2006 PROJECTS

St. Matthew's Episcopal Church

Zebabdeh, West Bank

Summer camp for children - $3,885

Zebabdeh is a small, very poor farming village in the north of the West Bank. It dates back to Roman times and is one of the few remaining Christian villages in the area. People at St. Matthew's have suffered greatly during the Intifada, especially because of job losses stemming from closures and checkpoints. Rev. Fadi wants to take the church's 100 young people to St. George's College for its short summer camp so the youth of the parish, who have no access to youth activities in Israel or Jordan, can interact with others their own age. The camp experience will help them overcome the difficult psychological and physical hardships and the sense of abandonment they face daily as a result of the long years of occupation. Church participants can only pay 50% of the cost of this camp adventure.

Repair damage done to the church under recent Israeli invasion - $1,054

Last November, Israeli soldiers occupied St. Matthew's Church and the Penman Clinic for an entire day. They used the church as a shield to hide in while watching a nearby building. They broke the doors of the church, and some windows and doors in the clinic. The windows have been repaired, but the church door requires total replacement.