Today we want to say not goodbye, but until we meet again to our wonderful sister Marie, spiritual mother for more than 140 boys in our home in 15 years of service in our home. Today we thanked her and our Franciscan Missionaries of Mary (white sisters) for 113 years of serving in our city of Bethlehem. Sister Marie will continue to be present in our home, wherever she will be in the future, because her example and teaching will live in our boys in all 15 generations in serving in Franciscan Boys Home.

In occassion of 15 years of our home, father Marwan Daedes (previous director of the home) together with the presence of father Rami (also previous director of the home) and deacon George and father Sandro, the current director of our home celebrated the mass thanking the Lord for all the years of His presence in our home together with our honorable guests. 15th of September 2007 was the day of the foundation of Franciscan Boys Home, or La Casa Francescana del Fanciullo (Franciscan Home of the Child). We want to thank also for Franciscan Missionaries of Mary, sisters in which home we are living for the past years. Their mission in Bethlehem is over, hopefully temporary. Special thanks goes to sister Marie and sister Rabha, as well as all other sisters which helped us in serving our boys. In the end of the mass, we blessed the new cageball field, as well as the upper playground.

Yesterday, 1st of September our home celebrated the mass which was presided over by fra Sandro, director of the House of the Franciscan Boys in Bethlehem, for the boys of the House and their families, on the occasion of the beginning of the new school year 2022/2023 in Milk Grotto church. In addition to honoring Professor Munther Al-Masou and sister Marie Matar for her amazing 15 years serving in our home.

The Franciscan Boys Home concluded the annual summer camp of 2022 which was called Discover your country. There were several activities. The first one was reading the bible and praying together before starting the daily programme. Moreover, there were several outdoor visits such as visiting Saint George’s Church in Al Khader village, Saint Nicholas Church in Beit Jala, Solomon’s Pools, Nativity Church, Milk Grotto, and Shepherd Fields in Beit Sahour. There was a special visit to Nablus city in which we visited the Roman city of Sebastia. Moreover, there was a visit to the Dead Sea and staying in a villa for one night in Jericho. In addition to that, there was a visit to Batir. There were several activities such as swimming, sports, entertainment competitions and English conversation. We visited as well as part of our summer camp two institutions as part of volunteering – Crèche and The Hogar Niño Dios. They are both taking care of the children as well – Crèche for the children without parents, and Hogar for the handicap children. Our boys shared their experience visiting these institutions saying that they are maybe most of the time not aware of the grace they are living, despite the difficulties they are facing in everyday life. As well they shared how much this summer camp helped them to be prepared for the everyday difficulties that they are living in this city.

This summer camp we were supposed to visit several places in Galilee and churches of Jerusalem, but all the permissions to cross the checkpoint were revoked. Our children are still waiting for this opportunity to visit these places. It’s enough to tell that most of them never visited the church of the Resurrection or for example saw the Sea of Galilee where Jesus preached and lived. One of the goals of this summer camp was to repair this injustice, but we need to be patient until next year. This is why we went to several other places in the West Bank, including the church of the Jacob’s well in Nablus and Qalqilya zoo, the only zoo in the West Bank. This summer camp was a special opportunity for our boys to connect even more, living and sharing, especially in the morning when we were reading the Holy Bible and discussing how to apply what we heard to everyday life. 

At the end of the camp, there was a special visit from our Patriarch Pizzaballa to bless the participants and the workers and to share the experience of sharing with the others in this camp. Thanks to everyone who contributed to succeed this special camp either by supporting or by working in it.  

10th of May in SIRA school in Bethlehem (Swedish International Relief Association) one of our boys, Aram Ghawali just graduated and he will continue his education in Terra Santa school in Bethlehem. We wish to Aram blessings on his continuance of education in our family of Franciscan Boys Home.

The family of the Franciscan Boys Home in Bethlehem organized a special trip for the children and for their families in the Al-Shefa area in Al-Saras Farm. Moreover, they were introduced to the area and to the crops that the farm contained. For instance, some of the products were shown to them such as honey, molasses, wine, arak baladi and others. Then, they had a meal of Zarb, which is a traditional Palestinian food and they could see how was it made (below the soil). This trip strengthened the bond between the children and their families as well as with the Franciscan Boys Home. Thanks for everyone who participated in this special trip.

The family of the Franciscan Boys Home in Bethlehem in cooperation and coordination with the Palestinian Bible Society organized a special religious, historical and recreational visit to the family of the home, as part of the activities of the fortieth period and approaching the Holy Week. They went to the Mountain of Experience and read and contemplated the bible. Then, they visited Zakka’s house, and the Sycamore Tree in Jericho. Moreover, they visited the baptism site on the Jordan River reading and contemplating the bible. At the end of the day, there was a visit to the church of Deir Hijla – Saint Gerasimos. Then, the participants had special lunch together there spending a good time in a wonderful atmosphere. Many thanks to everyone who contributed to this special visit.

The family of the Franciscan Boys Home held a special mass for the end of the fortieth period of Easter for the parents, the workers, and for the residents which was chaired by Father Antonios Habib and Father Sandro. Moreover, the mass was held too on the conclusion of the indicative program “How parents deal with their children” which was held during the 2021/2022. It included a lot of social and psychological trainings with a spiritual touch. Many thanks to everyone who contributed to this precious program.

The family of the Franciscan Boys Home participated in the Egg Hunting activity which was organized by the Sabil Centre 1st of April at Mary Doty Garden in Bethlehem. Thanks for everyone who participated in this event.

The family of the Franciscan Boys Home in Bethlehem organized a religious, historical and recreational trip to the north of Palestine 18th of March, 2022. We began our trip with prayer and blessing with Father Sandro. The first destination was to Nazareth, the city of the Annunciation. We visited the Church of Annunciation and the Grotto with a brief explanation and a prayer. In addition to, we visited the nearby Church of Saint Joseph the Worker whose feast is the next day, on 19/3. We took a lunch in one of restaurants in Nazareth which was offered by Father Marwan and his community. After that, we went to Haifa and visited the Church of Our Lady of Carmel and enjoyed the beauty of the sea and rode the cable cars which led us down to the seashore in which we spent pleasant and beautiful hours at the sunset of this beautiful day and the most beautiful moments of overwhelming joy when we watched the smiles and laughs of our children who most of them had never seen the sea in their lives before. We came back to Bethlehem full of joy and happiness. We thank everyone who contributed to the success of this special trip.