The Friends of the Holy Land (FHL) was founded in 2009 to make a difference to the lives of vulnerable Christians in the Holy Land by helping and encouraging them to flourish in the land of their birth.
The FHL relies heavily on the support of local parish groups in the UK, and we have a group based in the Roman Catholic parish in Lichfield, with links to Lichfield Cathedral, which was launched in 2012.
The FHL relies heavily on the support of local parish groups in the UK, and we have a group based in the Roman Catholic parish in Lichfield, with links to Lichfield Cathedral, which was launched in 2012.
Get in touch: [email protected]
Past Activity Report: fhl_past_activity_record_.pdf
Our Purpose
Friends of the Holy Land, is a non-political Christian charity, with a mission to support Christians in the West Bank, Gaza, Israel and Jordan. We help the Christian people and communities, especially children and the elderly, to improve their lives and help them develop the resilience needed to survive in difficult times.
Background
Around seventy years ago Christians made up 29% of the population of the Holy Land. Today they account for less than 2%. Without support, the Holy places of the Bible, the birthplace of Christianity, could become cultural museums with no Christian presence at all.
Living as a Christian in today’s Holy Land is challenging. Travel restrictions, water shortages, limited access to medical or social care, and poverty means many Christians emigrate if they can. In addition, there is often a psychological effect; living in the shadow of an 18 foot high separation wall cut off from their land and unable to visit family, friends or the Holy Sites without a permit(which are rarely granted).
And increasingly there is fear. We have all seen the news of the rising tensions and attacks against Christians, in Jerusalem and other areas of the Holy Land. If we want Christians to remain in their birthplace, they need additional support.
Locally
Here in Lichfield we aim to engage the whole parish and the wider community in supporting the objectives of the Friends of the Holy Land(FHL) on behalf of the Christians in the Holy Land by: -
- raising awareness of the challenges facing the Christians of the Holy Land
- encouraging prayers to be offered on their behalf
- generating and channelling financial resources to help them towards a sustainable future
- encouraging visits to the Holy Land to meet local Christians
In Lichfield, we have social events and other fund raisers and give talks to interested groups on the situation for Christians in the Holy Land.
We have also held periods of reflection for the Holy Land, particularly focussed around Lent and Advent.
We ask our parishioners to pray for the Christians in the Holy Land and there are prayer cards available both at Holy Cross and St Peter and Pauls.
We have FHL collection boxes held by members and friends which help our work.
To raise money, we sell Christmas cards, olive wood products and other items made in the Holy Land.
This provides employment for Christian sole traders or small businesses; we only source products from within the local community in Bethlehem. This in turn supports the local economy and provides for their families, enabling theme to pay for school fees at the local Christian school, which in turn provides employment for Christian teachers and so on. It also provides a sense of worth for the crafts people, knowing that their products will be sold to a wider audience. These benefits are often intangible but provide hope and support to a marginalised community.
Selling products and other social/fundraising activity also provides charitable funding. This is then directed through the FHL to projects in the Holy Land, in many cases enabling families to survive and thrive. Each parish group is able to say how the funds they have raised are used
Up to the end of 2018, our parish group focus was on family support, and over the past five years we raised around £7,000, primarily for the benefit of one family.
We hold regular monthly meetings to plan and co-ordinate our activities within the parish, to agree where we should direct our support in the coming year, and to see how we can co-ordinate our activities with others. These are normally held on the Third Wednesday of the month, at various venues notified in advance, at 6.30 pm.
All are welcome at these meetings – please do come along, meet us, take part!
Our Focus
Having successfully supported one family for the five years, from January 2019 the focus of the Lichfield Group has been supporting mainstream Christian schools, with an emphasis on the education of girls, aiming to raise aspirations and achievements to improve their life chances.
FHL generally supports education in the Holy Land as a vital way to ensure the future of the Christian communities there. Sadly Christian schools are not state funded, so FHL’s activity aims to fund students when the payment of school fees is beyond the resources of their families.
FHL Lichfield Calendar of Activity