Paul Calvert spoke with Simon Azazian

Simon: There are different aspects to what the Palestinians are being brought up in. First you have a corrupt Palestinian Authority; you have a brutal Israeli occupation and you have the militant Islamic part of the struggle. Imagine how people are being brought up in this land!

The believers themselves have their own struggles. They struggle with self identity; with their Muslim neighbours; with the Israeli's and the Jews. This all makes the life of Palestinian Christians quite difficult. I thank God that the situation of Christians in this land is quite well comparing it to the Arab world and what others are facing.

Paul: Do you minister to children as well?

Simon: We do minister to children in co-ordination with the Minister of Education. We have the chance to teach in a number of schools; especially in the area of Ramallah. We also work with different non governmental organisations working with children and especially disabled children. We have lots of chances to minister to the ones who have mental and psychological challenges by integrating them with normal children. This is really a good chance, because we believe that Christ said, "Let the children come to me" and, "It's for those the Kingdom of Heaven". We teach them about love. For many of them this is a new message, that God loves them. This is a different message to the one they're hearing on a day to day basis, which is go and blow yourself up and become a martyr and all of those messages of hatred.

Paul: Are these Governmental schools, particularly Muslim schools that you are able to get into and help and encourage?

Simon: Yes we are talking about Governmental and public schools as well. A majority of the students are Muslims. We do a lot of community development work, especially from a programme called SET, which is Social, Emotional Training. It's adopted from Sweden. It's a full curriculum, teaching social workers and certain teachers and schools on how to develop their education in a way to concentrate on emotions and feelings.

Paul: When you do humanitarian work, how do people respond to that?

Simon: Our bookshop was exploded two times in 2006 and then our colleague Rami Ayyad was killed in 2007 by militant fanatic Islamists. This made us leave the Gaza Strip, but we have never left the people. We continued to supply relief packages and humanitarian aid to around 2000 families.

Just during the last year we received a phone call from this guy and he said, "I just want to know, after your bookshop was exploded and after your colleague was left brutally murdered in the streets and after your families were kicked out of the Gaza Strip, why do you continue helping us?" This question says a lot, because people are wondering why we continue to love them. Why do we continue to share their worries and their burdens? This also emphasises that Palestinian Christians are a part of this culture and we are brought up in a Muslim culture. The way we talk and many of our cultural habits are Muslim because we are brought up in this culture, but we continue to share the light of Christ.

Paul: You are living in a land that is divided between Palestinians and Israelis. Is it easy to bring both groups together? Do you have any stories about coming together?

Simon: There is a huge wall that is built up all across the land. It's dividing the land to make it look like a piece of Swiss cheese where Israel has all the cheese and Palestinians are really living in the holes. It's like little ghettos. However the Palestinian Bible Society works together with the Israeli Bible Society and the Arab Israeli Bible Society against this trend of separation. We have started to work together on bringing programmes and joint initiatives to the community. It is still quite new, but we totally believe in the power of it. On the major community level it is really hard to do that, but we believe that on the micro level of people who have tasted Christ and people who are believers, we can really come together in unity. Soon there will be a release of some work called 'Rami and Ami'; Rami gives the story of Rami Ayyad who was murdered for his faith and Ami who is a messianic believer from Ariel. One day the Orthodox Jews placed a bomb outside his house and he almost died recovering from these wounds. When you share these stories about people sharing the same faith, then there is no longer a Palestinian or a Jew, but just believers in Christ and it gives such a powerful testimony.

Paul: What about you Simon? What's your story?

Simon: At the age of 15, I was a recent believer. I am originally Armenian Orthodox, but I met Christ in the Baptist church at the age of 13. I understood there is a direct relationship with God and we can easily connect with Jesus through day to day prayers. At the age of 15 I joined a summer camp that brought together Israelis and Palestinians and in my room I had an Israeli guy who was 19 years old. He was four years older than me and one night while I was praying he stopped me and said, "What are you doing"? I said, "I am praying". He said, "This is nonsense" and I asked, "What do you mean"? He said, "There is no God". This is what the majority of Jewish guys believe at that age. I told him, "No this is impossible you know I truly believe in God". We had a little discussion and then he said to me, "If God gives me one sign that he exists then I will believe in him". For two weeks every night on my bed I just prayed for this young man. I was so simple in my faith. I was praying, "Please Lord turn his water into wine or multiply his food"; but nothing happened. On the last day I remember getting on the bus and sitting in the back and could not even look him in the eye and say goodbye, but he walked up to me and he came and gave me a hug and he whispered in my ear, "Simon you were the sign from God". That message was so powerful it gave me goosebumps. It totally revolutionised my way of thinking and knowing how God works in mysterious ways above our thinking. From that time I really care about people whatever their background is; whether they are Israeli or Jews or Muslims, God's love is for everybody and it comes with abundance.

Paul: You are working in a predominantly Muslim area. Are there Muslims coming to faith and do you have any stories of Muslims coming to know Jesus as their Lord and Saviour?