Mennonite Weekly Review

Three schools with Mennonite roots continue to have a powerful influence in the conflicted Palestine-Israel region — and around the world.

Participants in a Pastoral Care and Conflict Resolution course at Bethlehem Bible College. From left are Mirna Zeineh, Grace Al-Zoughbi, Palmer Becker, Rula Haddad, Yusef Ijha, Manal Zarrouk and Nader Jarayseh. — Photo provided by MC Canada

More than 100 students graduated from these schools this year.

The schools, all in the West Bank, are Hebron Chris­tian School, Bethlehem Bible College and Hope School in Beit Jala, a sister village to Bethlehem.

“After the 1967 war, my parents sent me to the Mennonite school in Hebron,” said Jonathan Esawi, a graduate of Hebron Christian School. Esawi is now a pastor and an instructor at Bethlehem Bible College. “I lived in the boarding section for three years. At the school I was introduced to the Bible and to my personal faith in Jesus.”

In 1954, twin sisters Ida and Ada Stoltzfus, originally from Elverson, Pa., opened a Mennonite school in Hebron about 20 miles south of Jerusalem. They first established a home for orphans and impoverished children from surrounding villages.

An unlikely location for a Christian school, Hebron is mostly known as a place of conflict between Israeli settlers and the long-term local Muslim population, who consider Hebron a holy city. Resistance to Christianity is high in Hebron. Reportedly there is not a single resident Christian in Hebron nor any Christian congregation in this city of 200,000.

However, Hebron Christian School continues to radiate a positive witness in the community and beyond. More than 1,200 students have graduated since its inception. The alumni are scattered throughout the Holy Land and the world.

Principal Greg Doolittle said Hebron Christian School is still often referred to as “the Mennonite School.” Three hundred thirty students were enrolled this year.

In 1962 MCC workers opened Hope Mennonite School in a spacious building originally intended to be a hospital in Beit Jala. This school gained a wide and positive reputation for its emphasis on commerce, ethics and peace.

In 2009 more than 100 students attended the preparatory school, with 28 graduating. More than 600 Palestinian youth have received their high school diplomas from Hope.