Earlier this year, our traveling community came together to help build a library in Bethlehem, Palestine. More than 600 of you responded to my matching challenge, and collectively we raised $50,000 for Bright Stars of Bethlehem.
I have some good news to share. That library is now open! As we were a small part of this amazing story, I encourage you to learn more about this vision in the West Bank. And in this little clip, you’ll see images from the library’s opening:
Grateful for the Lord and for all our friends in the USA, Germany, and in Palestine who helped us complete the new Library and Multimedia Resource Center. Another milestone towards making Dar al-Kalima University College of Arts and Culture a city on the hill. Educating generations of creative leaders for Palestine is our mission. #Hope is what we do!
Posted by Mitri Raheb on Wednesday, September 20, 2017
Bright Stars of Bethlehem is a part of the Diyar Consortium, an organization led by the inspirational Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb. Dr. Raheb is all about caring for community “from womb to tomb.” It’s uplifting (especially these days) to see work such as his: constructive rather than destructive, and focusing on people and culture rather than politics and organized religion. Dr. Raheb teaches that when everything is falling apart, culture can make a community whole. He believes that we can see images of God in each other — especially in Bethlehem, where, Christians believe, the human met the divine and the Word became flesh. (If you would like to learn more about the work of Dr. Raheb, Bright Stars, and Diyar, check out this beautiful six-minute video.)
I treasure the memory of meeting Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb in Bethlehem.
Palestine deserves not just to survive, but to thrive. I encourage you to travel there, and I hope you will join me in continuing to support Bright Stars of Bethlehem. And, if you took part in the matching campaign last spring, congratulations — it was a great project!