I think that is a deep concern. I read something like 20,000 have left over the past few years. That is a deep concern. I don't judge those people. Only when you are in a situation like that are you entitled to say that this is the reason I have taken these decisions.
I think that with all the problems of the world we sometimes get accustomed to the plight of the Christians of the Holy Land and I think there has been a neglect to pray for them. And I think there ought to be a greater focus on prayer for them. If you are going through a hard time, sometimes just to have the encouragement of a friend is enough to keep you at your post and enable you to persevere because you can say, 'I am not alone in this.' And I just hope that some of these dear Christian friends who have felt they can take no more have not felt neglected, and I sense from my own friends in Palestine that they do feel neglected, that other world events have detracted. I hope in the small world in which I live I will be able to focus my prayers on them.
In my church in Didcot, Oxfordshire, my pastor asked me to come up and they prayed for me before I set out. The Christian church worldwide is made up hundreds and thousands of tiny communities like the one I am part of and it is when those tiny communities see themselves as a mustard seed which, if it is planted into good soil, great fruit will come from it, and that is what I am hoping, that the vision will be taken up by small churches.
My grandchildren went to their school and each of their classes signed cards and I am taking those cards with me and there will be times when I will be meeting with children. Fifty per cent of the population is under the age of 15. That is a huge percentage of the population. I hope these little personal dimensions will bring joy to them because the suffering of feeling forgotten is a terrible suffering.
How do you think Christians here in the UK have taken to the situation facing Christians in Bethlehem? Do you think Christians here feel enough of a responsibility towards Christians in Bethlehem; are they active enough in supporting them?
I can't answer for all the Christians in the UK but I can speak from my own perspective and it was only knowing I was going and preparing myself for this journey that I realised it is already a very serious humanitarian crisis in Palestine, the whole of Gaza and the West Bank. Because of unemployment and the situation they are living in, it is a very critical situation. I think preparing myself for the journey has reminded me of that and it isn't a deliberate forgetfulness but more 'out of sight and out of mind'.
There is a film crew and there is definitely hope this will be shown on television in the New Year and that will enable a wider story to be told of the Christians in the Holy Land.
What message will you be bringing to Christian leaders in the Holy Land and members of the Christian community, particularly those who may be tempted to leave as so many have done already?
