Who are the Arab Evangelicals in the Holy Land?

Here is the second video for the Holy Land Connection (HLC), with our seminary president Azar Ajaj and hosted by Rani Espanioly.

Who are the Arab Christians?

Alex Miller, lecturer in Church History and Theology, recently discussed the question of who are the Arab Christians with Rani Espanioly for his ministry SALAM in the Holy Land. Here is the video:

Azar Ajaj on the Van Dyck translation of the Bible into Arabic

Azar Ajaj, our seminary president, has recently published his article titled "The Van Dyck Translation: The American Mission Board and the Translation of the Bible into Arabic" in Volume 11:1 of St Francis Magazine.

The article is about how the main Arabic-language Bible, still in wide use today, came into being.

Click HERE for the article.

Azar Ajaj and Phil Sumpter on the Convention of Evangelical Churches in Israel (CECI)

We are happy to now publish our third Mary's Well Occasional Paper of 2014. Written by Azar Ajaj and Phil Sumpter, it offers an account of the origin and contemporary situation of the Convention of Evangelical Churches in Israel (CECI), or as it is commonly called in in Arabic, al majma3.

Here are the first sentences:

In 2005, representatives from five Christian denominations in Israel—Baptists, Assemblies of God, Open Brethren and Church of the Nazarene (the latter including a smaller denomination within them, the Christian Missionary Alliance)—formed a coalition in order to make a bid with the Israeli government to gain recognition as an “official religion,” a unified entity entitled to the same rights and responsibilities as Israel’s other officially recognized religions. The purpose for seeking such a status was primarily practical, for non-recognition by the government inhibits the day-to-day functioning of individual congregations. 

Click HERE to download and read the entire PDF of volume 3:3 of Mary's Well Occasional Papers.

Azar Ajaj on the 'Price Tag' attacks

Our seminary president Azar Ajaj has composed a brief statement and reflection on the 'price tag' attacks that have taken place at a number of Christian and Muslim sites throughout the region.


Read the whole thing at Come and See, Nazareth's Christian website. A PDF can also be downloaded through Azar's academia.edu page.

Student News: the ordination of Ziad Farraj

NETS is proud to share that Ziad Farraj has been ordained to be a pastor for the Association of Baptist Churches in Israel, where has been called to pastor for one year the Baptists congregation in the city of Rama.

Ziad is in the final stages of completing his Bachelor of Divinity.

Around the Galilee with NETS

During the month of November, Nazareth Evangelical Theological Seminary and Galilee Bible College organized three day trips in and around the Galilee Region. These were led by the Rev Dr Kamal Farah, an Anglican minister who is an expert in the biblical history and the geography of the Holy Land.

The trips were organized to include students, pastors and leaders, and 40 of them took part in the trips. Pastor Kamal gave some very interesting insights from his vast knowledge of the history of the Holy Land, and also led devotional Bible Studies relevant to each site.

The first trip was a visit to the Biblical sites around Tiberias and the Sea of Galilee, including Tabgha, Capernaum and the Mount of Beatitudes. This trip covered the teaching and ministry of Jesus described in Mathew 5-12. Visiting the places where Jesus spent days in prayer, fed the crowds, healed the sick, taught and preached was very much inspiring.

The second trip was a local visit to Nazareth churches, recalling the story of the Annunciation and parts of Jesus’ ministry in Nazareth. From there we drove to Mount Precipice, a place that overlooks several Biblical sites from both Old and New Testaments. This was followed by a visit to the Wedding Church at Cana. We then went to the archaeological site of Sepphoris, the city that Herod Antipas was building during the childhood of Jesus, and which according to tradition is the hometown of the Virgin Mary.

The third trip was a visit to the dramatic cliffs of Mount Arbel, to the recently excavated site of Magdala, both by the Sea of Galilee, and finally to Banias – the site of Caesarea Philippi. We managed to combine this trip with a visit to the local Druze market to buy their fruit and produce.

Many of those who attended really enjoyed this combination of teaching, prayer, visiting the sites, some of which were situated in National Parks, and of learning new things about these special places.