• JORDAN \ Mar 10, 2008
    reads 9973
    Officials Deport more Christians

    Jordan has continued deporting foreign evangelical pastors, as the government last week admitted to expelling foreigners for “illegal” missionary activities.


    Acting Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh told the Jordanian parliament on Wednesday (February 20) that authorities had expelled missionaries operating “under the cover of doing charitable work,” suggesting that evangelistic activity is illegal in Jordan.

    A Church Council member said that an official from Jordan’s Foreign Ministry had approached the council, Jordan’s highest Christian body, requesting that it respond to accusations of increased pressure on foreign Christians printed in the January 29 Compass article.

    Compass Direct News, Feb 26, 2008

  • TOP STORIES \ Mar 10, 2008
    reads 4830
    Holy Land Lutheran Bishop Responds to Jerusalem Shooting and Gaza Violence

    The Rev. Munib A. Younan, bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Holy Land and Jordan, offered "sincere condolences to all who are mourning the loss of loved ones" in the wake of a March 6 shooting incident at a rabbinical seminary in Jerusalem that left eight people dead, and after the violence that has killed at least 120 people in Gaza this past week.

    Web site of Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, March 8, 2008

  • OPINION \ Mar 10, 2008
    reads 3960
    A Jewish writer praises the teachings of Jesus and criticizes Christians
    An amazing sermon about mere Christianity by an American Jew, published in the Israeli press: Bradley Burston writes an article about “Christian America” in Israel’s Haaretz. He quotes lots of verses from the new testament and comes to the conclusion that Christians in America “need to pay more attention to the words and the works of Jesus, and less to those who speak with anger, bitterness, vengeance, and exclusionism, in his name”.

    It is outstanding to see how powerful the teachings of Jesus are, even when read by people who do not believe in Him – while how big of a stumbling block some Christians have became.

    Bradley Burston, A Special Place in Hell, Haaretz, Feb 26, 2008
  • PALESTINE \ Feb 16, 2008
    reads 4067
    Vandals trash library of Gaza City's YMCA
    Vandals set off explosives inside the library of Gaza's YMCA early Friday, severely damaging the one-story building and shaking Gaza's tiny Christian minority.

    There was no claim of responsibility, but the attack came at a time of protests in the Muslim world against the reproduction of cartoons of Islam's Prophet Muhammad in Danish newspapers.

    The Assoicated Press, Feb 15, 2008

  • JORDAN \ Feb 16, 2008
    reads 8981
    “Council of Churches” in a fierce press release against Evangelical Churches
    The following is the statement issued by the “Council of Church Leaders in Jordan” regarding an article published on 29/1/2008 by the American News Agency, “Compass Direct News,” about Christians in Jordan. The press release was published in the Jordanian Embassy on the USA web site – and was later removed, but it is still widely distributed in the Jordanian press.

    In this press release, Evangelical Churches are labeled as “groups” and not churches, for these groups “came under the guise of charitable organizations, and have started to call themselves as churches -which they are not – and to ask for the same rights that the Constitution stipulates for formal churches. They also have proselytized among Jordanians, in a manner that has given rise to religious animosity, disrespecting the freedom of conscience, and thus disturbing the relations between Christian and Muslim Jordanian citizens. In short, they have become a threat to public security”.

    Special For Come and See, Feb 15, 2008

    “Council of Churches” in a fierce press release against Evangelical Churches
  • TOP STORIES \ Feb 14, 2008
    reads 5608
    American Pastor Offers Public Apology to Palestinian Evangelicals
    It was recently my great privilege to witness a groundbreaking moment in American evangelical history. Bob Roberts, pastor of Northwood Church in Keller, Texas welcomed Bishara Awad, president of Bethlehem Bible College to his church for a face to face interview in front of his congregation. During this interview, Roberts tackled some of the most daunting and unacknowledged issues that face the church in the west today: those of our Palestinian brothers and sisters in Christ who so often remain ignored and even discriminated against by fellow Christians.

    Hannah Byrd, Special For "Come and See", Feb 14, 2008

    American Pastor Offers Public Apology to Palestinian Evangelicals
  • FEATURES \ Feb 14, 2008
    reads 4785
    Nobel Prize Winner Visits Nazareth Baptist School
    On the 12th of February, 2008, Professor Aaron Ciechanover, the 2004 Nobel Prize winner for Chemistry, visited the Nazareth Baptist School at the invitation of the Principal of the school, Dr. Ousama Moalem.

    Professor Ciechanover shared with his listeners a touching encounter he had after he won the Nobel Prize. A cancer victim approached him at a reception and told him that he has been dying from the disease just a few weeks before, but thanks to the medicine that was developed as a result of his discovery, he overcame the disease and recovered.

    Special For "Come and See", Feb 14, 2008

    Nobel Prize Winner Visits Nazareth Baptist School
  • BOOK REVIEWS \ Feb 14, 2008
    reads 5543
    The Intifada of Heaven and Earth by Geries Khoury
    The purpose of this book is to respond to the claim that the land of Palestine belongs to the Jewish people.

    The strength of Khoury's book lies in asking the right questions and in analyzing the sociopolitical Palestinian struggles. However, Khoury fails to provide any convincing answers. In fact, his book is a monologue that does not seriously engage any arguments against his perception.

    Rev. Yohanna Katanacho, Ph.D., Special For "Come and See", Feb 14, 2008

    The Intifada of Heaven and Earth by Geries Khoury
  • PERSIAN GULF \ Feb 14, 2008
    reads 6454
    First church in Qatar since coming of Islam
    The Arab emirate of Qatar witnesses the building of the first church since the coming of Islam. Conservative Muslims are furious, but the reform-minded emir of Qatar thinks it is time to show that Islam is a tolerant religion.

    "If all goes well, we will celebrate Easter in our new church", says father Yashun of the almost completed church of the Virgin in the Qatari capital Doha. The Catholic church, which will open next month, is the first church to be built in Qatar since the coming of Islam 14 centuries ago.

    Radio Netherlands Website, Feb 8, 2008