wfn.org | WCC NEWS: Prayers for Bethlehem during Advent and Christmas

["WCC Media" <Media@wcc-coe.org>]

World Council of Churches - News Release

Contact: +41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363 media@wcc-coe.org
For immediate release - 18/11/2008 11:17:49

PRAYERS FOR BETHLEHEM DURING ADVENT AND CHRISTMAS

As many Christians around the world prepare to celebrate Advent
and Christmas in the security of their homes and communities,
they are invited to pray for justice, peace and security for
Palestine and Israel - and to send a prayer or a peace message to
Bethlehem. 

Once again this year, Christmas celebrations will take place in
a difficult climate for people in the Holy Land. However,
Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus Christ, is still first and
foremost a city of peace. And even in these trying times, many
individuals and groups living there refuse to give up hope. They
continue to search for non-violent ways to voice their rights and
work for a peaceful and just future for both Palestinians and
Israelis. 

Since December 2000, a new Christmas tradition has been taking
shape: sending peace messages to people in Bethlehem. Once again,
individuals, communities, churches and congregations,
organisations and partners from across the world are invited to
e-mail Advent and Christmas wishes and prayers for justice and
peace to Bethlehem. This year, the project is being carried out
in collaboration with the World Council of Churches and its
Palestine Israel Ecumenical Forum (PIEF).

Wishes and prayers will be printed and handed out as personal
messages, educational materials (e.g. at schools), and in the
context of interfaith prayers (in places of worship) and in the
newly established peace house of the Arab Educational Institute
opposite the Israeli "separation wall" at Rachel’s Tomb in
Bethlehem. The wishes and prayers could also include ideas for
non-violent actions. The action will be launched at the beginning
of Advent.

Sending a wish or a prayer by e-mail is an important way of
communicating with many people who long to hear a word of hope.
People in Bethlehem greatly appreciate receiving wishes and
prayers from people outside the region, both as personal and
spiritual gestures of comfort and hope on the occasion of
Christmas. These messages are one way of breaking through the
isolation they live in. 

Please e-mail your Christmas messages and prayers for peace
before the 25th of December 2008 (Western Christmas) and/or the
7th of January 2009 (Eastern Christmas).While English is the
preferred language, non-native English speakers may also send
wishes and prayers in their mother tongue. Messages can be
e-mailed to the Arab Educational Institute at the following
address: aei@p-ol.com

>Read all messages at 
>http://www.aeicenter.org
>and 
>http://www.paxchristi.net

>This initiative is locallysupported by:

>The Arab Educational Institute
>Library on Wheels for Non-violence and Peace
>The Centre for Conflict Resolution and Reconciliation
>The Justice and Peace Commission of Jerusalem 
>Wi’am Center

This initiative is internationallysupported by: 

The Palestine Israel Ecumenical Forum of the World Council of
Churches 
Pax Christi International
The International Fellowship of Reconciliation
Church and Peace
The Presidency of the Conference of European Justice and Peace
Commissions 
Asian Center for the Progress of Peoples

>Liturgical Advent resources available

"Imagine: Peace" is a collection of liturgical resources for the
four Sundays of Advent. It is the first of a collection of
worship materials from different regions of the world, prepared
in the framework of the International Ecumenical Peace
Convocation 2011.

Download the Advent resources and listen to the songs:
http://www.oikoumene.org/advent

Additional information:

Juan Michel +41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363 media@wcc-coe.org

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith,
witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical
fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings
together 349 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches
representing more than 560 million Christians in over 110
countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic
Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, from
the Methodist Church in Kenya. Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.