Wishing you a very special holiday celebration,

Essrea Cherin

Executive Director

“Every Christmas is an excellent opportunity to revive in our mind and in our life the message of the Prince of Peace, Jesus from Nazareth...

We deplore the ongoing spread of violence on both sides. We are sure that all the time our Jewish brothers and sisters claim that the land belongs to them, and the Palestinians claim the same belief, the land belongs to them, we at Mar Elias spread the reality which says the land cannot belong to the Jews, neither can it belong to the Palestinians, the land belongs to God. Unless we accept humbly and with determination to share our lives on the land with dignity to both and mutual respect, the land will vomit us out...

I wish you, your family, and your friends a real celebration of the Birth of Christ, the Prince of Peace.”

Yours,

Abuna Elias Chacour

Archbishop Emeritus of Galilee

(Click to read the full letter on our website)

In the spirit of the 12 Days of Christmas we have identified 12 Levels of Giving this year during our end-of-year fundraising campaign. We invite you to select whichever level you feel most comfortable with and trust that with your gift and those of many others, we will provide much needed support for Mar Elias in the coming year.

We have listed what a giving level represents in the life of MEEI and its students. If you have the means to fund an entire item on the wish list, we welcome and encourage your doing so but even if you can’t, your gift will combine with others to achieve these goals.

Cover Materials fees for notebooks, pens and pencils for one school year. $25 (we seek 50 donors at this level)

Provide a school Uniform for one student. $40 (we seek 50 donors at this level)

Transportation: Fund the cost of transporting a student from their village to Mar Elias. $80 (we seek 50 donors at this level)

Help needy families with a year of field trip fees including the transportation. $200 (we seek 25 donors to assist all students)

Tuition Assistance Mar Elias High School Student $450 gift (we seek 50 donors at this level)

Tuition Assistance Mariam Bawardi Elementary and Jr High School Student $650 gift (we seek 50 donors at this level)

Alumni Relations staff position to work with MEEI alumni. $750 (we seek 20 donors at this level)

Beautify the Campus with Green Spaces for MEEI. $1,000 (we seek 15 donors at this level)

Make Outdoor Play Possible with Covering Shade for the Play Area. $2,500 Gift (we seek 15 donors at this level)

Support building an indoor/outdoor sporting space for all weather. $5,000 (we seek 10 donors at this level)

Enhance Education with Learning Centers in the Elementary School. $7,500 each (we seek 8 donors at this level)

Create a Counseling Room for support that is calm and peaceful. $10,000 (we seek 6 donors at this level)

We are grateful to you for whatever level you are able to give this Holiday Season to offer hope for a better future for the students of Mar Elias Educational Institutions.

Thank you!

Thank you to so many generous donors, we received over $19,000 from 45 unique donors to honor Abuna Chacour’s legacy of Building Peace on Desktops for over five decades. The funds will go toward providing scholarships for remarkable students whose families do not have the means to afford a private school education for their high-achieving children. Attending Mar Elias gives the students a chance to lift their families out of poverty and toward a brighter future.

Also, on Giving Tuesday I was reminded that last year we raised over $10,000 to cover the cost of translating Abuna Chacour’s most recent book, The Sermon on the Mount —The Way to the Kingdom. I realized you might like an update on where this project is at.

The translation has been moving forward more slowly than anticipated however we are very hopeful that we can have news of the English publication in 2023.

Like you, I and many others, are anxiously awaiting its publication.

Dear Fellow Pilgrims,

Thank you for your support of a just peace in Israel and Palestine! Your support of Pilgrims of Ibillin is integral to the peace-building work of all of our peace partners and especially Mar Elias. Please know that supporting these MEEI and our partners is more important than ever. We need voices for peace so much right now as so many forces are working in the opposite direction. 

I am now rotating off the board of Pilgrims, but I will continue to be supportive and active because I know Pilgrims is making a difference. Moreover, because of you, what I am giving and doing goes further and does more because it works hand-in-hand with your gifts and actions. So thank you! Thank you for all the ways you support Pilgrim and by doing so, Mar Elias and our peace partners. 

May the blessing of peace be yours at the turn of a new year.

Warmly,

Rev. Dr. Peter Henry, Board President

We have created a brief survey that we invite you to complete. Responses to the survey will guide the Pilgrims of Ibillin Board of Directors in discerning future direction in terms of activities we engage in and Peace Partners we support. 

Please take a brief minute to complete the survey by going to: Pilgrims Survey

Thank you!

I wish to share a note of gratitude for those of you who opt to give a donation, large and small, to support the work of Pilgrims of Ibillin – anonymously. 

Thank you for your generous gifts — you know who you are! We respect your decision to remain anonymous, and very much appreciate the support that you offer to foster a just peace for all in Palestine and Israel."

We are excited to invite you to join us on our next visit to the Holy Land.

The next Living Stones Pilgrimage is set to be November, 2023.

I hope you had a chance to live vicariously along with our Living Stones Pilgrims in October. If you haven’t already, have a look at their daily blog entries and video of the pilgrimage and perhaps you may feel the tug to join the next Pilgrimage in 2023 (November dates to be announced soon)! 

Let us know you are considering joining our next pilgrimage by clicking on the

Living Stones Blog and completing the form at the bottom of this web page.