Conference speakers urge help for Holy Land Christians in crisis

Published: 2004-11-03

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- With the Christian population in the Holy Land decreasing from 18 percent in 1948 to less than 2 percent today, the Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation's mission is to increase awareness among Western Christians of the urgent needs of Christians in the Holy Land. The foundation and the bishops of the four main Christian churches in the Holy Land did just that at the organization's sixth annual conference, held Oct. 22-23 at Metropolitan Memorial United Methodist Church in Washington. With the theme "Holy Land Christians, Rooted in Bonds of Peace," the conference celebrated the foundation's growth in a six-year-period from an organization investing $160,000 to support the Holy Land Christians to one providing $2 million in services this year. The gathering also focused on how the foundation raises and distributes money for programs that encourage and assist Christians to remain in the Holy Land, as well as how its programs enrich the lives of Western Christians through contacts with Christians who are the roots of their Christian heritage.

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