Shefamer-Linga

The Evangelical Convention in Israel gathered in for a special Christmas program in Shefamer on Tuesday December 22nd. The attendance we estimated at over one thousand people.
Pastor Marwan Beem and his wife Rania opened the ceremony with a word of welcome and the Lord’s Prayer. Pastor Botrous Ghrayeb led everyone in a prayer of blessing for the program.

Chairman of the Council Brother Aziz Daaem quoted “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will toward men.” He thanked everyone for their attendance and participation in the praise and worship . He welcomed the faculty of Bethlehem Bible College in particular. He expressed the hopes that the next year will be filled with abundant blessings even more than the last year and that “goodness and mercy will follow us all the days of our lives.” Brother Aziz emphasized the importance of Christmas and the New Year because it represented the great love of God – “for God so loved the world that He sent His Son.” We in turn must love each other so that people will know that we belong to Christ. This means we must even love our enemies and those that hate us. The birth of Jesus was a humble and simple event and we should remember the humbleness of Jesus during this season.
At the conclusion, Brother Aziz invited the Board of Directors and Brother Monther Noum, former Chairman of the Board to pray for the Council. They prayed for everyone in attendance and wished them a blessed holiday and a happy new year.

The first worship song was led by Pastor Marwan and his wife Rania Beem beginning with the song “You Deserve the Glory.”  The key note speaker was Pastor Alex Awad, Dean of Students at Bethlehem Bible College and Director of the Shepherd’s Charity Organization & leader of the Baptist Church in East Jerusalem. He presented a Christmas message about the “surprises” of Christmas: the Lord has a blessing and surprise for everyone.  In addition, we need to surprise the Lord with our obedience as the Holy Virgin Mary obeyed the Lord saying, “Here I am, the servant of the Lord.”

After the message, there was a drama presented by Nazareth Illit Baptist Church Youth group followed by Bethlehem Bible College Choir who sang Christmas songs while dressed in traditional Palestinian attire to show their Palestinian identity. Alpha team performed a new song entitled “This Born Child” in three languages: Arabic, English and French.  The King’s Kids danced to a background song by the Lord is my Banner team. 
Pastor Emad Khoury performed a dramatic monologue in the role of a magus with a poem entitled “Jacob’s Star.”  The Bethlehem Bible College Choir ended their performance with “Amazing Grace” and “Bless My Country.” They urged everyone to pray for this country.

At the end of the program Brother Salim Hanna prayed a prayer of blessing asking all the ministers to come forward and pray for the people.

To see the pictures click here.
Videos will be available soon.