Paul Calvert spoke with Simon Azazian

Simon Azazian works with the Palestinian Bible Society. Paul Calvert spent time with him to find out what it was like to work within the Palestinian Territories; what challenges the people faced there and whether Jesus was really appearing to Muslims in their dreams.

Paul: What is the Palestinian Bible Society?

Simon: The Palestinian Bible Society is a branch of the United Bible Society (UBS). It's scattered all over the world, but the headquarters is in England.

We are functioning in the Palestinian Territories, which are the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem. We serve the majority of Palestinian speakers in the Land.

Paul: When was the work started in Israel?

Simon: The work goes back to 1816 when two Norwegian men came with back packs filled with Bibles and established the beginning of the work here. It was given the name BFBS which is British and Foreign Bible Society. In 1992 the birth of the Palestinian Bible Society took place.

Paul: What projects do you run?

Simon: When you hear the name Bible Society you assume that it is Bibles being delivered to churches or Christian organisations. However, looking at the situation in the Palestinian Authority's areas and the conflict and all of the political issues that are taking place here, it's really hard to give a Bible to someone who is asking you for a loaf of bread. Our mission is to live and to give, serve and proclaim the word of God. This is done through a number of projects, especially community development projects; relief aid and children and youth programmes. We split our work on different areas of proficiency and we try to live out from there the message of the Bible.

Paul: This is a strong Muslim area. How do you share the gospel with Muslims?

Simon: First of all we believe we are the fifth gospel for many people who will never get the chance to read the Bible. The lives of us and the lives of our staff working with the PBS is a true testimony of God's love and God's care for our people.

We are part of this culture. To many of them it's the first time they meet Palestinian Christians; especially in the villages that are isolated by the separation wall. When we go to these villages and share the love and they know our names like George and Tony, these are Christian names and they wonder what we are there for and questions arise.

Paul: How many Palestinian Christians are there here?

Simon: Numbers are never clear because there has been no way to calculate the numbers. Sometimes the churches that have authority here will not give numbers out because they say the numbers are dropping down vastly. They are afraid that this will create a bigger threat to the existence of Christians, especially Palestinians in the land; so nobody talks about numbers these days.

Paul: What challenges are believers facing?