Peacemaking in Palestine and Isreal
Last week, we were truly blessed to hear from Rev. Dr. Yohanna Katanacho, the academic dean at Nazareth Evangelical College in Nazareth, Israel. He shared insightfully of the current and historic situation in Israel and Palestine with grace and love. The crux of his message was that following the ways of Jesus of love and forgiveness is the true pathway to peace in the Middle East. "Blessed are the peacemakers, pray for those who persecute you, and turn the other cheek", were some of the words of Jesus that Dr. Katancho emphasized. He implored that no one should be outside the circle of our prayers, including Palestinians. His call to action was simple, ''meet with people and start asking God what to do’’.
He implored that no one should be outside the circle of our prayers, including Palestinians. His call to action was simple, ‘meet with people and start asking God what to do’’. So that is what we are doing, starting on July 10th as we spend 30 minutes together in praying for Israel and Palestine. Register here
I encourage you to reflect on Psalm 67 through the eyes of a Palestinian Christian, Rev. Dr. Yohanna Katanacho.
May God have mercy on us and bless us! May he spread the light of his countenance upon us! Oh, Lord! Bless us. Bless us with your presence. Declare your compassion, and let your grace be among us. Let all the people know that our salvation is in Jesus. He is the way to salvation. Oh, God! Bless us so that we may bless others. Then your blessing will be cloned and will multiply so all the nations will praise the Lord. No one can monopolize the joy of the Lord; all Nations will rejoice in the Lord. Laughter will dwell with us. The pleasure of heaven and earth will be our companion. Bless us, so that we may lead the nations to you, and that we may see the dominion of justice in our land. Let the nations praise you, oh, God! This is our request. Bless us with a covenant in which you are our Lord and our God.
Bless us like our mother‘s Eve, Sara, Rebekah, Jochebed, Hannah, Elizabeth, and Mary, the mother of our Lord. Then we will give birth to blessing in build up our people with the grace of God. Bless us like Solomon, Abraham, Isaac, David and Joeseph. Grant us success. Bless us like Peter and Paul, so that we may love God wholeheartedly. Have mercy on us today, and bless us. Multiply our blessings like you did the five loaves and two fish. You have blessed every poor and simple person. Bless us! Be sovereign over us and be our King today.