St Margaret's Church, Topsham

As we all pray for peace in Israel and Palestine, please do keep alert to the work of Bethlehem Bible college whom we have been supporting for several years now.

All of us at the Bethlehem Institute of Peace and Justice have been shocked and horrified at the ongoing war in Gaza and the unimaginable suffering of the Gazan people. The magnitude of the destruction is beyond comprehension. A thriving city has been destroyed, as well as thousands of innocent lives, the most significant percentage being women and children. The murder of many Israelis was a tragedy, but Israel's response has been beyond excessive. A ceasefire must occur so that the indiscriminate attack on schools and hospitals where thousands of Gazans are sheltered is stopped.

Instead of trivializing the need for peace and justice studies, the magnitude of the destruction is a statement of the fruit of the neglect of peacemaking and justice studies . Therefore, we are pressing ahead with all our programs at the BIPJ. Every semester peacemakers from an array of nations from Japan to Tanzania to Belgium and Canada are pursuing graduate-level studies with us for either credit or audit.

Anthony Khair, a talented student at Bethlehem Bible College, says of his studies with the BIPJ this semester:

" After living through this war in Palestine. I've realized more than ever how important it is to study peacemaking and justice. Therefore, I am eager to continue taking the BIPJ's spring semester course to have a broader knowledge of how to deal with injustices in our context and internationally . "

Our BIPJ course participants have established deep relationships with each other. The cohort from our two-week residential Summer Intensive last May has continued their conversations about peacemaking and met in live Zoom sessions during the war. The BIPJ is a peacemaking community.

Our conviction at the BIPJ is that the more people study peace, the less conflict and war there will be. The prophet Isaiah's vision of the age of the Messiah points to the time when people will not learn about war:

" He shall judge between the nations and shall decide disputes for many peoples, and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore ." (Isaiah 2.4).

Instead of learning about war, people must know how to make peace to heal our world. We are so grateful you are part of the Bethlehem Institute of Peace and Justice family. We pray that the Lord will multiply grace and wisdom to you during these difficult days. Let's urgently pray together for the war to end soon. One of the Bethlehem Bible College students, Rose, offers this prayer:

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,

JESUS, I want you to be the sunshine of our life.

We ask you to be with our people in Gaza,

to protect them under their broken homes.

Please be with the mothers, fathers, and their children.

Our hearts are broken because so many people have died. Amen.

For Christ always –

St Margaret's Church, Topsham

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