Hope School

Christmas celebrations have begun! Santa Claus is in town! Today each elementary class shared beautiful dances, words, and songs that they've worked on all month. You might be wondering, why are so many of the children dressed up as Old Saint Nicholas? Well, for Christians, St. Nicholas is referred to as the Father of our town, Beit Jala, because it is believed that while on his pilgrimage to the Holy Land, he lived in cave in this town. There are stories about his protection

In celebration of Teacher's Day this past week, we want to say to all the teachers in Hope School as well as the whole of Palestine that we honor you. We honor your effort, time, wisdom, patience and care. We honor your love, strength, and perseverance as you play one of the greatest roles in raising our children grow to have hopes, dreams and opportunities, and in how to love others well. We truly have a special group of teachers here at Hope School that take care to see the

Today at morning chapel we had the pleasure of having Young Life share an encouraging and challenging message as well as a live art performance of painting. The process of painting (finger painting to be exact!) was done upside down, resulting in us only recognizing it as a depiction of Jesus' face when it was flipped right side up at its completion. The one in the group who spoke Arabic then shared a message out of Matthew 7, paralleling the tree that can only bear good frui

As part of Ministry of Education program for emergency situations, the Civil Defense Department in Bethlehem visited the school to organize evacuation drills in case of earthquakes or fires. The officer visited all the classes and explained to the students what they need to do in the case of an emergency; how to behave, evacuate and leave the building. He met with the teachers as well and explained to them how to help the children in such cases. At the end of the day, a date

Thousands of faithful and dignitaries attended Saturday’s lighting of the giant Christmas tree in Bethlehem outside the Church of the Nativity, the traditional birthplace of Jesus. It included dancing, a beautiful orchestra, and encouraging words from a Father Patton and the prime minister. Christmas celebrations this year in the biblical city of Bethlehem have a different touch with Pope Francis gifting Bethlehem back a remnant of what is believed to be Jesus' manger, after