Christians are fleeing the Holy Land in such numbers that within a generation or two we may witness the Holy Land emptied of any living Christian presence.  And the world, Christianity and each individual Christian will be the poorer for it.  But you can help.  Get informed about the plight of the Christian communities in the Holy Land.   And connect with them and with the Holy Land. Collectively our small efforts and demonstrations of concern can make the difference.  Find out more.  Click here.

18,000 Nigerians visit the Holy Land
The Daily Trust [Nigeria]
Edith Nnaji 22 March 2009
http://www.dailytrust.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6580&Itemid=43

Pa Felix Uchenwa, 69, and his 61-year-old wife, Eunice, were making their first-ever pilgrimage to the Holy Land in Israel. "I had longed to visit Israel on pilgrimage and so I saved for many years to have this dream come true. Visiting every site from where Jesus was born to where he was buried has lifted my spirit. . . .”  For Nwaudo Afoma, 45, pilgrimage to Israel was also a dream come true, “My journey here in the Holy Land is an eye opener and an encouragement to be a better Christian.”

. . . Thousands of Nigerian Christian faithful perform the annual pilgrimage to Israel. . . . No fewer than 18,000 Nigerian Christians performed the 2008 pilgrimage.

While many pilgrims have had to save their lifetime earnings to make the trip, others have benefited from the exercise though state government sponsorship. … Mr John-Kennedy Opara, the Executive Secretary, Nigeria Christian Pilgrims Commission, says . . . "It is expected that after pilgrimage we should return changed and transformed persons, and impact on the lives of people around us."

[Agreeing] Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu says . . .  "the [Nigerian] Federal Government invested about 50 million dollars on pilgrimage, and so should reap from its investment by way of changed attitude of the pilgrims."

. . . Nigeria's Ambassador to Israel, Mr Dada Olisa, thinks that if genuine Christians participate in the pilgrimage, the annual exercise will go a long way in moulding the nation. . . . But how can the Nigerian society practically harness the virtues of pilgrimage?  Olisa thinks that the clerics and other religious leaders should help by ensuring that returned pilgrims practise what they read in the Holy Bible and also practicalise their experiences while in the Holy Land.

. . . A novel idea that will strengthen the concept of Christian pilgrimage is beginning to emerge in the minds of the authorities.  For Ekweremadu, this requires that the various tour agencies involved in pilgrimage are used to enrich the spiritual content of the exercise. Most pilgrims, he argues, lose the real essence of pilgrimage, hence they emphasise shopping and trading. "If the spiritual content is improved, many pilgrims will return rejuvenated spiritually and help influence the lives of people around them."

Tony Blair attends dedication of baptism center in Jordan
Associated Baptist Press
By Bob Allen March 24, 2009

AMMAN, Jordan (ABP) -- Baptist leaders and other dignitaries -- including former British Prime Minister Tony Blair -- took part in a ceremony March 20 dedicating a new evangelical Christian baptism center at the Jordanian spot traditionally regarded as the site of Jesus' baptism.

The afternoon celebration at the Baptism Center at Bethany beyond Jordan included more than 120 baptisms by immersion in the Jordan River . . .  

[Baptist World Alliance] General Secretary Neville Callam, in the day's major address, called the center "a place where people from all parts of the world may assemble for a journey and an experience.". . . BWA president David Coffey read greetings from former United States presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, both Baptists, and presented a gift on behalf of the BWA to Jordan's Prince Ghazi. . . . An estimated 1,700 persons attended the dedication and opening ceremony. Blair, now a special envoy to the Middle East on behalf of the United Nations, European Union, United States and Russia, said it "took courage and leadership" for Jordan to allow the baptism site in a part of the world often torn by sectarian strife. . . .

Jordan is about 92 percent Muslim, but relations between Muslims and a Christian minority, estimated at 6 percent, are generally good. While Islam is the state religion and proselytization of Muslims and conversions from Islam are prohibited, the Jordanian Constitution promises religious freedom as long as rites do not violate public order or morality, and recognizes several Christian denominations. . . .

Bethany-beyond-Jordan -- not to be confused with the village near Jerusalem the Bible says was home to Lazarus, Mary and Martha -- was on a pilgrimage route between Jerusalem and Bethlehem to the west and Mount Nebo to the east. It is regarded as one of Christianity's three holiest sites, along with the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jeruslam and Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity. . .  Excavations didn't begin until 1996, and so far more than 20 churches, caves and baptismal pools dating from Roman and Byzantine times have been uncovered.  Churches of various Christian denominations -- including Anglican, Catholic, Coptic and Russian Orthodox -- have been constructed or are in the process of being built nearby. . . .

Bethany-beyond-Jordan is also sacred to Jews and Muslims. In addition to Jesus' baptism, it's said to be the spot where Joshua first led the Israelites into the Promised Land and where the prophet Elijah was taken to heaven in a chariot of fire.

The Simpsons Are Coming to the Holy Land

The Simpsons have been to Australia, Britain, France and Japan, but now they could be taking on their greatest challenge - bringing peace to Israel and the Palestinians.

Multiple media sources have quoted the show's executive producer, Al Jean, as saying that America's number one animated family will head to the Holy Land next year.

"I think we're going to do one next year where they go to the Holy Land as we haven't been there yet. The premise will be that the Christians, the Jews and Muslims are united in that they all get mad at Homer. It's the only thing they can agree on," Jean said.

Books: The Collaborator of Bethlehem: An Omar Yussef Mystery

By Bill Ott, Booklist.  Booklist the magazine the New York Times calls "an acquisitions bible for public and school librarians nationwide," is the review journal of the American Library Association. It recommends works of fiction, nonfiction, children's books, reference books, and media to its 30,000 institutional and personal subscribers. In-house editors and contributing reviewers from around the country review more than 7,500 books each year, most before publication.

*Starred Review* Omar Yussef is a schoolteacher in Bethlehem, struggling to teach history unfettered by politics. When a PLO soldier is murdered, and a Palestinian Christian is arrested for the crime (and accused of being a collaborator with the Israelis), Yussef launches his own investigation, convinced that the accused, a former student, is innocent.

Yussef knows he is not a brave man ("What an old fool you are, scrambling about in a battle zone in your nice shoes"), but his determination to stand up for his friend outweighs the futility of his quest, even if it means jeopardizing his family.

The premise of this gripping first novel by Time magazine's former Jerusalem bureau chief evokes that sense of mean-streets honor that drives so much crime fiction, but there is no sentimentality lurking beneath Rees' complex, uncompromising tale of a good man trapped in an untenable world.

The plot unfolds with a tragic inevitability, but along the way, Rees captures the human spark of daily lives being led in totally polarized, soul-deadening conditions. Ideologically driven absurdity blocks Yussef's way from every direction, but he plods on in his nice shoes, determined to throw "the filth out of his own home with hopelessly insufficient tools." With the recent death of Israeli novelist Batya Gur, there is a very large gap to be filled in the crime fiction of the Middle East, and Rees seems poised to fill it.

You can find all the Omar Yussuf mysteries at the United Christian Communities bookstore. Click here.