Month: January 2019

New Year Greetings from Abuna Elias Chacour

Christmas and New Year Letter from Abuna Elias Chacour

Dear Friends in Pilgrims of Ibillin,

This is how we look at you, friends of Pilgrims of lbillin. You are our brothers and sisters. We all have the same dignity and the same yearning. We thank you wholeheartedly for your generosity and your help to the Pilgrims of lbillin. May the Lord reward you all and every one of you for your friendship and solidarity, no matter how high the amount you donate to Pilgrims provided your prayer and your friendship is granted. We surely need your prayers and your friendship, but whenever possible also your generous contributions wish would able us to continue the development of the educational projects at MEEI.

At present, we are in the full speed building a very much-needed retaining wall for keeping the mountain of falling stones from the big yard of the school. We are happy to have Laurie as our executive director.

To all of you, Merry Christmas. To all of you Happy New Year.

Yours Sincerely,

Abuna Elias Chacour
Archbishop em. of Akko Haifa Nazareth and all the Galilee

PS from Pilgrims of Ibillin:  Your generous gifts make a daily difference in Abuna’s schools and for all our Peace-building Partners in Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank. Give securely here, or send your gift (dated in the year you want to receive the tax credit) to:  Pilgrims of Ibillin ℅ Jitasa, 1750 W Front St, Suite 200, Boise, ID 83720

Letter from Executive Director

Rev. Laurie Lyter Bright Greets Pilgrims

Dear Pilgrims Family,

Happy New Year!

The Pilgrims of Ibillin annual review will be in mailboxes soon. Please let us know your preferences in communicating with you (email, website, mail) and provide us current contact information. Our funds can stretch further for our mission projects when we can communicate digitally. Thank you for your interest in Pilgrims!

I love being your executive director. This work of peace-building through relationships is challenging, and the hope we get to witness first-hand is inspiring.

Every time I get the chance to share the mission of Pilgrims of Ibillin with someone new, I tell them the same thing: that we’re about peace and justice, and the belief that you can’t have one without the other. I tell them that we actively resist the idea that we know all the answers, particularly in a place as complex as Israel and Palestine, and instead we try to show up with an open, inquisitive presence.

At our heart, I effuse, we are an educational organization. We seek to educate in the United States, and support education initiatives in Israel and Palestine that work towards cross-cultural and interfaith collaboration. MEEI is a peace-centered institution, bringing together low-income students and providing first rate education for students in Israel from multiple faith and ethnic backgrounds. A Jewish teacher of a gifted and talented program for Muslim and Christian children teaches down the hall from the only special needs program in the region boosting students from Druze villages across the Galilee region. This is a rare and extraordinary community.

The remarkable commitment to non-violence, to peace, and to hope is at the core of MEEI, Wi’am, and all our peace partners.

As division, animosity, and vitriol seem to take center stage, we ask you to join us in the most audacious goal of all: be persistently, relentlessly hopeful. Hope is not blind optimism, or naiveté, or an affectation. It is a rebellious, revolutionary act and one to which we are called to renew our commitment.

By that point in the conversation, most people are hooked, and understandably. This is a remarkable thing we get to do, Pilgrims Family.
Thank you for being a part of it and I look forward to sharing the road ahead with you!

With joy,

Rev. Laurie Lyter Bright

laurie@pilgrimsofibillin.org
www.pilgrimsofibillin.org