To those of our members and supporters celebrating the Nativity of Christ today, the Order would like to wish each one of you a blessed and Merry Christmas. On this holy day, we have received “glad tidings of great joy,” as our brothers and sisters in Gaza have received some desperately-needed Christmas relief.
The Order received information this morning from our contacts in Jordan: the Royal Jordanian Air Force directly airdropped humanitarian aid and food supplies to the Christians and citizens besieged within the ancient walls of Saint Porphyrios Orthodox Church in Gaza City. Saint Porphyrios, which is the third oldest active Christian church in the world, has been surrounded in recent days by Israeli occupational forces.
According to the Order’s contacts, this mission was directly ordered by His Majesty King Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein of Jordan as a show of solidarity with the Arab Christian community in Gaza. The Order is also pleased to announce that our own first round of financial assistance to those afflicted at Saint Porphyrios has safely arrived in a bank account in Jordan reserved for our use to aid Archbishop Alexios and the Christians of Gaza when conditions on the ground are more stable.
As previously reported by the Order, the neighborhood where Saint Porphyrios Orthodox Church is located is 70% destroyed. Approximately 60% of all Orthodox Christian homes are completely leveled to the ground with nothing but a pile of rubble remaining, and the smell of the dead trapped in what remains of the buildings permeates the air around them.
The assistance provided by His Majesty is gladly welcomed by the Order, which was dropped last night Christmas Eve (new calendar). None of the previous humanitarian aid that has been allowed to cross into Gaza since the start of the war has made its way to Gaza City, and certainly none of it has reached Saint Porphyrios.
The Order is deeply grateful for the love and kindness shown by His Majesty King Abdulla II towards the Christians of Gaza, and those besieged at Saint Porphyrios Orthodox Church. In June members of the Order and I will be traveling to Jordan and Palestine to meet with Church leaders and officials regarding our work in Gaza and across the Middle East.
The Order remains committed to the community of Saint Porphyrios, to Archbishop Alexios of Tiberias, to the Christians of Gaza, to the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, and to all the Orthodox Christians who live and breathe across the Holy Land and Greater Middle East.
As head of the Order, I ask that you please continue in your support of our Christian brothers and sisters in the Holy Land, faithfully contributing financially to their needs through our fundraising campaign. Together we do make a difference! The Order will not stop raising funds for them until their homes, schools, and communities are restored. We will continue to do everything we can until they are all safe.
Your brother and co-servant in Christ
~Konstantine E.M.
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