Paul Calvert spoke with Sari Zeidan from the Shepherd Society, about their medical and food programmes and family sponsorship.

Sari: We have the main programme, which is the medical programme in general. The people come to the Shepherd Society seeking help for surgery, for medicine, for hearing aids, or any related issues.

Firstly we open a file for the family and we talk a bit about the issue. Then we visit them in their homes. We know more about their life and we study the circumstances. After that we decide to help or not, related to the medical and economic circumstances.

Refugee visits

We provide food parcels for the very poor families during the year. At Christmas and Easter we provide food parcels and Christmas treats, 390 parcels and in Easter 190 parcels. Something we are doing new is we are also doing it at Ramadan. That is the Islamic feast, so we provide 50 to 70 parcels only for Muslims. At Christmas we give to Muslims too and also to Muslims at Easter, but in Ramadan we only give to Muslims because we believe that this is a blessing for them.

We also have family sponsorship. This is where a family from outside Bethlehem, or outside Palestine in general, sponsors a family from Bethlehem by paying them $50 per month. They continue for a year and can continue after the year by providing this $50 if they want to. Most of them continue every year to give this $50 for the same family, or they change for a new family. We decide which families we help because we go for the very poor families.

Paul: Are people able to be in contact with that family that they are helping?

Sari: Yes, by sending emails and letters. The sponsor family sends an email or a letter describing their family and if they have any specific thing to share with the family. The family in Bethlehem sends a letter to them. It's not only paying the $50, it's opening relations from family to family.

We have a micro finance project too. This is where someone has the ability to work and the will to work and the experience for sure, but he or she don't have the exact money to run the project. We study the case again and we study the circumstances. If we see that this is a success story and they have the ability and the will and the experience, then we go and buy the equipment for them. We don't give money, we give equipment, and we follow up with them for two years. After that we tell them that this is totally for you and it's a gift not a loan.

We also do mission trips to Jordan to serve amongst the Syrian and Iraqi refugees, by giving them food, blankets and anything they need through the churches there. We deal with two churches. One of them is at Mafraq and the other one is at Marka. Mafraq is on the border with Syria and Marka is the northern of Amman.

Finally, we have a branch in Gaza. We call it Emergency Branch. Any time they need something related to the medical, food, or anything, we have volunteers there who contact us. They say, "We need x, y, z, can you provide it?" We study the circumstances again, and if we can help with their needs then this is what we do in general.

Paul: Are there children in Bethlehem that go to sleep hungry at night?

Sari: It's hard to say they go hungry to sleep at night. No, I think people here, I don't know how to describe it, but people here care about each other. If we don't help each other there is a problem, because the culture says that we are here to help the others. If I am in a trouble my neighbour will help me, and the same if anything happens to my neighbour I will help. So this culture is like the neighbourhood and is a family too. That is what we say in general, so I don't think that they go to sleep hungry, but yes they are poor.

Paul: Why are you called the Shepherd Society?

Sari: We try to reflect Jesus Christ as much as we can. He was the Shepherd and He takes care of His sheep. So we try to take care of our society, the same as Jesus Christ did many years ago.

Paul: How important is it for people and churches in the West to help and support families here?