Dear sisters and brothers,
Hundreds of angels were seen during this Advent Season in many congregations throughout Norway. People said that those angels have a head, a body and two wings. They were even able to touch them. Those angels were made out of glass, fragments of broken bottles thrown away or glass destroyed during the Israeli invasion of Bethlehem. Human hands picked them from among the rubble then assembled them together by some of the poorest of the poor in the Bethlehem region at the ICB art workshops. Ordered by the Christian Council of Norway to be sent to hundreds of congregations, those angels told all about “the hopes and fears of all the years” that people have in Bethlehem today. The broken glass pieces are a sign of the brokenness of our world, and it is also the reason for God to incarnate. Through His incarnation he brought the divine and the human back together, He picked what seems to be worthless and hopeless and transformed it into a beautiful and whole creation. It is this incarnation, which took place here in Bethlehem two thousand years ago, which gives us the strength to continue to look for broken lives and hopes and to transform them through art into angels, messengers of justice, peace and dignity. We would like to thank you for being our partners in this “mission impossible”. With God’s Spirit and your support and dedication you made this mission possible.
We wish you a joyful Christmas and a Blessed New Year.
Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb