NAZARETH, Israel — The International Mission Board (IMB) has transferred the title of Nazareth Baptist School’s (NBS) facilities in Israel to the institution’s nonprofit.
NBS, though started by then-Foreign Mission Board (now IMB) personnel, has been financially and administratively independent from IMB for nearly 30 years.
NBS has established its own nonprofit separate from IMB with the transfer of the deed bringing the school into full local ownership.
The transfer ceremony took place at the Nazareth school Dec. 20, 2015.
Botrus Mansour, NBS general director, described it as a “sweet gathering” of IMB personnel, NBS staff and representatives from the Association of Baptist Churches in Israel. Among the speakers were Mansour, IMB vice president of global engagement John Brady and current NBS board chairman Najed Azzam. They each emphasized their gratefulness for the school’s long relationship with IMB as well as their eager expectation for the school’s future.
Even with its ties to IMB the school has always been a largely local endeavor. The Church in Nazareth played a large part in establishing the school that has always had dedicated Arab believers on its staff. Over the course of six decades administration and funding gradually moved more fully under local ownership.
The transfer of the land title was the final step.
(BP)
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