By Eric Black
Baptist Standard
About 900 Christians live in Gaza, but Gazan Christians are glossed over simply as Palestinians, who themselves often are reduced to no more than Hamas.
We need to learn to look beyond the headlines. We need to look for who is missing from the reports and what’s not being said. Many times, our own brothers and sisters in Christ will be found in that void.
The Gaza Strip is a small place, almost 141 square miles in size, More than 2 million people live in Gaza, hemmed between the Mediterranean Sea on the west, Egypt — who doesn’t want them — on the south, and Israel everywhere else. There is nowhere for them to flee Israel’s reprisals following Hamas’ surprise attack Oct. 7.
This means Christians in Gaza also have few places to flee.
Gaza is also an impoverished place. The Christian Mission to Gaza website reports:
- Children age 14 and younger make up 45% of Gaza’s population, compared to less than 18% of the U.S. population.
- “Only 3 percent live past 65.”
- “Less than 10% of the water is fit to drink, with seawater, sewage and chemicals contaminating Gaza’s overloaded aquifer.”
- Before the war, electricity was “available for only about four hours a day.”
- “Three out of 10 people live below the $1.90-a-day poverty line.”
- “80% depend on charity for food.”
According to an email from Pastor Hanna (John) Massad, founder of Christian Mission to Gaza and former pastor of Gaza Baptist Church, the majority of Gaza’s 2 million people do not belong to Hamas or the Palestine Liberation Organization, but “are people who want to raise and support their families.”
Gazan Christians trace their roots “to the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:9–11),” Massad stated. Among the 14 ethnic groups named in Luke’s account of that day, Arabs were among them, Massad reminds us.
Today, there are three Christian churches in the Gaza Strip, only one of which is evangelical — Gaza Baptist Church. Massad reported Gaza Baptist Church’s building sustained damage when Israeli munitions struck nearby.
Early in the conflict, Massad reported that many Christians in the Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City have lost their homes and are seeking refuge in the area because there is nowhere else for them to find refuge.
We need to see and understand our Gazan brothers’ and sisters’ plight the way Christ sees it.
As Massad said during his interview: “When you meet with the Lord Jesus, He put love in your heart, and He put the spirit of forgiveness, love for everyone … because all of us, all of us as human beings created in the image of God regardless of our ethnicity, our background, we can see God in each other.”
We need to have the Spirit of Christ, not the spirit of the Crusaders, Massad said. The Crusaders were “motivated by violence, hatred and revenge,” but the Spirit of Christ is “motivated by love. This is what we want, and this is what motivates our hearts,” he said.
In that Spirit, Massad called us to pray.
Pray for all involved
“The family we belong to as the body of Christ, we need to pray for brothers and sisters on both sides [Israel and Gaza]. … We belong to a wonderful family, and Jesus is the head,” he said.
We don’t always know how to pray, but “the Holy Spirit which lives inside of us … takes the agony deep inside of every one of us and lifts it before the throne of God our heavenly Father, who will respond according to our needs and his will,” Massad said.
In that same Spirit — the Spirit of Christ — and regardless of theology or political position, I join with Pastor Massad in calling us to pray for all involved — Israel and Gaza.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was originally published by Baptist Standard and has been edited for space. Read the full article at tabonline.org/gaza-christians.
Report: Gospel penetrates chaos
Despite the constant tension and conflict in the Middle East, gospel outreach is flourishing in the region, A.S. Ibrahim, professor of Islamic Studies at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, told Kentucky Today.
“I am thrilled about what I am hearing and seeing in terms of gospel proclamation in the
region,” he said. “You would imagine a region in that chaotic situation would be very far from the gospel. In fact, it is completely the opposite.”
“I would say that the amount of gospel proclamation and the advancement of the gospel in this land is unprecedented — as never before,” he said.
During a recent visit, he said, “I saw Muslims coming to churches, attending the services, and I saw some of them baptized, and I saw some of them being discipled. I praise the Lord for all that is happening and seeing how many Muslims are abandoning their religion after they encounter the gospel of Christ.”
Pray for your pastor year-round
At First Baptist Church Trussville, our Sunday School classes are a vital part of our prayer ministry.
Each month, two Sunday School classes take the responsibility to pray for our pastor. Members of the class are encouraged to pray at any time and place they choose using the guidelines below:
Read the following Scriptures aloud as unto the Lord for the pastor:
- Matthew 6:9–13
- Jeremiah 33:3
- Philippians 4:6
- Philemon 1:4–7
- 1 Thessalonians 5:16–18
- They also are encouraged to read and consider these prayer prompts to guide them:
- Pray for the anointing power to be on your pastor and the worship service.
- Pray the message will fall on fertile ground.
- Pray that the music will set the table for the message.
- Pray for the people who need to be saved.
- Pray for people who have personal issues will find peace.
- Pray for other items that might come to your mind.
- Close the prayer by giving God all the glory and praise.
- End the prayer in the name of Jesus.
Class members are urged to send the pastor a card or note letting him know he is being prayed for.
Henry Ward
FBC Trussville
Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to acknowledge those who work hard among you, who care for you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other.
1 Thessalonians 5:12–13
“If we don’t equip them, they’ll probably be right back,” said Ashley Liveoak, executive director of Care Net of Chilton County, which offers a broad spectrum of resources to help women navigate unplanned pregnancies and get back on their feet.
“We want to make sure we give them the tools to break those generational curses.”
“It’s good to listen to anyone with an opinion. But be careful if you attempt to please everyone. You can’t,” said Mark MacDonald, church branding strategist for BeKnownforSomething.com, on the challenges of creating a church logo.
If your church seems loud because it’s full of young people … be sure to praise the Lord for that!
Because a quiet church with no young people is deafening.
@shane_pruitt78
X (formerly Twitter)
“Infertility is a type of grief and that may be new information to many people,” said Jenn Hesse, co-author of “Waiting in Hope: 31 Reflections for Walking with God Through Infertility.”
“It is a type of loss. It can include miscarriage, which is losing a baby, which is the death of a loved one. Infertility is death of a dream, of all these expectations. …
“Many women come and show up broken — and that’s okay. God doesn’t take us after we’re cleaned up. This is how we come. This is how we approach Him.”
“For me, basketball is only a platform that God has given me to pour into the lives of young people,” said Steve Edwards, women’s basketball coach at Brewton-Parker College. “It’s much bigger than just winning basketball games. It’s about seeing lives transformed.”
“In my opinion, if you read your Bible, He will bring you through many things, especially when you have no idea what’s going to happen next. But He’ll be there for you. Trust the Lord, put your faith in Him and believe what you read,” said Billie Lang of West Point, Mississippi, who is currently in her 31st year of reading the Bible through from Genesis to Revelation.
“I’ve seen boys get saved in that fellowship hall right there. I’ve seen boys get closer to their dads. I’ve seen boys just have a ton of fun out here and connect with each other. This is where we can reach young people for Christ in ways we wouldn’t have otherwise,” said Brian Holt, Royal Ambassadors coordinator for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board.
The central theme, motif or idea which permeates all of Paul’s letter to the Philippians is God’s glory, which is “the manifestation of His presence among people.”
God’s glory is mentioned in all 4 chapters (1:11; 2:11; 3:19, 21; 4:19, 20) and this is what makes the other themes (joy, love, thanksgiving, prayer, principles of unity) possible and acceptable to Him.
After all, these timely truths written to a first century church are timeless truths for all churches in all centuries.
Morris Murray Jr.
Jasper, Ala.
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