spotlight on elias, of bethlehem

Recently, we were blessed to have a visit from Elias, a dear partner of ours from Bethlehem. It is always a special joy to share together face to face! Despite all the turmoil with the ongoing war, he continues to have joy and passion to serve in many amazing ministries.  


This time, we asked him to share his story with us. Elias’s family became refugees in 1948, when they were displaced from their home in Jaffa when Israel became a state. Elias grew up in Gaza, in a Christian home and attended a Catholic school until the 7th grade. Then, the school felt it was more appropriate to separate the boys and girls. The girls continued to attend the Catholic school, and the boys were sent to the UN School for refugees. 


Elias was the only Christian in his class. He was forced to take Islamic classes and was harassed by the Muslim students. In 9th grade his teacher asked him to speak to the other students about his Christian faith and beliefs. He was very scared, because although he had attended Catholic school, he really didn’t know much about God or what he believed. There were 46 students in the class, and they were all laughing as he stood in front of them. They were asking him questions about his faith, but he didn’t know how to answer them. 


He went on to study at the Islamic University in Gaza. The Islamic courses were required and some of the leaders of Hamas were his teachers. Of the more than 14,000 students, Elias was one of the only Christians. He was tormented by the isolation and all the Islamic teaching. He asked God, “How can I know you? I will give you three months to reveal yourself to me or I will become a Muslim.”

About a month later, he met a man named Fadi, who attended the Gaza Baptist Church. He kept running into him and it seemed strange how their paths would cross.


Elias asked him, “Are you following me? How is it that we keep meeting?” 


Fadi told him, “God has put you on my heart.” 


This really impressed Elias, since he had asked God to reveal Himself. So, Elias started bringing him many questions that his Muslim friends had been asking him, and Fadi would show him answers from the Bible. They started meeting often in Elias’s home. Elias and all his family came to know the Lord in 2001. Others joined and their group got bigger and bigger, so they needed to move their meeting to the Gaza Baptist Church. This was the start of their three-year Discipleship program.


In 2003, Elias was sent to Spain to speak to Moroccans with Campus Crusade for Christ (now CRU). After that experience, he dedicated his life to sharing Jesus with youth and children. Later that year, he joined the Bible Society. When Brother Andrew (author of God’s Smuggler) came to visit the area, Elias would be his driver. He was also very active in his church.


However, problems started to erupt in 2007 when the Bible Society faced threats from Hamas terrorists. A ministry of the Bible Society was “The Teacher’s Bookshop” in Gaza City, a strategic ministry for the community with a computer lab and a variety of books and Bibles. This was the only Christian bookshop in the Gaza Strip. 


The terrorists bombed the Bookshop twice. Hamas was taking over. One memory Elias has of this time was how sad he was when the Gaza Bookshop was initially bombed. But the next day, Dr. Pat was there bringing Bibles into Gaza. That was such an encouragement to them. They were also surprised that busloads of Palestinian Muslims came to show their solidarity with the Christians, holding big demonstrations in front of the Bookshop to protest the bombings. 


In Gaza, things continued to escalate. The terrorists contacted Elias’ father with threats that they would kill Elias and his brother for all their Christian activities. They told him they were watching his sons and could easily place bombs in their cars. These were very trying times. Elias and his family were very afraid as they had seen the violence Hamas was capable of inflicting.

On Oct 7, 2007, Rami Ayyad, of the Palestinian Bible Society and manager of the Bookshop, was abducted and murdered. Elias needed to go to the hospital to verify that it was Rami. That was the hardest time of his life. 


The Bible Society got permission for everyone to leave Gaza, except Elias. His wife and children stayed with him, and they were there for three more weeks. He was very afraid of Hamas and felt all alone. They checked under their vehicles for possible explosives and spent most of their time inside their home. Elias stayed awake at night and slept during the day when someone else could keep watch over their house. 


Finally, our dear brother, Labib, the Director of the Bible Society, was able to get permission from the Parliament in the UK for them to leave. Elias and his family went to the checkpoint at night; it was completely dark and there was a dust storm. They were told to run. They started to move, Elias with a suitcase in each hand and his wife, Rana, who was seven months pregnant, holding the hands of their two children, ages four and two. 


Suddenly, a tank and bulldozer moved in front of them and the turret turned with the gun pointed at them. Floodlights came on, as bright as daylight and Elias dropped the suitcases and put his hands in the air, where he stood for about five minutes in terror. His wife and children were crying loudly into the night. Finally, the turret turned back, and the vehicles moved away, allowing them to continue toward the waiting car. They saw Labib, standing in the dark waiting for them, and they all took off and headed for Bethlehem. 


He thought how strange this all seemed. It was like Mary and Joseph, being forced to flee and with nowhere to go in Bethlehem. They stayed with his brother and family initially and then found an apartment of their own. 


In 2009, Elias started to minister to the youth in the area. That helped him feel more engaged and brought stability and purpose to his life. 

He met with the youth weekly for seven years and was active in his church, and continued working with the Bible Society, providing leadership training.

 

But he knew he needed to focus on reaching the next generation, who are 60% of the population. Deuteronomy 1:6 spoke to him: “When we were at Mount Sinai, the Lord our God said to us, ‘You have stayed at this mountain long enough. It is time to break camp and move on.’” He was getting fresh vision and direction and now needed to move into action.  


Elias started a ministry to youth and children called “Track.” He knows there are many paths to go in their lives, and he wants to help them find a new track, the track to live for Jesus!

 

There are several areas of ministry: 

1) Equipping Ministry Leaders for Children/Youth Ministry

2) Discipleship Programs

3) Relief and Trauma Training and Counseling

4) A Study Program to Biblical Sites

5) Youth Conferences

6) Summer Camps

7) Samaritan’s Purse Shoebox Ministry


Whew! Just hearing about all that he is involved with is amazing! Yet, it is Jesus in him that gives him the compassionate heart to reach people with the Good News. Keep him and the Christians in the Holy Land in your prayers. Elias left everything to follow Jesus, and he inspires and challenges us to do the same!


Elias had this message from his heart to the American Church: 


“You know, if you read in Ephesians 6 about the armor of God, you will see that the Roman soldier, he protected all of his front side, but he didn’t have anything to protect his back. I believe that God wants us to protect the back of each other. You will have my back, and I will have your back. We will not flee, we will not run, but we will stand together, serving God, taking care of each other, praying for each other, loving each other, supporting each other for the glory of God. Thank you!”