Jericho – In the middle of a cold, rainy winter, Sabeel organized a one day women’s program to warm, sunny Jericho in the West Bank. 120 Palestinian Christian women joined in the field trip: 49 women came from Nazareth, 67 from Jerusalem and 8 from Ramallah, while later in the day around a dozen Christian women from Jericho joined in.
The program started with a visit to the Jericho Coptic Church, where Father Antonios from the Coptic church in Jerusalem gave a bible study from John 15:18-21, adding his own reflection about Palestinian Christians’ current situation in the Middle East. The next stop was the Catholic Church, where Father Ibrahim Sabbagh warmly welcomed the women with a brief explanation about the church’s history, its members and recent activities. The last church visit was to Orthodox Church in Jericho.
The morning ended with a short introduction to Sabeel’s 8th International Conference by Rev. Naim Ateek. Afterwards, the women were divided into twelve discussion groups and given three questions to stimulate their thinking and to further their interaction and knowledge of each other.
After lunch, Mrs. Vera Pano from Jericho gave a short lecture about the health status of women in Jericho and the difficulties they face due to the closure and checkpoints.
Later, the women visited the YWCA Kindergarten and Preschool at Aqbet Jaber refugee camp. Mrs. Irma Darwish, the Director of the YWCA, introduced its activities and the services they provide. The women were very moved, and collected an offering to support the wonderful work that the YWCA is doing in the refugee camp.
At the end of the day, everyone had the opportunity for free time in Jericho.
