a loan from a bank in the city and I bought all the things I need to make these beautiful olivewood handcrafts. I have dreams. I want to build myself and survive in these hard situations that my city is facing. I want to have a house, wife and kids one day. In the same time I want to help my parents who are not finding jobs. I only know that God is standing next to me and he will direct and help me to be the one he wants me to be. I trust in him that why I take him as my leader and my eyes that I see the world through. In able to success in my business, I need help from Christians around the world. In this catalogue you will see my work. I will give you best prices. So I’m asking you to consider buying these items to help me support my city, my family and then myself. Thank you for your time and consideration! God bless you all for supporting us in these difficult times and may God help you in your life as you help us! Thanks a lot! With God love,
Loay
