BBC Students Joined the World Week for Peace in Palestine-Israel

“Lord we pray for the separation wall; may You intervene and let this wall fall so we can live in peace with all of our neighbors.”

As Palestinian Christian Students, we have a voice and a calling to take a stand; a stand against injustice, separation walls, and the continued confiscation of Palestinian lands. We have decided not to remain silent, but fight with all the power we have; the power of prayer!

Last week, the Palestine Israel Ecumenical Forum (PIEF), invited local churches to be part of the annual World Week for Peace in Palestine-Israel. The theme of the week for 2015 is, “God has broken down the dividing walls.”

The event started with a morning service led by His Grace, Bishop William Shomali and the churches of Palestine at Beir Ouna, Cremisan Valley on Saturday, September 19th.

Academic Dean of BBC, Munther Isaac; and Dean of Students, Shireen Hilal Awad; along with 13 of our students participated in this event, joining multitudes around the world in praying for justice and peace.  With much of our prayers framed by this year’s slogan, we asked God to help us find ways to build bridges of reconciliation rather than walls of separation.

Our students stood in Cremisan Valley, overlooking our own confiscated Palestinian land that had once been filled with olive trees.  Behind the land was the Separation Wall.  What a heartbreaking image; one that we can only beg our mighty God to bring to an end!  As a Palestinian, may I tell you how much we love our land? We love our land as much as we love our children.  We measure our lives by the growth of the olive trees in our backyards.  Our afternoons are filled with joy under the shade of our largest olive trees.  And of course, olive oil is important staple in our diet and is found in every Palestinian meal.  Watching these precious olive groves being repeatedly uprooted from our land is our painful story!

As Palestinian Christians, taking a stand and speaking out against injustice is not typical behavior. Usually, Christians in Palestine prefer not to talk about anything political and stay out of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, while isolating themselves inside the walls of the church.

But we believe it is time for a change.  It is time for a new generation to rise up. BBC has helped us find our voice against injustice and conflict, and to stand for our people’s rights.  We are learning to use every tool we have, knowing that the strongest weapon in our hands is prayer.   We believe that the Lord of peace is standing with us.  We believe that He feels our pain and that He will hear our cry!

For the past week, our students have been writing out their prayers. While standing in front of the wall and praying with the Palestinian church, our students placed their prayers in front of the Lord. I’ll leave you with some of them.  May you raise your voices in agreement with us so we can touch the throne of the Lord and bring forth change.  I believe that every great move of God begins when His people are willing to pray!

“Live in peace and the God of love and peace shall be with you” (2 Corinthians 13: 11).  I pray to the God of peace, that we shall follow his steps in seeking peace and stay away from hatred and holding grudges towards our enemies.

Many prayed for peace in the Arab World, for the war to end, and for everyone to live in peace in their own homeland.

The students mentioned both Palestinians and Israelis who have lost beloved ones in this conflict.  We prayed for the Lord comfort them and heal their wounded hearts.

“I pray especially for the Palestinian Christians to raise their voices, and get out of their silence, fear, and comfort zone, because we do have something to say.  We want the world to know that we have a message of hope, love and peace to spread all over the world.”