Starting a New Decade at Bethlehem Bible College

As the whole world is starting a new decade, raising hopes for a better year, and writing resolutions to accomplish, we, at Bethlehem Bible College, have our own hopes and goals to achieve.

This year, we have big plans ahead of us. One of our biggest plans is renovating our guesthouse in order to be able to accept more visitors in the coming years. The renovations will be divided into three stages, with the first one launching in the first quarter of the year.

Mrs. Jihan Twemeh Nazzal, Director of Administration at Bethlehem Bible College, said that the leadership’s plans for this year are to work on strategic planning for the coming five years, which will include all the College’s departments, and to finalize the HR system of the College by the end of the year. “One of the main goals of this year is to work on capacity building for the staff,” Jihan said.

We also have goals for our departments and outreach center as follows:

Academic Department

We welcomed back our Biblical Studies, Mass Media, and Tour Guide students after the holidays for a new semester. We were thrilled to welcome back our Hebrew students for their second semester. We anticipate that students are going to have an engaging semester, including their retreat that will be happening in April as usual. 

The semester is expected to end by May, and we will have our 33rd class in Biblical Studies graduating in June.

Community Outreach Center

Our Community Outreach Center, directed by Mrs. Shireen Awwad Hilal, includes the New Vision Media Center, the Shepherd Society, the women’s ministry and the Community Training Department. They all have great goals to achieve this year for the community.

The Head of the Community Training Department, Mrs. Claude Juha, is working hard this year to start a new Spanish language program for the community. It is expected to start in February.

The Department will be welcoming new English teachers in the summer who will be giving English classes to the community.

This year, our New Vision Media Center is focusing on youth and will be talking about topics that interest and benefit youth in their programs.

The Shepherd Society is continuing to be a voice to the voiceless through its programs. This year they will continue to serve among the Syrian and Iraqi refugees in Jordan, and they are doing a summer camp for the refugee kids in Jordan.

A Pot in His Hand women’s ministry is doing a monthly meeting for women, as they have every year, and another two new issues of its magazine are expected to be published this year as well.

USA Gala Dinner

Our office in the US is hosting a fundraising gala dinner in Texas this March. Attendees will experience a special night of fellowship, music, authentic Palestinian food, and a silent auction. President Dr. Jack Sara will be giving a speech at the event as well.

6th Christ at the Checkpoint Conference (CATC)

Another very big event this year is the CATC Conference, which will take place in Bethlehem for the 6th time. The theme of this year’s conference is “Hope and Resilience in a Broken World,” which will take place from June 5-9, 2020. Attendees from all over the world will join us to know more about Palestinian Christians and their response to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. For more information about the conference click here.

7th Global Leadership Summit (GLS)

In October we will be hosting the annual GLS conference for the 7th year. We will have local influential leaders to share their experiences with the leaders from the community who will be attending the summit.

We are looking forward to this year with faith that the One who had led us for 40 years will continue to do so as we are entering a new decade.