'Christ at the Checkpoint' Conference Set

Bethlehem Bible College, tucked into the city in which Jesus Christ was born, is sponsoring its first-ever international conference in hopes of drawing more attention to the issue of what the Bible has to say about who owns the land in that embattled part of the world.

A striking image of what the college has to undergo and the challenges it has to face as it works to meet its mission of teaching students a biblical worldview is reflected in the photo accompanying the brochure promoting the conference, "Christ at the Checkpoint: Theology in the Service of Peace and Justice." The conference is set for March 12-17, 2010.

The photo shows a weathered cement chapel structure, topped by a cross. In front of the building is a barbed-wire fence; nearby is a guard post on the wall that separates the West Bank from Israel. Although the school downplays the tensions it faces, the international seminar will strike right at the heart of the matter, says Rev. David Adams, pastor of a Christian Reformed Church in Wyoming, Mich., and the U.S. promotions director for the Bible college.

"The focus of the conference is what is the proper evangelical Christian understanding of land and of the people living on it," says Adams, "In the case of Israel and Palestine, it will address the proper biblical response to whose land is this after all. Land is the main conflict there. It is a major issue."

Geared for pastors, teachers, theologians, and others interested in a biblical response to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict over land, the conference will feature Tony Campolo, founder of the Evangelical Association for the Promotion of Education; Stephen Sizer, an author and speaker specializing in topics related to the land in Israel; and Brother Andrew, founder of “Open Doors,” an organization that gets Bibles into the hands of people living under oppression.

Also slated to speak is Gary Burge, a Wheaton College professor and author of "Land and the New Testament," as well as Lynne Hybels of Willow Creek Church. Hybels helped her husband, Bill, start the suburban Chicago mega-church. She is now involved with her church’s international partnerships with under-resourced communities. Walter Kaiser, Jr., former president of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in South Hamilton, Mass., will also speak, in addition to a range of other speakers and presenters of workshops. 

"The conference is an exciting indication that U.S. evangelicals are finally waking up to the plight of Palestinian Christians who suffer," says Peter VanderMeulen, director of the CRC's Office of Social Justice. When well-known "evangelicals and Pentecostals gather to confer publicly in Bethlehem—an occupied territory—under the title 'Christ at the Checkpoint: Theology in the Service of Peace and Justice' . . . well, that is cause for thanksgiving and hope.

"The fact that this conference is happening at the Bethlehem Bible College also reflects well on the CRC's choice of partners in this hurting place," says VanderMeulen.  "Thanks to the urging of and the connections made by CRC pastor David Adams, it was Bethlehem Bible College that welcomed and hosted the first CRC staff members to visit the West Bank in 2007."

Bethlehem Bible College offers a BA program in biblical studies and Christian education. It is accredited by the Palestinian Ministry for Higher Education and Middle East Association of Theological Education as a four-year college.

The college accepts students from all denominations. New students to the country are encouraged to participate in a program to learn about Arab culture, language, history, and aspirations. With their extension campuses in Gaza and Nazareth, BBC enrolls a total of 135 students.

"This conference is more than just a small beginning.  It signals that evangelicals, including the CRC, compelled by the integrity of the gospel, are now ready to publicly walk and talk justice and peace in the context of the Middle East," says VanderMeulen.

With the help of David Adams, VanderMeulen helped to organize a study group of 17 diverse CRC staff and members who visited Palestine and Israel in July 2007. The group wrote an extensive report along with recommendations to the CRC Board of Trustees. It can be accessed at Middle East Report.

In addition, the CRC has joined together with the Reformed Church in America to produce a DVD and pamphlet identifying and celebrating the many Christian communities in the Middle East. Information on this can be accessed at Christians in the Holy Land.

"This conference is an opportunity to learn firsthand about Palestinian Christians, whom I’ve come to admire and respect," says Adams.

For more information, visit the college's conference page.