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+1 301-951-9400
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| Silver Spring, MD 20916 | |
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1.9 miGlenmont
2.5 miTwinbrook
2.8 miWhite Flint
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Specialties
Greetings. The Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation (HCEF) invites you to join us in our efforts to preserve the Mother Church and her living stones, the indigenous Christians of the Holy Land.
Social, economic, and political concerns threaten the continued Christian presence in the Holy Land. Closures imposed on the community limit movement between Palestinian towns, making the transport of goods and people difficult. Food staples are scarce. Homes and land are often confiscated. Faced with the burden of finding work in a crippled economy and fearing for the safety of their loved ones, many Christian families are being forced to emigrate. The Christian population of the Holy Land, the living roots of the faith, has been reduced to a mere 2%, down from 18% in 1948.
HCEF is a nonprofit organization that works to preserve the Christian presence in the Holy Land by providing financial, moral, and spiritual support for the Christian community.
History
Established in 1999.
The Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation (HCEF) is a 501©(3) nonprofit organization founded by an ecumenical group of American Christians to preserve the Christian presence in the Holy Land. It began as a collaboration between Mr. Rateb Y. Rabie, a Palestinian American Christian, and Father Emil Salayta, a Jordanian priest serving in Palestine. They believed that if American Christians were told of the desperate situation of the Christians in the Holy Land, American Christians would reach out to help. They were right.
Very quickly, highly respected individuals expressed an interest in serving on the Board of Directors and/or Advisory Board for HCEF. Father Emil also organized a Holy Land Coordinating Committee to set up and supervise HCEF’s local projects. The two boards and the Holy Land Coordinating Committee are comprised of known, respected and active Holy Land community members (both lay and clergy) from the three Christian traditions — Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant.
Meet the Business Owner
Rateb R.
Business Owner
Sir Rabie, KCHS is co-founder and President of the Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation. He was born in Amman, Jordan to Palestinian parents. He came to the United States in 1976, became a citizen, and obtained a degree in business management. From 1981 to 1986, he was Director of Operations for Saudi Support Services, Ltd. In 1988, he moved to Washington, D.C. where he managed and owned several businesses. He is currently an international consultant for business development. Sir Rabie is a past national president and current board member of the Birzeit Society; Vice President and Treasure and Co-founder of the Institute for Health, Development, and Research in Palestine. He is committed to ameliorating living conditions in the Holy Land and preserving its Christian heritage, and is a Knight of the Holy Sepulchre and a Knight of Columbus.
