Taybeh – Mar Afraim Guest House
7-8/7/2011
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom” Col 3:16
Fourteen clergy wives from Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Biet Sahour, Biet Jalla and Galilee attended the retreat. Ms. Ingrid Beiler from MCC attended the first day of the conference.
An introductory session was conducted by Ms. Gloria Nasser from Bethlehem, as she led an ice breaking activity that was greatly appreciated by the participants.
The first session also was given by Ms. Nasser about Christian upbringing as part of the general upbringing. Ms. Nasser prepared a documentary concerning the topic, interviewing youth from different parts of Palestine asking them about what they think of Christian upbringings during after -school settings. A very interesting discussion took place after the documentary film and power point presentation.
A very delicious lunch was served in a very good atmosphere.
We had a nice stop at the Home of the Elderly, in which women interacted with the women at that home, we had a wonderful gathering with them, and we sat with them and enjoyed their stories and memories, some prayed in the Home Chapel, some just enjoyed being there and talking to people.
The second session was given by Mrs. Aida Khoury, the wife of the Melkite priest in the depopulated village of Ikret in Galilee about “The Power of Prayer” followed by working group discussion led also by Mrs. Aida Khoury.
After a wonderful dinner women got together in an inspiring gathering that included discussions, exchanging experiences and a lot of laughing.
The second day started with a bible study given by Ms. Ra’eda Rishamwi , wife of the Lutheran Pastor in Ramallah about “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom” Col 3:16 followed by discussion.
The forth session was given by Dr. Saleh Majaj, ND and Rev. Dr. Naem Ateek. The text was taken from 1st Timothy 4:8 “For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.”. Dr. Saleh has a Ph.D in Naturopathic medicine. In his lecture he focused on the importance of natural cures for most diseases including spirituality for a wholistic approach. He gave a very interesting lecture that has a huge amount of information that was found very helpful for participants.
Rev. Naem Ateek reflected on Dr. Saleh’s presentation from biblical sources and both speakers depended on each other in presenting the topic.
After lunch, Fr. Jack Nobel Abed from the Melkite Church in Taybeh led the group in an informative tour in Taybeh that included the Peace Lamp Project, the Brewery, a visit to the old city of Taybeh, and the Archeological site of St. George‘s Church.
The farewell moment was a remarkable one; the women were very moved when they said goodbye to each other and insisted on having more such gatherings in the future.
