Over the last few years, Embrace has been actively turning up the volume on our advocacy. There is real public desire for speech about justice which is not angry and hate-filled, but rooted in a spirituality of shalom and reconciliation.

Thousands of children in Gaza have sustained life-changing injuries in the recent war. Thousands more have chronic conditions and disabilities that have deteriorated over the last two years because they’ve been unable to access the medical support they need. A team of specialists from the Jerusalem Princess Basma Centre are providing vital treatment and rehabilitation therapies.

The Armenian Apostolic Church one of the oldest branches of church; like many in the Orthodox family of churches, they celebrate Christmas on the 6 January, but they also have many traditions that are distinct.

‘The peace of God calls us to look beneath political rhetoric. It invites us to confront the human realities of suffering and dispossession. It calls us to resist confusion or complacency when the world declares ‘peace’ yet turns away from injustice.’

Saleem Anfous - Project Manager, Musalaha

Our Christian partners in the Middle East reflect on where they see Emmanuel this Christmas, revealing how God is at work in their communities and how the light of Christ continues to overcome the darkest of situations.

Joseph Hazboun, the Regional Director of the PMP, sent us this update from Jerusalem, warning of the catastrophic situations now facing many there, including the rapidly-shrinking Christian communities, but also reinforcing the PMP’s faith and commitment to keep serving.

“As winter sets in, the hardship grows even more severe, more than half of Gaza’s population is living in tents or beneath the remains of destroyed homes, many of which have already flooded from the rain…” Our partner the DSPR give an update on the situation in Gaza and their continuing work on the ground there.

“Until I crossed the Israeli checkpoint to enter the West Bank, my mind of a European who’s grown up with the privilege of free movement in my own native country could not compute what it means for a Palestinian to live under strict movement restrictions…”

Jamie Eyre, CEO of Embrace, speaks with Peter Nasir, General Secretary of East Jerusalem YMCA about the Christian community in the West Bank, the reality of life under occupation and the work of the YMCA.