Baraka Bible Presbyterian Church is a

reformed Reform is beneficial change Reform may also refer to: Media * ''Reform'' (album), a 2011 album by Jane Zhang * Reform (band), a Swedish jazz fusion group * ''Reform'' (magazine), a Christian magazine *''Reforme'' ("Reforms"), initial name of the ...

and

fundamental Fundamental may refer to: * Foundation of reality * Fundamental frequency, as in music or phonetics, often referred to as simply a "fundamental" * Fundamentalism, the belief in, and usually the strict adherence to, the simple or "fundamental" idea ...

Bible Presbyterian church located in

Bethlehem Bethlehem (; ar, بيت لحم ; he, בֵּית לֶחֶם '' '') is a city in the central West Bank, Palestine, about south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000,Amara, 1999p. 18.Brynen, 2000p. 202. and it is the capital o ...

and Shepherd's Field. The first and only Bible Presbyterian Church in Israel, it is often attended by Pilgrims who visit the Holy Land. The sale of its original compound, Beit El Baraka, has been the subject of an international fraud case. The pastor is the Rev George Awad.

History

Baraka Bible Presbyterian Church was established in 1946 by Dr Thomas Alexander Lambi (1885–1954) of the

Independent Board for Presbyterian Foreign Missions The Independent Board for Presbyterian Foreign Missions (IBPFM) is a small Presbyterian mission organization, which early in its history became an approved agency of the Bible Presbyterian Church. Founded in 1933 by J. Gresham Machen, the IBPFM pla ...

of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. He and his wife established a

sanatorium A sanatorium (from Latin '' sānāre'' 'to heal, make healthy'), also sanitarium or sanitorium, are antiquated names for specialised hospitals, for the treatment of specific diseases, related ailments and convalescence. Sanatoriums are often ...

with 90 beds in Aroub, about south of Bethlehem. At the same time they built a church in the town and a church in

. The church adheres to the

Westminster Confession The Westminster Confession of Faith is a Reformed confession of faith. Drawn up by the 1646 Westminster Assembly as part of the Westminster Standards to be a confession of the Church of England, it became and remains the " subordinate standard" ...

and the

Apostles Creed The Apostles' Creed (Latin: ''Symbolum Apostolorum'' or ''Symbolum Apostolicum''), sometimes titled the Apostolic Creed or the Symbol of the Apostles, is a Christian creed or "symbol of faith". The creed most likely originated in 5th-century ...

. In 1954, the first service in the new building was conducted by Tabra Khalil, one of the local Arab elders. Recently, land was purchased for building a church center in Shepherd's Field Town. In 1985, the church's pastor the Rev George Habeeb Awad was ordained by the Bible-Presbyterian Church of Singapore.

Premises

The old church compound is made up of eight buildings built from Jerusalem yellow stone.

International fraud sale

Beit El Baraka operated first as a hospital and then as a pilgrim hostel from 1995. When this proved to be unsustainable, the property was sold. The Scandinavian Seamen Holy Land Enterprise, which claimed to be a church group based in

Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...

and pretended to be a Swedish company, was established in 2007 in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

. They claimed that their plan was to restore the church and revive it as a place of worship. Once purchased, the group registered the building with the Civil Administration and received all necessary approvals. Following this approval, the Swedish group announced its dissolution, with the church being its only asset. The sale was condemned by Swedish officials. An investigative report by Israeli newspaper ''

Haaretz ''Haaretz'' ( , originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , ) is an Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel, and is now published in both Hebrew and English in the Berliner f ...

'' in May alleged that an American millionaire,

Irving Moskowitz Irving Moskowitz (January 11, 1928 – June 16, 2016) was an American physician, businessman, and activist. His activism, in part, sought to create a Jewish majority in Palestinian Arab neighborhoods of East Jerusalem by purchasing land. Biogra ...

, purchased the site through a Swedish company in 2012 with the intention of turning it into a settlement outpost. Orthodox Archbishop Atallah Hanna was among a number of political and religious leaders who protested.

References

External links

Denominational website
{{Bible Presbyterianism Presbyterian denominations in Asia Buildings and structures in Bethlehem 1946 establishments in Palestine