Saturday, December 19, Pilgrims hosted a webinar, “Christmas in Bethlehem,” attended by 75 – the greatest number of participants and contributors of all Pilgrims’ webinars. Thank you Wi’am Founder and Director Zoughbi Alzoughbi and West Bank Tour Planner Usama Nicola, and Rev. Dr. James Thomas, Interim Executive Director Brenda Mehos, and Sarah Morgan of Pilgrims for presenting and facilitating – bringing Bethlehem to us before Christmas 2020.
The webinar can be viewed in full on our YouTube channel. Click the button to view the hour-long recording.
An extraordinary Mar Elias alumna, Noor Abu Hjool, tells us about her senior year at MEEI, her exchange year in the states, and what she’s up to today. Your gifts have an incredible impact on a life! These youth go on to help others. Read her story:
My name is Noor Abu Hjool.
Noor Abu Hjool
I actually had two senior years in high school. I applied to the Youth Exchange and Study program (YES), fully funded by the U.S. Department of State, and, during the US school year, September 1, 2016 to June 4, 2017, I attended school in Oshkosh, WI, for my “first” senior year. I lived with a WONDERFUL host family. We developed a strong bond and I learned a lot from them and my AFS liaison.
High School with Host Family in U.S.A. While in high school, Oshkosh North, during my exchange year: I participated on the volleyball team; was an active member in Key Club and Rotary; was the co-founder of an Arabic club in my high school that was run by both me and, Maryse, a Lebanese exchange student; and co-managed a blood drive campaign as a leadership class project. I made over a hundred cultural presentations in elementary schools, middle schools, my high school, various clubs and at the University of Oshkosh.
Being an exchange student in the United States has given me the opportunity to contribute to the well being of the less fortunate, so I volunteered throughout the whole school year with refugees, and I participated in volunteering events in the Day by Day Warming Shelter <www.warmingshelter.com>. In addition, I was part of Oshkosh Rotary and engaged in community service projects.
Mar Elias High School
After my exchange year in the United States was over, I attended Mar Elias High School for my “second” senior year, September 2017 to May 2018. During that senior year, in addition to my studies, I helped Abdalla and Hassan, two former classmates, organize an international book club for which we read the book, Balcony on the Moon: Coming of Age in Palestine, by Ibtisam Barakat with several students at Mar Elias and in the United States. Archbishop Chacour also participated with us.
Selected to Global Change Makers Summit in Switzerland
During that year, I started an application process to a summit I was later selected to attend: the Global Change Makers Summit. I participated in this program that took place in Switzerland 2018, along with 59 other young leaders from all over the world. I received a fully funded scholarship to attend that summit and joined the family of the Global Change Makers, an organization that supports youth to create positive changes towards more inclusive, fair and sustainable communities. They do this by providing skills development, capacity building, mentoring and grants. At the summit, I met a girl named Yasmin who also works with refugees. She comes from Brazil. She and her team from Boston University developed an educational app called RefEd that provides basic education for refugee kids. They were trying to find an organization that would allow them to launch the app and let people use it. I helped to bring the app into an organization called “Seeds of Humanity”. Around 500 families benefited from using this app which gave me and the team great satisfaction!
Volunteered in Greece, Ibillin, Germany, Italy
In April of 2019, I also volunteered in Athens, Greece with Seeds of Humanity organization working with them in different programs, one of which was translating between patients and doctors from Doctors without Borders, an organization that collaborated with Seeds Of Humanity. In addition, I helped with activating the kids, preparing nutrition and health packages and distributing the packages in refugee camps around Athens. My emphasis was on psychological support. In the villages of Ibillin and Shefa’Amr, I volunteered for two consecutive years (2018+2019) in a project called Sports for Life. This project’s purpose is to empower girls and help people from different backgrounds connect through sports. I went to a training camp in Cologne, Germany, to learn how to use sport as a tool to build bridges between people from different backgrounds (so sport was the tool and not the goal). In the process, our team won the fair play prize; we succeeded in conveying the message and implanting the values in the kids.
I also was a volunteer at Baladna an organization that provides the resources and practical tools for youth activism and positive idea exchanges within the Arab-Palestinian community. As a member of this organization, I also participated in a project in Italy in 2019. It was an Erasmus+ workshop in Atermide, Orvieto, Italy, titled “Adversity can be formidable occasions, a path of resilience”. The theme of the project was social inclusion, the analysis of migration pathways, the refugees’ situation and fighting against discrimination. During the spring of 2019, I also organized a couple of two-days’ activities for exchange students between a local school in Shefa’amr and a school in Germany, and another time between the same school in Shefa’amr and a school in Italy.
Working as a Tutor, Waitress, Instructor, Mentor
Since returning from the US, I have worked as a private tutor, a waitress in a restaurant, at McDonalds, and now I am an instructor for the Psychometric Exam, an essential exam, somewhat like the SAT exam in the US, that high school graduates take in order to gain admission into college in Israel. Since December 2018, I‘ve been working as an instructor at Aafaq, a company that prepares students for the psychometric exam. At the beginning of 2020, I was promoted to teach the “advanced Psychometric course” which is for students who have already taken the exam and want to retake it. I also took part in interviewing the new instructors and helping with their training course that lasted for 3 months, and accompanied those who got accepted as a mentor during their first year.
Accepted at All Four Medical Schools Where She Applied
After making a high score in the psychometric exam and doing well in the medical school interviews, I was accepted to medical school at the four universities to which I applied: Ben Gurion University of the Negev; the Hebrew University of Jerusalem; The Technion in Haifa; and Tel Aviv University. I have moved to Tel Aviv and have started medical school in October of 2020 at Tel Aviv University.
President Peter Henry and Abuna Chacour share letters to Pilgrims and Friends in this latest edition of the newsletter, Pilgrim’s Post. Read about Pilgrims’ upcoming webinar, Christmas in Bethlehem on Dec. 19, and get an update on Pilgrims’ Peace Partner, Diyar Girl’s Soccer Team.
Join us for conversation, stories, and pictures of Christmas past and present with Christians living in Bethlehem with Wi’am Founder and Director Zoughbi Alzoughbi and West Bank Tour Planner Usama Nicola
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. Webinar donations will be split between Pilgrims of Ibillin and Wi’am: Palestinian Center for Conflict Transformation, Bethlehem.
As we participate in Giving Tuesday, December 1, 2020, Pilgrims of Ibillin asks for your gifts to help us foster peace and justice in Israel and Palestine through education.
Mar Elias Educational Institutions (MEEI), one of Pilgrims’ Peace Partners, has become a shining beacon of hope for all people of the Holy Land – and around the world. MEEI was the inspiration of Abuna Elias Chacour. He realized that the future of the villagers in Ibillin, the citizens of the state of Israel, and indeed all of God’s children in the Holy Land, would depend on educating the young in the ways of peace, reconciliation, respect, and justice. That vision is now alive in the schools of Ibillin for more than 3,000 students and faculty of Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and Druze heritage, who study and teach together as one community of learning and service.
Giving Tuesday is an opportunity for people around the world to use their individual power of generosity to remain connected and support their communities. It’s a day when everyone comes together to give back in all forms – acts of kindness, gifts, of voice, time, talent or treasure. Pilgrims of Ibillin can leverage the energy of Giving Tuesday to tell our stories, engage lifelong advocates and build a movement toward a just peace through education in Israel and Palestine.
In this time of uncertainty, stress, and even despair, one thing that gives us hope is that this crisis is catalyzing innovation like we’ve never seen before.
Remember Pilgrims of Ibillin on Giving Tuesday. Thank you for your donations and sharing your stories of the work being done for peace.
During these days being home-bound, a glimpse of hope shined around us with the return back of the younger children from first to fourth grades to the classrooms. With their arrival, we felt as if life is coming back to the campus. During these nine months of being home-bound, we realized that no matter what, the campus was of little importance, if any, without the students.
These times are giving us the chance to maintain and clean the campus. The maintenance team with the cleaning ladies were always present working. We have done a lot in the middle school. This old building looks nicely renewed, and effectively restored. It’s becoming the beauty of the campus. All this is because of your keen assistance and financial help. We are very grateful for your help and indeed the Pilgrims of Ibillin are an important factor in keeping hope alive. Specifically the 60K recently sent for scholarships for needy students is so very useful.
You are the Beautiful Face of America You probably know that my response to your generosity makes me pray for you and pray for your country. You represent for us through your prayer and your assistance, the beautiful face, which is the reality of America. How often watching the disturbing newsfrom the USA whether the invasion of the Corona Virus or the racial problems there, the Pilgrims of Ibillin come to our minds as being the best ambassador of the United States. What the Pilgrims do is bring a factor of hope. To say thank you is not enough. To pray is one thing, and to wish you God’s blessing is an important factor as well. We nurture the hope that soon you would be able to come and visit us and see for yourself what unity we have here within our diversity.
The World Needs Oneness l do believe despite the fact that many of us have never met, we are one, and this oneness is what the world is in need of. Please continue, don’t give up with your prayers and your material assistance and your important friendship. You are reaching a wider part of the world society. It is important to know that the Mar Elias Educational Institutions exist because a large group of people are working together. Come and see, you will be most encouraged by meeting with the students. This is how we can change a whole society. We have been blessed by God and confirmed in our faith through your friendship, your prayers and your assistance.
In the near future, as well as in the far future, people in Galilee will mention with appreciation the relations we organized between our school and our friends, Pilgrims of lbillin.
Yours with affection and gratitude,
Abuna Elias Chacour Greek Catholic Archbishop em. of Galilee
Dear Fellow Pilgrims, There are so many things in the world that we cannot control. So many things we cannot change. And so many people who are really struggling, especially children and youth who are learning from home during the pandemic. We can’t fix everything, but we can all do something. Thank you for choosing to do what you could in 2020.
Your gifts to Pilgrims enabled the Mar Elias Educational Institution to respond to the needs of the increasing number of students who needed scholarships. Your support also changed the dynamic of a difficult year by supporting the work of our Peace Partners like Wi’Am: The Palestinian Conflict Transformation Center in Bethlehem.
Your gifts to Pilgrims also sent the strong message to the children and youth of Ibillin that they are loved and valued. We can’t all personally fix a pandemic, but you chose to do something to make a difference and what a difference it made.
Thank you! Please keep us in mind as you make decisions about end-of-year giving. We would love to do more to help MEEI continue to respond to this pandemic and the needs of their students. As we move into the year 2021, Pilgrims also values your support and input as we search for a new executive director. In the meantime, we are thankful for the work of Brenda Mehos, our Interim Executive Director. Again, thank you for fostering Peace and Justice through Education in Ibillin, Israel and Palestine.
Grace and peace,
The Rev. Dr. Peter J. M. Henry
President of the Board of Directors of Pilgrims of Ibillin Davidson College Presbyterian Church P.O. Box 337, 100 North Main St Davidson, NC 28036 (313) 600-7370 | peter.henry@alum.ptsem.edu
Thank you for registering and participating in the free October 31 Webinar, “Resistance in Battir- Then and Now.” Special thanks to our presenters, Usama Nicola and Dr. Celene Lillie, as well as board members – facilitator Brenda Mehos, Pilgrims interim executive director, and webinar technician Sarah Morgan. Donations offered in response to the webinar are appreciated and will be split between Pilgrims and Wil’am: The Palestinian Conflict Transformation Center.
Letter from Rana Khoury, vice president of development and outreach at Diyar to Pilgrims board member Susan Mozena. Pilgrims is proud to be partners with the team!
Diyar Girls’ Soccer Team Our ministry with the young girls in sports, has been deeply impacted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, especially as Bethlehem faced heavy lock-downs for many months during this year starting in March, and again applied in late June. So, it was impossible to really do much in terms of training while all events and public gatherings have been cancelled so far. However, we had major moments that we would like to share with you and highlight here below:
January 2020: our first soccer team conducted an activity to empower the relations between female players in Palestine at different clubs, so 20 participants from different female soccer teams participated at a soccer tournament that was organized and led by our female leaders at Dar al Kalima sport hall in Bethlehem for one day. This event contributed in building peaceful and positive relations between girls from different backgrounds in an unforgettable way.
January 2020: our team mate Tala Abu Eid who is one of the first female soccer players in Palestine, had the chance to participate and represent our team at “promoting Gender Equality through women’s empowerment in Football in North Lebanon and the MENA Region” workshop in Berlin-Germany. So she participated in a panel discussion there as well during the conference and attached is a picture for her during her participation.
February 2020: our Under 15 youngsters soccer team with the supervision of Coach Sarab Alshaer was able to be the first on the south clubs participants list who were participating with them at the “U15 Palestinian soccer competition that was organized by the Palestinian football federation”. They were supposed to continue the playing the rest of games (to play against other winning teams from central and north areas to determine the team that will be the Champions of Palestine for U15). But unfortunately they had to stop due to COVID-19 pandemic situation. And we do not know until now when they will continue the competition.
March 2020: our first soccer team participated in raising awareness about the importance of #STAYING HOME DURING COVID-19 pandemic situation. They formed together a short video by which they sent the health messages to all people and team’s fans on Facebook platform.
September 2020: 4 of our first soccer team members were able to get a scholarship from Dar Al-kalima University College to join the Sports management Program for a BA degree (this is a new degree that have been accredited this year).
October 2020: our first soccer team started their training with Coach Farah Zakharia twice a week again with being committed to all safety Procedures.
October 2020: the head of Diyar club- Jackline Jazrawi represented Diyar at a dialogue called (Women’s Voices in Dialogue-SPORTS) that was organized by the General Consulate of Spain in Jerusalem. She had the opportunity to talk about the development of women soccer in Palestine and especially at Diyar women sport club as a success story.
And perhaps the good news in all of this is that despite the very difficult situation that makes it challenging for many young girls and women to join the teams at this moment, as many have not be able to, we still have 53 young girls and women players going strong and being committed. Actually, the majority indicated that their commitment and strength is because they continue to be active in our sports programs. Therefore, one of our main tasks for 2021 is to increase again the number of youngsters playing soccer so as to have a strong base to build on for our First team. The players are divided on the following teams:
1. Diyar First Soccer team- Above 16 years: 23 female players. 2. Diyar soccer youngsters Team A+B- Under 15 years: 15 female players. 3. Diyar Female volleyball team: 15 female Players
Pilgrims is hosting a conversation with Usama Nicola of Wi’am and Dr. Celene Lillie
If you are registered, you will receive a secure link. Check this site for the recording of the webinar to be held Saturday, October 31, 12 noon (Eastern Time) – a Webinar via Zoom. Usama Nicola, Celene Lillie, and Brenda Mehos were leading the October Pilgrimage now cancelled due to COVID-19. This webinar is an hour long “virtual hike” while we hope to reschedule the pilgrimage in May 2021.
Walk with Us Through Time to the West Bank Village Battir, an UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Battir Valley is thick with presence, holding memories from ancient to modern times. The Roman road in the bowl of the valley, dotted with ancient tombs, weaves through ancient olive groves still tended by the nearby Palestinians. The village of Battir holds the remnants of the last stronghold of the Bar Kokhba revolt and the plaque commemorating the Romans who crushed it in 135 CE, while the terraced hills, predating that time, still flourish with the gardens of the people who live there.
In the not-so-distant past, the people of Battir drew on their amazing creativity to save the village during the war in 1948—and this creative resistance in the face of overwhelming forces that threaten their land continues to this day. Please join us as we learn together about the 2000 year history of this beautiful land and it’s amazing people who have much to teach us about the power of creative, nonviolent resistance.
Meet our Webinar Leaders, Usama Nicola and Dr. Celene Lillie
Usama Nicola
Usama Nicola is the Citizens Diplomacy Project coordinator along with Zoughbi at Wi’am in Bethlehem (The Palestinian Conflict Transformation Center). Wi’am is one of our Peace Partner organizations and our West Bank tour planner. Since its inception, Wi’am has offered alternative tourist programs with opportunities for individuals and groups to visit the Holy places (Holy Stones) and the people (Living Stones) and as an introduction to the socio-economic and political conditions (Rolling Stones).
Dr. Celene Lillie
Celene Lillie completed her Masters of Divinity and Ph.D. at Union Theological Seminary in New York City and is a historian of early Christian texts. She currently works as an adjunct professor at the University of Colorado Boulder, University of Oklahoma, and The Seattle School of Theology and Psychology. She lectures nationally, most often with the Jesus Seminar, and has recently been named as the inaugural Dean of the Westar Academy. Celene is the author of several books including The Rape of Eve: The Transformation of Roman Ideology in Three Early Christian Retellings of Genesis.
Click the Register button (above) for the October 31 Zoom Webinar and receive a secure registration and link for the event. Donations collected from the webinar will be split between Pilgrims and Wi’am: Palestinian Center for Conflict Transformation, Bethlehem, who is suffering greatly from the cancellation of tourism right now.
