The Terrible Plight of Christians in Gaza

How one pastor accomplished the impossible by bringing 23 tons of rice to the Christians in Gaza.

You can listen to me read this essay here:

One-time or recurring donations can be made at Ko-Fi

While what is happening to Christians in Gaza is terrible, there are inspiring stories to be told.

Like the New York pastor who accomplished the impossible by delivering 23 tons of rice to Christians in Gaza.

When I say that being a Christian means following Jesus, this is what I’m talking about. Being a Christian isn’t about belonging to a certain denomination or worshiping in a certain type of building. This doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate churches and recognize how important they are. But this goes deeper than that. It’s about obeying Jesus’ command to take up the cross and follow him, no matter what church you attend—or if you don’t attend any. It means being willing to go to the darkest places on earth, facing the most dangerous challenges, so that Jesus’ love and light can shine. It means putting differences aside, creating alliances where we learn unexpectedly from one another, forming strong bonds with brothers and sisters across boundaries.

One of my favorite verses on the topic of the “Body of Christ” is Colossians 3:14-16:

And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

Pastor Bill Devlin is the man who accomplished this impossible task.

Pastor Bill is the missions pastor at Infinity Bible Church in the Bronx, New York. According to Infinity Bible Church’s website:

PB is an international humanitarian and missionary pastor in some of the hardest places & war zones around the world. A combat decorated Vietnam veteran, he is the recipient of the Purple Heart, Combat Action medal and the Meritorious Unit Commendation-during his two years in Vietnam.

Pastor Devlin spends most of his life in the Middle East sharing God's Love, conducting humanitarian projects, helping to rescue girls from ISIS and working with Refugees/IDP's and Persecuted Peoples in countries like Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, Iraq, Kurdistan, Jordan, Turkey, Northern Sudan, Cuba, Sri Lanka and Gaza Strip.

PB heard about the rice from the leader of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem Hospitaller, who asked him if he could figure out a way to deliver it to Christians in Gaza. The rice had come from Thailand and was meant for the Holy Family Catholic Church and St. Porphyria Greek Orthodox Church in northern Gaza. Over 225 families have been sheltering within these churches since October 2023.

In order to accomplish this daunting task, PB brought Catholics, Evangelicals, Jews, and the IDF together. There were no theological arguments or accusations of ‘genocide’ or ‘apartheid’. Nor did they seek some personal benefit from doing it. They didn’t set up a fundraiser and demand millions of dollars. They didn’t line their own pockets. All they wanted was to get the job done.

Before I tell the story and in order to appreciate how hard it is to navigate all the roadblocks, let’s learn a little bit more about Gaza and what it means to be a Christians there, as well as in Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus.

GAZA

Gaza is considered the poorest area in “Palestine” and one of the most densely populated areas in the whole world with about 5,046 persons per sq. km, combined with a high level of unemployment. The highest population age group is under 15 years, or 50.3%. Not exactly what anyone would define as a ‘genocide’.

Social problems are enormous and mostly concealed because of strong family customs and social context, where individuals have no right to freedom of expression. You will not find people speaking out against Hamas in Gaza. If they do, they are tortured, imprisoned and killed. For that reason, it’s difficult to know how many people might rise up against Hamas, given the chance.

If we go by statistics, most people DO support Hamas. We saw them participating in the Oct 7th massacre. Nothing seems to have changed, as we now see them yelling their hatred of Jews and their loyalty to Hamas as they press in on the hostages being released in a series of sick propaganda displays.

CHRISTIANS IN GAZA

Christians represent 0.05% in this exclusively Muslim region. Religious and legal discrimination, desecration of holy sites, and social exclusion are behind the decline in the Christian population.

Before Hamas took over in Gaza, the Christian population was at 5,000. By October 7, 2023, there were a mere 1,017 Christians left. Since then, the community has suffered significant losses, with 33 deaths due to bombs, bullets and lack of medicine, and many more fleeing the area. (2)

CHRISTIANS IN BETHLEHEM

Here, we should take a little detour from Gaza to Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus, to get a greater sense of this tragedy.

In 1950, Bethlehem and the surrounding villages were 86% Christian. Since the Palestinian Authority took control, the Christian population has steadily dwindled. In 2017, only 10% of families in Bethlehem were Christians, but many have left since then, due to systemic socio-economic hardships and instability, discrimination, and harassment, including of Christian clergy, by Muslim Palestinians and the Islam-dominated Palestinian Authority.

Bethlehem also serves as an example of Christians undergoing forced conversion to Islam, a phenomenon that Gaza’s Bishop Alexios, warned of in 2016, when he said, "Christians who converted to Islam did so under threats and violence."

The suffering of the Christian population of Bethlehem due to Arab aggression is not new. The Palestinian Authority has always shown contempt for Christian holy sites, violently evicting monks and nuns from the Holy Trinity Monastery in Hebron in 1997, and using Christian churches, schools, and homes as military bases during the Intifada. In April 2002, PA forces took over the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem and held 40 Christian clergy and nuns as hostages for 39 days. (1)

Writing in Maariv in 2001, journalist Hanan Shlein explained why Palestinian Christians do not speak out about their situation:

“Out of fear for their safety, Christian spokesmen aren’t happy to be identified by name when they complain about the Muslims’ treatment of them... off the record they talk of harassment and terror tactics, mainly from the gangs of thugs who looted and plundered Christians and their property, under the protection of Palestinian security personnel.”

With that background let’s get back to the story of this rice as told in The Christian Post:

“The order [Sovereign Order of St. John in Jerusalem] paid for the cost of the rice and the packaging, and they also paid for the shipping. I think the total cost that a donor invested was around $35,000,” Devlin said. “I think the rice was about $27,000. And to ship it from Bangkok, Thailand, to Ashdod, Israel, was another $7,000.”

Devlin likened the task of delivering rice into Gaza to a scenario from “Mission Impossible.” When he contacted over 30 faith-based nonprofits and spoke to over 50 people within those organizations, each one turned him down.

“They said to me, ‘Pastor Devlin, it is absolutely impossible to get that rice from Ashdod into Gaza,’” he recalled. “‘It's an active war zone, and even if it gets in, it's going to be looted.’”

In response to objections from the nonprofit groups, Devlin recalled a Bible verse from Luke 18:27, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”

Devlin encountered roadblocks until last November, when he connected with the Rev. Franklin Graham's humanitarian relief organization, Samaritan’s Purse.

A representative from the Evangelical aid group told the pastor that the organization had a team present in Gaza since October 2023 to deliver humanitarian goods.

The relief organization already had contacts with the IDF and the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories. The COGAT is a unit within the IDF that monitors Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip.

With its connections, Samaritan’s Purse was able to vouch for Devlin, and the rice was delivered to Ashdod on Nov. 11, 2024. The pastor confirmed that, despite various people telling him it couldn't be done, the rice was successfully delivered to the two churches in Gaza.

“It was really a God thing,” he said. “Because 35 organizations and some 50 people within them, they said the rice will never get to the intended place. Well, guess what? The rice was delivered to the two churches untouched.”

I love this story of sheer persistence, no matter how many times they told PB no, he kept on going. And then, he found this team, that no doubt wants to remain anonymous, doing this incredible work inside Gaza, no fanfare, no accolades, facing death every day, just to do some good.

I found it really interesting to look at the various organizations that came together to make this impossible task possible.

Latin Patriarchate Holy Family Catholic Church in Gaza

In the video below Christian Palestinians attend Christmas Eve mass at Gaza City church one year ago.

The Latin Convent includes a Latin Patriarchate school with 300 students, a kindergarten for 50 children, the parish priest's house, and the Church of the Holy Family. There are also two Religious Sisters’ communities within the premises, who help in the parish activities and are responsible for two homes for children and elderly with disabilities. The Holy Family School in Gaza was built in 1974 by the Latin Patriarchate. It is considered the best school in Gaza, providing a high standard of education, cultural exchange, a Christian atmosphere, and provides religious instructions for Christian children. The school has about 657 students and, as everywhere in Gaza, it is overcrowded. The Rosary Sisters founded a school in 2000 and has more than 800 students today, 10% are Christians.

St. Porphyria Greek Orthodox Church in northern Gaza

This historic Byzantine church has been a place of Christian worship for over 1,500 years. It serves as evidence of the deep Christian history of the region. Today it belongs to the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem.

The vast majority of Christians in Israel are Palestinian Arabs, although they make up a small minority among Palestinians as a whole. Their status as a minority within a minority has been a source of significant difficulty for Arab Christians. Hamas has regularly targeted Palestinian Christians for discrimination, especially when they try to restrain public celebration of Christian holidays.

Sovereign Order of St John of Jerusalem Knights Hospitaller

Grand Master Fra' Jean "Parisot" de (la) Valette founder of the Order (1495-1648)

This organization has a 900-year history of service to the sick and the poor.

After the successful occupation of Jerusalem by the first Crusade, a group of knights discovered the hospice run by Brother Gerard in 1099. This hospice used very advanced techniques for the day. It kept clean facilities, each resident slept in an individual bed and food dishes were not shared, all of which led to a superior survival rate.

The group of knights joined in the hospice’s charitable works, thus strengthening what would evolve into the Sovereign Order of Saint.

The modern Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, Knights Hospitaller, is a Christian, chivalric, ecumenical and international community directly descended from the Hospitaller activities at the Hospice, founded before the turn of the 12th century by Amalfi merchants, for pilgrims in Jerusalem.

The Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT)

COGAT is responsible for implementing the civilian policy in Judea and Samaria and towards the Gaza Strip, in coordination and cooperation with officials from defense and government offices in various fields.

As part of the unit’s activities, it promotes humanitarian projects, the economic and infrastructure field; and among others, which are in cooperation with the international community to develop and improve the standard of living for Palestinians living in these regions.

The Coordination for Government Activities in the Territories School for Coordination and Liaison teaches the units soldiers and commanders in the following fields: Islam, government, English and Arabic, culture, history, and varying fields such as economy, citizenship and humanitarian issues. The School is run in coordination with the IDF and teaches the soldiers all the necessary challenges they may face.

Somehow, I don’t think Hamas has a counterpart to COGAT. I don’t think Hamas teaches its jihadists an understanding of Judaism, Jewish culture, history.

Watch this short video below of Christians worshiping in the only Catholic Church in the Gaza Strip while bombs explode around them.

Imagine how terrifying it must be to worship in this church. It’s in the darkest times that we find the courage to overcome our worst fears and thus grow stronger.

Evangelicals, Catholics, Greek Orthodox, Jews, COGAT, and the Israel Defense Forces came together to deliver this rice to the Christians in Gaza. But none of it would have happened if not for one man who refused to give up, despite everyone telling him that he should.

I reiterate, this is what it means to be a Christian. This is what it means to follow Jesus.

Nothing gets better by sitting on a chair, making fun of other people, cursing, spewing hatred in the most cowardly and vilest ways imaginable, which is what happens day after day on social media.

The world gets better by going out into it and doing something.

But doing something can often mean putting your career, your reputation, even your life at risk. Suddenly, the focus is on you, your head is above the crowd and there’s always someone wanting to chop it off.

Some of the girls in my writing class in Central Juvenile Hall, Los Angeles, 1996. They are wearing orange because they are HROs, facing the possibility of life sentences for serious crimes.

When I started InsideOUT Writers, teaching High Risk Offenders—youth accused of the most serious crimes—everyone, and I mean everyone, told me that I was crazy, naive, foolish. My friends, my family, even my own husband said, “You’re wasting your time on those monsters. They’ll just con you and you are naive enough to believe them. Why don’t you teach kids in proper schools that will appreciate it and that deserve it. Also, you can charge money.”

But the way I saw it; these were the youth who did deserve it. No one had ever listened to their stories, no one had ever sat down, looked them in the eyes and just let them speak. I found that when they were given the chance, the last thing they did was to lie about their lives.

Nobody paid any attention to what I was doing in the beginning, teaching a group of girls way off in the far corner of Central Juvenile Hall. But as more and more writers volunteered to teach, suddenly, it became “sexy”, as they say in Hollywood, and a lot of people started doing it. Yes, they cared about the stories, but they also cared about having something interesting to say at parties and how it might further their entertainment careers. This is what happens as soon as an organization gets some recognition, as soon as a bit of money starts flowing in. They say the trickiest time for a nonprofit is when it starts getting serious funding. I disagreed with the direction the organization took, at odds with the board and the other, far more powerful, founder. So, I moved on. I’m glad to say IOW had a strong foundation and survived and is still helping youth today.

I admire those who are able to work within the system, despite how hard it can be. Within any of the churches or organizations mentioned above there might be corruption and people rising to the top who are more interested in their own success than the wellbeing of those they are supposed to serve. But that’s how the world is. Fortunately, there are always those within organizations, usually further down the food chain, or outside of it all together, the ones in the trenches accomplishing the really important work, despite all the red tape, the jealousies and the drama.

While this is an inspiring story, I end on a sad note. Once the borders are opened in Gaza and people are allowed to leave, as it seems President Trump wants to have happen, will there be any Christians left in the land where Christianity was born over 2,000 years ago? Ask yourself if you would stay.

This is a question especially important for the Christian leaders. Pray for them because the courage it will take to stay will be beyond what any of us could ever even imagine, given how easy our lives are in comparison.