wfn.org | Bethlehem Work Team

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"UNITED METHODIST DAILY NEWS 97" by SUSAN PEEK on April 15, 1997 at 14:24
Eastern, about DAILY NEWS RELEASES FROM UNITED METHODIST NEWS SERVICE (393
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Note 391 by UMNS on Oct. 16, 1997 at 16:22 Eastern (1960 characters).

CONTACT: Linda Bloom						579(10-21-71B){391}
		New York (212) 870-3803				Oct. 16, 1997

Methodist team to stand
in solidarity in Bethlehem

			by United Methodist News Service

	To stand in solidarity with Christians in the Holy Land, an international
work/study team of 24 Methodists will spend 16 days of November in Bethlehem
and the surrounding area.
	The team -- composed of members from the United States, Brazil, Bolivia and
Mozambique -- is endorsed by both the World Methodist Council and the United
Methodist Southeastern Jurisdiction Volunteers-in-Mission. Bonnie Jones
Gehweiler of Lexington, Ky., who is coordinator of the council's Bethlehem
2000 task force, will lead the group.
	Gehweiler, who was in the region last year to plan the trip, noted that "the
deterioration from the year before was incredible. This year, it's going to be
far worse because people have no money. They can't sell anything, they have no
tourists."
	People she has corresponded with in recent weeks "say Bethlehem is dying,"
she added.
	The work team  helps fulfill a resolution, passed by the World Methodist
Conference at its 1996 meeting in Brazil, to be in solidarity with Holy Land
Christians as their numbers diminish because of economic pressures, harassment
and land confiscations.
	According to Gehweiler, Palestinian Christians feel that Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to drive them from Bethlehem through
economic tactics and that other Christians around the world either are unaware
of or are ignoring their plight.
	Her team -- which arrives in Bethlehem on Nov. 3 -- will paint in two
Shepherd's Field Methodist preschools, in AlAmal (Hope Flowers) School, the
Greek Catholic Convent Clinic and in the Deheisha Refugee Camp.
	They also will meet with Christian clergy, visit in Palestinian homes,
worship in Christian churches and meet with leaders in both the Palestinian
and Israeli peace movements.

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