To view pictures of our St. George Church friends in Zababdeh, click here.
View military check points around Zababdeh and West Bank
CHURCH PARTNERSHIP
As part of our peacemaking program, WPC established a partnership with St. George Church located in Zababdeh in the West Bank of Palestine. The partnership was established in the autumn of 2006.
Zababdeh is a small predominantly Christian village in the northern West Bank. About 3,600 people live there. It is a short drive south of Nazareth which is in Israel and lies between the cities of Jenin, to the north, and Nablus, to the south, both of which are within the West Bank.
The village of Zababdeh resembles the City of Wooster in its ties to both agriculture and education. The village lies in a very fertile agricultural plain that provides food and employment for residents of the village. Within the village is the Latin Patriarchate School that offers elementary and high school education for students from Zababdeh and surrounding villages. In addition, there are government schools for boys and girls, respectively. And within walking distance (2 km) is the Arab-American University with its 6,000 students, many of whom live in Zababdeh during the school year.
Most residents of Zababdeh are poor with the average family income being less than $170 per month. While residents are educated and literate, many having finished their schooling, a majority is considered unskilled. Because of limited economic opportunity some Zababdehians have been forced to leave the village to pursue better economic opportunities elsewhere. Many wish to return home
St. George Church is a Melkite, Greek Catholic Church. The name Melkite means “of the king.” Originally at the time of the name’s origin in the 5th century, Melkite referred to Christians who supported the Byzantine emperor in Constantinople. The Melkite liturgy follows the Byzantine (Greek) rite, hence the name Greek in the church’s name, but is performed in vernacular Arabic rather than Greek. The word Catholic in the church’s name comes from its Ecclesiastical Communion with the Holy See of Rome or as we know it, the Catholic Church.
The priest of St. George Church is Abouna (Rev. Father) Firas Boutros Khoury Diab. He is an ordained Melkite, Greek Catholic priest. Priests of the Melkite Church are allowed to marry and Father Firas is married and has four children, all boys, ranging in age from 2 to 11 years. His wife’s name is Doris.
The Church has twenty families with a total of about 100 members including children, all of whom live in Zababdeh
From May 20 to June 2, 2007 David Gillespie and Nahida and Don Gordon traveled to the West Bank of Palestine to visit Abouna Firas and the parishioners of St. George Church. While there they attended two worship services, shared meals with Abouna Firas and his family, and engaged in much conversation with him, his family, and many church parishioners.
The three visitors were taken on several tours of the area, including one to the city of Jenin and another to a village near Zababdeh where Jesus is said to have cured the ten lepers. They also visited homes of several parishioners.
In conversations with Abouna Firas and various parishioners, David, Nahida and Don heard about the difficulties of life in Zababdeh. The principle difficulty was the lack of income due to unemployment or failure to be paid by the Palestinian Authority. Before the second Intifada that began in September 2000 residents of Zababdeh marketed goods and produce or found employment in Israel. Following the start of the Intifada, trade with Israelis and employment by Israeli firms was ended and so the residents were cut off from a principle source of income. An additional recent factor was the economic embargo imposed by the US, the EU and Israel, following the democratic election in January 2006 of a Hamas majority to the Palestinian legislature. The economic embargo left the Palestinian Authority without funds to pay salaries of employees and benefits to retirees. This meant that these employees, including teachers and various civil servants, and retirees were without income since early 2006 until the time of David, Nahida and Don’s visit. Since their visit in May 2007 the economic boycott has been partially lifted.
To view pictures of our St. George Church friends in Zababdeh, click here.
