Christian public library opens in Gaza
Gaza Baptist Church has opened a new building, partially subsidised by Open Doors, to be used as the only Christian public library and to enable the Christian community to witness in that hostile environment.Christian and non-Christian books can be borrowed from the large collection on the first two floors of the building.
About 250 people attended the opening, including some 30 international guests involved with the Christian community in Gaza. Several international guests were kept waiting until the last moment to be granted permission to enter Gaza as their permits were only valid if officials considered it safe enough for them to cross the checkpoint.
For many years Open Doors’ founder, Brother Andrew, has been closely involved in the ministry of this small church, which is the only evangelical church in a population of 1.5 million Palestinians located in the Gaza Strip. During the opening he said, “It’s great to take care of the Body, great to take care of their minds by giving them good books, but it is even better to take care of their souls and spread the Gospel of Jesus … to show them Jesus.”
In spite of the violent situation in Gaza, the church is focused on reaching out to fellow Palestinians. Last May when the building construction was still in process, the guard of the property was shot in crossfire. Almost every floor of the building was damaged by gunfire when warring Islamic parties entrenched themselves in and near to the building.
The six-storey building is more than a library. The third floor will be a community health care facility for women and will contain a mammography machine to assist with breast cancer research. The machine is only the third of its kind available to the 1.5 million people in Gaza.
Other floors will be used for outreach, to house guests and for worship until the opportunity comes to build a church.
www.opendoorsuk.org
