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Middle East (MNN)–The international community is urging Palestine and Israel to lower the civil war tensions in the Middle East.
In response, the Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, agreed to remove a Hamas militia from the streets. The other part of the agreement involved integrating the militia into the police force to try to ease tensions.
News reports indicate the tensions were heightened by a Western aid boycott that pushed the Hamas-led government to the brink of collapse.
Open Doors’ USA President, Carl Moeller says Christians have been caught in the crossfire.
There have also been reports that are more disconcerting. He says the remnant church in the region has suffered persecution as the result of the destabilization. “There’s a(n) internal power struggle going on in those areas between Hamas and what’s left of Fatah and the Palestinan Liberation Organization. Those factions have produced a truly bloody power struggle,” and one into which Israel seems to have waded, further adding to the chaos.
Many believers have fled the region, waiting to return when thing settle down. Moeller says for those who’ve remained, “Open Doors has continued to nurture its contacts in the region. We continue to ask the questions of what’s necessary for the survival of the church, and we go and get those resources, training, books, encouragement.”
Resourcing is important, but more so, is the knowlege they’re not alone. Moeller says that’s another aspect of their role, “…just letting the world know that there’s a church there and that they need to be prayed for is a vital need of the church in Palestine.”
If you want to help provide Arab-speaking Muslim background believers with follow-up materials, pastoral care and fellowship, go to Open Doors’ website.
