Friday, February 01, 2008

Update: The Aftermath of Rami Ayyad's Murder by N.S. 2000 Staff

On October 7, 2007 Rami Ayyad the director of the Bible Society’s Christian bookstore in the Gaza Strip of Israel was kidnapped and murdered by Muslim extremists because of his faith in Christ. At that time it was widely publicized in the media. With permission, we have posted some of those articles on our web site. (See archives)  As a result of the murder and increasing threat to the Christian community, the Bible Society team chose to leave Gaza for an uncertain amount of time. Israel issued permits for them to go to Bethlehem and there they remain as of this writing.

Dr. Pat and two co-workers from News Service 2000 had the opportunity to travel to Israel in November of 2007 and met with Rami’s pregnant widow Pauline, their two young sons and the entire Bible Society team based in Gaza .

Meeting with Pauline, her children and the rest of the Bible Society team was a sad and sobering time. They were all still in a state of shock over Rami’s murder.  Their ministry of several years was suspended and they were waiting on the Lord to direct them in how they should continue. Dr. Pat and her co-workers were able to encourage and pray with them and let them know that thousands of people are also partnering with them in prayer. 

Historically News Service 2000 has been involved with the bookstore since its inception. Starting in 1997 Dr. Pat and numerous teams began hand carrying Bibles into the Gaza Strip.  The Bibles had to be hand carried in because the Christians in Gaza were not allowed out of Gaza to travel to Jerusalem to purchase Bibles.  The bookstore in Gaza was established two years later in l999.  The Bible Society gathered a dedicated team to minister to the one and one half million people living in the Gaza Strip. And as an outgrowth of the Christian bookstore several ministries were started to reach out to the Muslim and Christian communities with food, clothing and medicines. 

In talking with Pauline it was disturbing to hear that she had almost no support from the Christians in Gaza . People in her own church said that Rami brought on his death himself for wanting to help Muslims. It was only when she fled to Bethlehem that the Christians there told her how much they admired Rami.

Pauline and her sons returned to Gaza to be with her parents and siblings along with Rami’s family where she gave birth to her third child a baby girl.