Hope Equals
Hope Equals is a network of missions activists, sponsored by Christian Reformed World Missions.
The name Hope Equals conveys the goal of bringing hope to Israelis and Palestinians--a common hope. Hope Equals also suggests a dynamic process of discovery involving Christians, Muslims and Jews. The name Hope Equals is an incomplete statement and also an unanswered question.
Contact: Mariano Avila (contact@hopeequals.org) 
Christians for Middle East Peace (CMEP)
CMEP is a coalition of 24 public policy offices of national churches and agencies - Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant. CMEP began its work in 1984 believing that the policy perspectives and experience in the Middle East of our member churches and organizations should be better known and directly influence U.S. foreign policy.
CMEP’s work is based on the understanding that sound and balanced U.S. policy is crucial to achieving and maintaining just and stable relationships in the Middle East. We support a comprehensive solution that will bring peace and justice to the region.
www.CMEP.org
www.peaceofjerusalem.org
Middle East Club - Calvin College
The Middle East Club is comprised of members who strive to gain a fuller understanding of the Middle East and its people. Club members will participate in field trips, service projects, film showings and discussions with guest speakers.
Contact: Bert de Vries (dvrb@calvin.edu)
Social Justice Club - Calvin Theological Seminary
Under the guidance of CRWM, the club will seek to raise awareness and do advocacy relating to the Arab/Israeli conflict.
Contact: Micah Schuurman (micah.schuurman@gmail.com)
Related Organizations
Mennonite Central Committee's Middle East advocacy grows out of 60 years of work in the region. Among MCC's advocacy concerns are:
- a just resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict which allows all to live in peace and security;
- refugee and displaced people's needs;
- religious freedoms;
- respect for human rights;
- disarmament;
- highlighting the voices of Iraqis as the U.S. withdraws troops and continues reconstruction;
- diplomacy to resolve differences between the U.S. and Iran.
Christian Peacemaking Teams is a major project of the MCC.
The Israel/Palestine Mission Network encourages congregations and presbytery mission committees, task groups and other entities, toward specific mission goals that will create currents of wider and deeper involvement with Israel/Palestine.
As our mandate calls for, we seek to demonstrate solidarity, educate about the facts on the ground, and change the conditions that erode the humanity of both Israelis and Palestinians, especially those who are living under occupation in East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza.
The Iraq Partnership Network continues the long history of Protestant activities that began in 1830 with European and American Christians living in the areas of the Ottoman Empire known as Mesopotamia. During the twentieth century Presbyterians, together wtih the Reformed Church in America and the United Church of Christ, cooperated in the United Mission in Iraq. The network's vision is to continue this tradition of cooperation with the RCA and UCC as we raise the voices of reformed churches to work toward God's just peace in Iraq.
The new Center for Middle Eastern Christianity is currently under construction at ETSC. The CMEC will be a valuable resource to students and others studying Christianity in the Middle East.
The Near East School of Theology (NEST) is an inter-confessional Protestant Seminary serving the evangelical churches of the Middle East. The primary purpose of the School is to train pastors and church workers for ministry in the churches and other evangelical organizations in the Middle East.
See their missionaries and projects in Egypt, Israel/Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, and Iraq.
Bethlehem Bible College trains an average of 80-100 students each year through Biblical Education and Christian Education programs. Another 30 students are trained annually in the college’s tour guiding and mass media programs. The College seeks to be a blessing to both Christians and Muslims, but especially seeks to strengthen the Christian presence in the Holy Land. At a time when the Holy Land is losing many Christians to emigration, it is crucial to build up the foundation of the church by training young leaders and encouraging them to minister in their own communities. Bethlehem Bible College students are future church leaders in the Holy Land.
Musalaha is an organization dedicated to bringing Israelis and Palestinians together and building relationships that lead to reconciliation. Palestinians and Israelis must build relationships in order to fight the hatred and dehumanization between their cultures.
Musalaha fulfills this vision through many different projects. These include desert encounters, social service projects, conferences, women’s activities, publishing, theological seminars, conflict-resolution seminars and camp experiences.
Sabeel seeks reconciliation between peoples of the Holy Land in a vision of peace based on principles for a just peace as defined in the Jerusalem Sabeel Document, which emphasizes from a moral, legal, and theological basis the urgency of ending U.S. support for Israel's illegal military occupation. See also http://www.fosna.org/content/mapcards for the dramatically changing map of Palestine since 1948.
Pilgrims of Ibillin is dedicated to supporting organizations and individuals committed to achieving peaceful coexistence and mutual respect among Muslim, Jewish, and Christian communities in the Holy Land.
Lead by world-renowned Palestinian archbishop Elias Chacour, Pilgrims of Ibillin focuses primarily on education, supporting programs and institutions where young people are given outstanding opportunities to study and grow as well-rounded leaders, grounded in a commitment to peacemaking and reconciliation.
Through a commitment to the principles of nonviolence, HLT seeks to develop spiritual, pragmatic and strategic approaches that will empower the Palestinian community to resist all forms of oppression, and engage this same community in making the Holy Land what it is supposed to be: a global model and pillar of understanding, respect, justice, equality and peaceful coexistence.
The Diyar Consortium is a group of Lutheran-based, ecumenically-oriented institutions serving the whole Palestinian community "from the womb to the tomb", with an emphasis on children, youth, women & elders. Focusing on community building, development and outreach, Diyar implements contextual and holistic programs that support the civic, cultural, psychosocial, physical, educational, and spiritual wellbeing of the community. Diyar is the umbrella organization to which the Dar al-Kalima Health and Wellness Center, the International Center of Bethlehem (Dar Annadwa), and Dar al- Kalima College belong.
Healing Children of Conflict heals families and communities by facilitating medical treatment for children seriously wounded in conflicts involving the United States, and thereby educates others about the root causes of those conflicts. By taking responsibility for healing children with traumatic injuries from war arsenal we seek to spread healing and reconciliation between one community, the war zone, to another—Grand Rapids and West Michigan.
As an Israeli human rights organization, B'Tselem acts primarily to change Israeli policy in the Occupied Territories and ensure that its government, which rules the Occupied Territories, protects the human rights of residents there and complies with its obligations under international law.
