Barnabas Fund - International Headquarters River Street, Pewsey, Wilthire. Phone: +44 1672 565030 Latitude: 51 deg 23 min 18 sec N Longitude: 1 deg 45 min 48 sec W .
Home
News
Archives
Christmas in Bethlehem

Email:

Christmas in Bethlehem

To

Email address:
Separate multiple addresses with a comma (,). Maximum of 10

From

Your name:
Your email address:
Security test:
Please enter the numbers that appear here in the box below.
 refresh captcha
CAPTCHA Image
Security code:

Details provided here will never be used in any other context

Published: 00:00 GMT Standard Time - Friday 25 December 2009

Christmas in Bethlehem

Project(s): 65-377, 65-420

Country/Region: Holy Land

“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favour rests.” Luke 2:14

Bethlehem
A nativity play at a Christian school in Bethlehem.
The children’s school places are sponsored by Barnabas

Christmas in Christ’s birthplace has special significance for Christians all over the world. This small but extremely important town is ablaze with flags and decorations at Christmas time each year. Although the usual Western Christmas customs (such as singing carols, exchanging gifts and visiting family and friends) are observed in Bethlehem, there are many traditions that are special to Bethlehem and the Holy Land. Christmas celebrations involve multiple church services and processions through Manger Square; festivities often last all night long.

On Christmas Eve, thousands of visiting pilgrims and Bethlehem residents gather on the steps of the Church of the Nativity to watch the dramatic annual procession, which is led by galloping horsemen and mounted police, followed by a solitary horseman riding a coalblack steed and carrying a cross. Church ministers and government officials also join the procession and enter the church for a special Christmas service. Christian homes in Bethlehem are marked by a cross painted over the door at this time of year and each home displays a homemade crib scene. A star is placed on a pole in the village square. Many onlookers also go into the fields where the shepherds first heard the good news of Jesus’ birth.

To celebrate Christmas, families dine on turkey spiced with pepper, cinnamon and nutmeg and stuffed with rice, meat, pine nuts and almonds. Olives, chickpeas, falafel and humus (chick pea paste) play a signifi cant role in the local cuisine, along with a popular East European meat stew called cholent, which also contains potatoes, barley and beans.

Bethlehem2
Christmas Celebrations in Manger Square, Bethlehem

In the 1950s, 90% of Bethlehem’s population were Christian. Today, the Christian population is estimated at only 30%. Despite declining fi gures, thousands gathered in Manger Square in 2008 to celebrate Christmas in Jesus’ traditional birthplace. This was thought to be the merriest Christmas in Bethlehem since 2000, when the second intifada (uprising) began and since when life has been extra hard for Christians there. Tourists have stayed away and many Christians have lost their jobs, which were connected with the tourist trade. The square was bustling with families and revellers launched pink fi reworks from rooftops. At the Christmas celebrations in Bethlehem, a prominent church leader addressed the crowds and said “true security comes from God. Peace is a gift from God and only He can give peace.”

Barnabas Fund supports a school in Bethlehem, which currently enables 140 children from Christian families to get a Christian education, even if they cannot afford to pay anything towards the fees. It also provides work (full-time or part-time) for 17 Christians. The school has an outstanding reputation for its teaching and continues to grow. The head-teacher at the school reports, “Our school is shedding a light of hope for a brighter future, giving love and care, bringing joy and happiness, spreading peace and reconciliation.” We also help to feed some of the neediest Christian families in Bethlehem and Jerusalem.

Barnabas Fund projects include:

Feeding and basic needs of Christians (Ref. 65-377)
Christian school in Bethlehem (Ref. 65-420)

Extract taken from Barnabas Fund's Advent prayer booklet 2009


Please Pray:
At this special time of year in Bethlehem and around the world, please pray that peace and justice will be established in the Holy Land and that hatred and violence will cease. Remember especially the Christian minority, caught in the crossfire of a conflict which is not of their making.

Thank the Lord for His continued blessings on the Christian school in Bethlehem, and pray for protection as the children and teachers continue to grow in their knowledge and love of the Lord Jesus.
Help us: Share this article

Email:

Christmas in Bethlehem

To

Email address:
Separate multiple addresses with a comma (,). Maximum of 10

From

Your name:
Your email address:
Security test:
Please enter the numbers that appear here in the box below.
 refresh captcha
CAPTCHA Image
Security code:

Details provided here will never be used in any other context

christian, persecution, charity, church, persecuted, sookhdeo, Islam

Other articles

No related articles found.

Latest Emergency

/_images_files/content/article_files/Syria/201305/Medical-care-4X3.jpg

Follow Barnabas

or

receive news & appeal emails as they are published

From Twitter

From Twitter_icon
Read more...

Daily prayer

Daily prayer_icon

  • An upsurge of arrests and deportations of Christians in Sudan has further unsettled the country’s vulnerable Christian minority. In January three Christians of South Sudanese origin were detained and then ordered to leave the country because of their involvement with churches and a Christian radio station. The following month a group of at least 55 Christians were detained without charge, falsely accused of receiving money from foreign countries. Dozens of expatriate Christians have also been deported. Pray that this frequent and severe harassment will stop, and that the churches of Sudan will be allowed to worship and serve the Lord in peace. Subscribe to the prayer points rss feed 21 hours ago

  • “We have reached here with the help of God. We shall live well with God’s help in our land.” A Christian woman gave thanks as she arrived in South Sudan after escaping from discrimination and oppression in Muslim-majority Sudan, thanks to the Exodus project sponsored by Barnabas Fund. Give thanks to the Lord that more than 3,500 Christians have already reached the safety of the Christian-majority South by plane and bus. Pray for His blessing upon them as they settle into their new lives, and pray too that others will be able to join them soon. Subscribe to the prayer points rss feed Fri, May 2013 00:00

  • Pray for 14 Christians in Nghe An, Vietnam, who were sentenced in January to between three and 13 years in prison on charges of subversion against the state. Their lawyers complained that the Christians had been subjected to torture, including sleep deprivation, and coerced into confessing crimes that they had not committed. Some of them had apparently been detained by police at random, some at a church service. During the two-day trial, thousands of Christians staged a protest against the arbitrary and illegal arrest of innocent people. Pray that the sentences will be revoked and the Christians released, and that the authorities will stop harassing and bullying the Christian community. Subscribe to the prayer points rss feed Thu, May 2013 00:00

  • “The decree is intended to provide the tools to end the house-church movement entirely.” Nguyen Van Dai, a Christian lawyer in Vietnam, added his voice to a chorus of concern among church leaders about Decree 92, which provides new guidelines for regulating religious practice in the country. The decree imposes harsh and complex new criteria that churches must fulfil if they are to obtain legal status; these will make it almost impossible for unregistered groups such as house churches (which have not been recognised by the government since 1975) to do so. Even if a congregation manages to fulfil all the conditions, the minimum period it will have to wait for recognition is 23 years. Pray that the churches in Vietnam will withstand this attempt to stifle their witness and will not only survive but thrive. Subscribe to the prayer points rss feed Wed, May 2013 00:00

  • Pray for five Christian families in Vietnam who have endured repeated violent attacks by their fellow villagers since becoming Christians. The families, who came to Christ in 2012, have since suffered three waves of violence, the most recent taking place between 18 and 22 February. During this period, their homes and belongings were vandalised in successive night raids. On 22 February, a number of the believers were physically assaulted, leaving several of them with serious injuries. One family fled into the jungle after receiving death threats. Pray that the Lord will be the strength and shield (Psalm 28:7) that our brothers and sisters need as they endure persecution in His name. Subscribe to the prayer points rss feed Tue, May 2013 00:00

Read more...

Quick navigation

© Barnabas Fund 1997 - 2013 All rights reserved.
Barnabas Fund & Barnabas Aid are registered trade marks