October 26^th, 2016: The topic for this month’s youth meeting was “Emotional hunger and the search for love.” Our theme was that the heart must be filled with love from God and this love must be reflected to all people around it. Love is one of the basics for continuing in life.

On October 22^nd, 2016, Archimandrite Agabius Abu Saadi, Patron of the Roman Catholic Church in Haifa, gave a lecture entitled “Orient of the Christian Cradle.” About 80 people attended the lecture.

The monthly women’s meeting for October 2016 met on the 14^th. This month, the presentation was on the displacement of the town of Saffouriya. Another topic of discussion was the post-1948 generation and the way that they think about and are shaped by the Nakba.

The Bible study facilitator group gathered in Jericho on October 7^th, 2016. The facilitators who attended came from Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Beit Jala, Ramallah, and Zababdeh. The first part of the meeting was spent updating each other on how the Bible study groups are going. The facilitators also worked on planning for the future of their programs. They also had time for lunch and fellowship.

On September 26^th, 2016 there was a Bible study at Sabeel Jerusalem. The Bible study focused on the parable of the prodigal son through Palestinian eyes and was led by Cedar Duaybis. There were about 40 participants, and discussion was lively. This was a new perspective on the parable of the prodigal son for most of the participants.

The women’s book study and discussion group met again on September 9^th, 2016, to discuss the book I Come from There and Remember. This week, the information and discussion questions related to Hosha, one of over 400 Palestinian villages destroyed in 1948. About forty women attended.

The play “Between Two Times,” was performed on August 5^th, 6^th, and 9^th. The play sheds light on the stories of the ancient archaeological houses, and links the past to the present through the stones of the place which witnessed these stories. It considers the questions: Who lived in these places? How did they live? Can you fake places? How can we preserve our cultural heritage and identity through these places and keep them from extinction? A total of 276 people attended the play.

On August 8^th, 2016 Sabeel office in Jerusalem had the 1^st bible study session for the community. thirty two participants came to participate with  Ms. Cedar Duaybis and to reflect on the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. Despite the big number of the participants the presenter was able to engage the participants and provoke discussion. Participants asked Sabeel to have more sessions as they felt they needed to have a place where they can discuss the Bible and reflect on it.

Sabeel Nazareth participated in the Third Nazareth International Conference on Archeology, History, and Cultural Heritage on August 1^st, 2016. The conference’s goal is to bring together people working to preserve the cultural heritage of the city of Nazareth. Sabeel Nazareth presented a trailer for their upcoming play, “Between Two Times.”

On July 28^th, 2016 Sabeel had the 1^st bible study session for a Jerusalem group of young women. Six women participated in the this session.  Nadine Bitar, a youth ministry graduate reflected on the importance of living the word of God in our daily life giving examples from both the Hebrew scriptures and the New Testament. A very lively discussion took place and the women got excited about having regular contextual bible studies.