Doolittle News - February 2024

Dear friends,

The War and its Effects      

Update on the Seniors

As we approach the end of the academic year, we are focusing our efforts on helping our seniors reach the finish line. That includes passing standardized tests and completing applications to the schools of their choice. So far, we are happy to report that six of our seven seniors have passed the SAT exam and the seventh one is close. And between them, our seven seniors have already passed 29 CLEP exams, with a majority scoring above average. So, join us in praying that all seven of our seniors would reach their goals.

Meanwhile, our seniors are having to endure the effects of the war. That means no field trips, no senior trip, and no graduation party. However, as a school, we plan to move forward with our plan to hold a Senior Leadership Camp for the seniors in the spring in spite of the circumstances.

Abed’s Heart Attack

We all had a scare recently when our security guard in Hebron suffered a heart attack. Abed has been with us for 17 years in Hebron, and we consider him to be “family”. However, we are happy to report that he responded well to the emergency treatment he received and is now recovering at home. The only concern now is how he will pay for his treatment. It seems that Abed’s insurance policy changed without him realizing it and his policy no longer covers cases like his. So, we have the challenge now of helping Abed sort through this problem.

Items for Prayer

As you think of us, we ask you to remember to lift up the following prayer concerns:

• Pray for the health and safety of the Christian remnant taking refuge in the two churches in Gaza.

• Pray that we would succeed in raising the necessary funds and completing the building project in Bethlehem by the target date.

• Continue to pray that we would succeed in obtaining a building permit for the new campus in Hebron.

• Pray that we would succeed in filling staff vacancies in Bethlehem for the coming year.

• Finally, join us in praying for a peaceful solution to the conflict in Gaza.

In closing, we want to thank every one of you for your faithfulness in supporting our ministry through your gifts and prayers. You play vital role in making our hopes and dreams a reality.

Your co-workers in the harvest,

Greg and Rawda

The war in [Israel/Gaza] continues without any respite or hope of relief. And, due to a lack of food, water, and medicine, the current humanitarian crisis is becoming more intense. As you’d expect, this situation weighs heavily on our hearts and the hearts of our staff and students. But what gives our staff joy is their participation in our relief project.

Meanwhile, we continue to provide relief in Bethlehem, which will become even more important as the holidays approach. Right now, we are busy identifying groups of people in need and deciding how to allocate our resources in the most effective way to meet the various needs.  However, the situation of the Christians refugees, is a different story, because as supplies run out, the prices go up. For example, in this note our pastor explains how our donation of $5000 will be used in Gaza:

“According to our conversation:
1) Help buying flour 12 x 1120 shekel each = 13,440 shekels
2) rice 1 kilo x 38 shekel x 125 = 4750 shekels
As to use the $ 5,000”

What he is saying is that our $5000 will buy 300 kilos of flour and 125 kilos of rice. And this week we hear the prices have gone up about a third. So, the same amount of food would now cost $6700. At this point, then, all we can hope to do is keep the Christian refugees alive.

Thank you then for your gifts, because they are making a huge difference in the lives of these needy people. And as we look to the future, we ask you to continue praying for a resolution to this conflict and for an opportunity to deliver more relief to Gaza.

As for the schools, we are happy to report that both schools are able to operate almost normally, since some travel restrictions have been relaxed. But the ban on any kind of celebration remains in place.

Pressure for Enrollment

For the past four years we have experienced growing pressure from parents who want to enroll their children in both of our schools. And they do this by asking powerful people (e.g. governors and generals) to intercede on their behalf. For the most part, these are good people and we would be happy to accept their children. However, in many cases we can't, because there simply isn't enough room. So, enrollment is stressful for us, but not because we are afraid of powerful people, but because we genuinely care for the children and it is heart-breaking for us when we have to turn them away. Pray that the Lord would guide us and give us grace as we make these hard decisions.

All Gifts All Correspondence

Pioneers P.O. Box 51603

10123 William Carey Dr. Jerusalem 91516

Orlando FL 32832 ISRAEL

Donations for the Relief Project

By check: By credit card: Holy Land Ministries Go to www.hlmschools.org

P.O. Box 503141 Click “Donate”

Indianapolis IN 46250 Write amount in box next to “Other”Designate “For humanitarian project” in “Comments” box