Hope in the Holy Land

There are at least 800000 displaced children in Gaza at the time of writing this. Many are orphaned and many have suffered physical harm through malnutrition or injury. Most have suffered psychological harm from prolonged periods of bombardment, injury and death of family members and fear induced by regular displacement. Their recovery has been hindered by the destruction of schools and health fac...

In this episode I speak with two 17-year-olds from Texas. They started a non profit called Hope For The Holy Land that's changing how Christians in America see the Middle East. Nick Glover and Nick Joseph explain how their organisation provides material help to communities in Gaza but also across the whole region while telling the stories of Middle Eastern Christians. It started with two friends o...

Christians of the Nakba – Dbayeh Refugee Camp "On a hillside north of Beirut, overlooking the highway that runs towards Tripoli, stands one of the less familiar legacies of the Palestinian Nakba. Dbayeh is unusual among Lebanon's Palestinian refugee camps: it was established principally for Christian Palestinians driven from their homes during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war..." For more about Palestini...

A Palestinian Christian tour guide, Salwa Mussulam shares her family’s history, her deep connection to Bethlehem, and how war and the collapse in tourism have affected local families and livelihoods. Raised in Colombia and back in Bethlehem by the age of seven, Salwa speaks about the challenges facing the city’s Christian community, the impact of lost tourism on guides and small businesses, and wh...

This is an amazing episode. My conversation with Ahmad Riziq was both challenging and inspiring. He is the twenty-nine year old founder and CEO of Gaza Great Minds Foundation. This is an initiative created following the destruction of education facilities in Gaza over the last three years. Through GGM, some children in Gaza are able to access education and essential psychological support. Ahmad te...

In this conversation, I speak with Father Firas Khoury - a Greek Melkite Catholic Priest in Zababdeh in the northern West Bank. We speak about life for Christians in Palestine, the local economy, and the urgent need for peace, justice, and practical support. Donate here: https://buymeacoffee.com/eringrimm Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melkite2024 ... Key topics covered Father Firas introduc...

This is the story of the world's oldest Christian community - and what may be the last generation of a 2000 year history in the land of the Resurrection. Join us to support the vulnerable communities of the West Bank, Jerusalem and Gaza. www.pilgrimsofhope.co.uk

In episode 7 of the Hope in the Holy Land podcast, I speak with Usama Nicola - tour guide and peace activist from Bethlehem. This episode is notable for its emphasis on the doctrine of the Incarnation and its unique relevance to the Palestinian Christian pursuit of justice and peace. As always, it was a pleasure to speak with Usama Nicola. Please subscribe to his Patreon page for his regular "Upda...

Between the Lion and the Stork you'll find the gypsies of Bab Hutta... Amoun Sleem was born and raised in this neighbourhood, and she lives there to this day with the families of her five brothers and four sisters. When I first met Amoun in January 2025, it was four miles north of Bab Hutta in the district of Shuafat at the “Domari Society of Gypsies in Jerusalem.” In the following interview she d...

In this episode I speak to Amir Tamer - a twenty-one year old man from Gaza. We speak about his childhood, the current reality and how he sees the future for himself and the children of his neighbourhood, Al-Deraj, where the local school was bombed in 2024. This was an incredibly poignant conversation. It made me recall the year I started University and my own daughter starting her undergraduate s...

This is an audio recording of a blog post that was first written about the children of Holy Family Catholic Church in Gaza City who made their First Holy Communion in 2024. It is also a reflection on the conditions prevailing in Gaza today and the effect 1000 days of conflict is likely to have on a generation of children.

Father Gabriel Romanelli is the parish priest of Holy Family Catholic Church in Gaza City. He posts daily updates in Spanish about the parish and the wider community of Gaza on his YouTube channel. I have translated some of these broadcasts as blog posts. I would advise everyone to follow his broadcasts and posts. His is a unique and inspiring voice from the heart of Gaza City. His words are a cha...

In episode 4 of the Hope in the Holy Land podcast, I speak to Fr. Sandro Tomašević. A Franciscan friar and parish priest at St. Catherine’s Latin Church in Bethlehem. He is also the director of the Franciscan Boys Home and works with Catholic Action Bethlehem. We talk about each of these roles and about faith in action in the Holy Land, today. Franciscan Boys Home Catholic Action Bethlehem Francis...

This is a bonus episode featuring an interview between Paul Calvert of Radio Hayah and Mike O'Brien form Pilgrims of Hope for the Holy Land. It explains the grassroots nature of the movement and how it began in late 2024 with a prayer service in Liverpool. Mike shares his reasons for travelling to the Holy Land before the "ceasefire" of 2025. He and Paul discuss the importance of pilgrimage as a j...

We continue our "Palestinian Voices" series by speaking with Michael Jackaman, a tour guide and web designer from Bethlehem, about his life in the West Bank. He speaks about the reasons for large scale emigration from Bethlehem and the wider region, the source of his own resilience, and the hope he has for his children. He also describes what people in the UK, US and Europe can do to support these...

This is the first episode of our Hope in the Holy Land Podcast. In this series we hear from members of the Palestinian Christian community in Jerusalem and the West Bank about their life, the land and the challenges they face. As well as their hope for the future and the role of Western Christians in promoting justice and peace. As this is my first foray into podcasting, the edit is pretty amateur...