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"Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust."
(Psalm 91:1)
It is a joy to bring you greetings from Bethlehem, where the Body of Christ is learning to abide in Him in the midst of instability. Please keep our young students in your prayers, as well as the staff and faculty of BBC. Because of our location next to the Separation Wall, we are regularly subjected to the effects of the conflict, including a lot of tear gas in our area. Thank you for your continued prayers for our safety, and for all the believers in this Land.
Speaking of the situation, we felt it would be better to move our annual Global Leadership Conference from BBC campus to a different location this year. This annual conference, in conjunction with Willow Creek Church in the USA, is a great way to shine the light and love of Christ and teach Kingdom principles in our community. In spite of the challenges, we had a great turnout from all sectors of society in our region, and many encouraging testimonies from those who attended.
In this issue, you will read an exciting interview with Tony Deik, our Head of Online Education and Instructor in Biblical Studies, concerning growing up in Bethlehem and how he ended up with us at BBC. I think you will be blessed by his testimony and insights. You will also hear about our "Mawtini," a time of celebration and intercession for our homeland, Palestine.
Finally, we are requesting special prayer this month for our students and campus in Gaza. Because of the difficulty of life there, especially the war in 2014, more Christian families have left and those who remain are struggling. Hope and expectations for the future are fading. Pray that the quality of life for the Gazan community would improve and that the light of Christ would continue to burn bright in this troubled part of the world. The situation is very serious. Pray also for our Shepherd's Society team, which is currently in Jordan, ministering to Syrian and Iraqi refugees.
Many blessings to you in this holiday season,
Rev. Dr. Jack Sara - President
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Recently, the college hosted the second annual Global Leadership Summit in Bethlehem. This year, the Global Leadership Summit (GLS) took place in 875 cities across 120 countries to impact 260,000 leaders from around the world.
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Recently, Munther's PhD thesis was published as a book: From Land to Lands, From Eden to the Renewed Earth. Bethlehem Bible College is proud to carry this seminal work, which as Dr. Thomas Harvey, Academic Dean of Oxford Centre for Mission Studies says "
represents a new and significant work in biblical theology...The work is not only a significant contribution to biblical scholarship, its contemporary relevance makes it a must buy for students of the Bible and theology alike."
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This Saturday 21st
of November our students from the Tour Guide Program were invited to an exclusive visit to Mr. George Lama's personal art collection. The paintings in the exhibition illustrate the development of Palestinian art through the 19th
and 20th
Century. The students also had the chance to see the showcase of Bethlehem Development Foundation that has the largest panoramic view of Bethlehem (Old and New).
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When Pride Bows Before Humility: a Life-changing Encounter with the Love of God
The Head of Online Education for Bethlehem Bible College, as well as an Instructor in Biblical Studies, Anton ("Tony") Deik is a native of Bethlehem, with a family history going back at least a thousand years here. His ancestors were olive wood carvers-a tradition passed from one generation to the next-and he grew up just down the road from the Church of the Nativity, where Jesus Christ was born. Recently, we were able to sit down with Tony and hear about a powerful encounter with Jesus Christ that upended his life and showed him the true nature of God; his vision to reach the wider Arabic-speaking world through BBC's e-learning program; and how his experiences growing up in Bethlehem have shaped his theology and who he is today.
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If you could choose any nation in the whole world to live in, where would it be? Would you choose an occupied land: to live in Palestine? Well, I would! I would choose it over and over again. For decades my people have lived in an occupied land. Their freedom was stolen, their villages were taken and destroyed, their children were killed-but above all that, they chose to exist and resist with love, dignity and joy! Who would not choose to belong to such nation?!
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If you would like to help support the ministry of Bethlehem Bible College, there is no better time to give than tomorrow: December 1, 2015. On this day only, every gift that is designated for BBC will be doubled. This is due to the generosity of the United Methodist Church, which sponsors #GivingTuesday, and BBC is included amongst the registered ministries which are eligible for this matching gift. Participating in #Giving Tuesday is super-easy! All you need to do is go to this link to make an online donation on December 1st:
Remember, ONLY gifts that are given on December 1st will be doubled-that is, the entire 24 hour period of December 1 (US Central Time Zone). If you are a supporter of BBC, please pray about making a donation on that day. Our students, staff, and the Body of Christ in Palestine thank you!
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Register now for Christ at the Checkpoint 4
Registration is underway for the coming Christ at the Checkpoint conference, to take place on March 7-10th, 2016 in Bethlehem. The conference will tackle one of the most urgent issues of the day: religious extremism. We have speakers with knowledge and experience who will address the issue of religious extremism in the global context, the Middle East, and the Palestinian-Israeli situation. To know more about the conference, visit
christatthecheckpoint.com
. To register,
click here
.
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