A Wonderful Initiative: Bible Camp for West Bank Children
Yesterday, the Vulnerable People Project (VPP) launched something beautiful in the midst of hardship: a Summer Bible Camp, similar to the Vacation Bible Schools (VBS) that thousands of American children attend every year, for every Christian child in Taybeh, in the West Bank.
For the next two weeks, between 150 and 200 children, every Christian child in the town, will gather each day for VPP's Summer Bible School. They'll receive food, clean water, and treats many of them haven't tasted since before the war. We're covering paid teachers and instructors and providing the educational materials to make it all possible.
The camp runs began yesterday and run through July 24th, so we need to raise $20,000 to cover every cost: the food, the water, the treats, the instructors, and the materials.
That comes to about $100 per child.
Will you consider sponsoring one Christian child's cost for Taybeh's Summer Bible School this month?
Or maybe you're able to do more and chip in $300 to cover three children or even $1,000 to cover ten. Whatever you can give will go directly to these kids.
GIVE $100: SPONSOR A CHILD'S BIBLE CAMP IN TAYBEH
This camp is not happening in a time of peace.
It's happening as Taybeh, the last entirely Christian Palestinian town in the West Bank, faces an existential threat.
Just this week, our team on the ground documented Israeli settlers on Jabal Al-Masis, the hillside overlooking Taybeh, where they appear to be establishing a new illegal settlement outpost right next to Palestinian family homes. If confirmed, this would create a permanent settler presence adjacent to the community—historically a signal of increased attacks, harassment, and movement restrictions in the period that follows. It comes after months of escalating violence: arson, armed intimidation, assaults on farmers, and repeated attempts to keep residents off their own agricultural land.
This is exactly why VPP's presence in Taybeh is so critical.
Because we are embedded in this community, reporting daily and running an international press campaign, the world is beginning to take notice.
The Washington Post reported this weekend that across Israel, Christians are being targeted by hostility and violence, with attackers who feel emboldened by Prime Minister Netanyahu's government. As the Post put it:
"Across Israel, Christians are being targeted by a tide of hostility and violence — attacks that risk drawing the ire of Christians in the U.S., including evangelicals who are traditionally among Israel's most ardent American supporters."
Our firsthand reporting is now being confirmed by the world's leading newspapers, and we are seeing the White House publicly press the Israeli government to halt these illegal settlements.
Pressure works. Presence works.
And we cannot walk away now.
We are standing with the persecuted Church.
While settlers gather on the hillside, we are gathering the children.
While the world debates, we are handing kids a cup of clean water and opening a Bible with them.
That is the answer to darkness...not despair, but presence.
Not retreat, but a summer of joy for children who deserve it.
Please give today so that every one of these children has their place at camp.
SPONSOR A CHRISTIAN CHILD IN TAYBEH — GIVE $100.
With gratitude and resolve,
Jason Jones
Founder, Movie to Movement & the Vulnerable People Project
Host, The Jason Jones Show
P.S. - The camp is already underway. These children are showing up every single day through July 24. Your $100 gift will ocver one child's full cost: food, water, treats, instruction, and materials. Can you give a child in Taybeh a memorable summer that will bring them closer to their faith?
P.P.S. - Here is an urgent appeal that Fr. Bashar, who leads Christ the Redeemer Parish in Taybeh, just wrote and asked us to get to the international press:
"Since yesterday, groups of Israeli settlers have been repeatedly observed on Jabal Al-Massis, an area belonging to the town of Taybeh, east of Ramallah. According to eyewitnesses and ongoing monitoring, their activities strongly suggest preparations for the establishment of a new illegal settlement outpost.
This development raises grave concern. It comes after months of escalating attacks against Taybeh, including arson, armed intimidation, assaults on farmers, and repeated attempts to prevent residents from accessing their agricultural lands. Taybeh, the last entirely Christian Palestinian town in the West Bank, is facing an unprecedented and systematic threat to its land, its people, and its historic Christian presence.
We urgently call upon diplomats, consuls, ambassadors, the United Nations, churches around the world, and all international organizations to take immediate action by monitoring the situation on the ground, visiting the area, and using all available diplomatic means to prevent the establishment of a new illegal settlement outpost.
Failure to act now risks creating irreversible facts on the ground, further escalating tensions and undermining the prospects for peace, justice, and the preservation of the Christian presence in the Holy Land.
The time to act is now. Prevent another illegal outpost before it becomes a permanent reality."
— Fr. Bashar Fawadleh, Christ the Redeemer Parish, Taybeh, Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem
