02/03/2026
I’m writing from Nazareth today with a burdened heart.
When we founded the Nazareth Center for Peace Studies, we carried a stubborn kind of hope, the kind that doesn't need good news to survive.
We still carry it. But it's getting heavier.
This is the third consecutive year our region has lived under the shadow of war: the devastating war in Gaza and the ongoing violence in the West Bank, the war with Hezbollah in Lebanon, and later with Iran. And now, once again, another war that feels like it’s pulling in the whole Middle East.
Each time, the same pattern: immense human suffering. Hundreds of missiles falling on homes and neighborhoods, lives lost, families displaced, destruction and trauma that linger long after the sirens stop. Schools close, flights are canceled, and church gatherings stop. Those who have shelters stay close to them. Many don't, and they are not safe.
There's a particular exhaustion that sets in when crisis stops being an interruption and becomes routine. The fear and uncertainty don't disappear; they settle in quietly, like something permanent.
Somewhere along the way, I gave up optimism. Not faith, but the easy hopefulness that assumes things will improve because they should. What keeps us going is something more stubborn. We work from Nazareth, where Jesus grew up, walked, and served. We try, however imperfectly, to follow in His footsteps. On the hard days, we trust that He walks with us, that faithfulness endures even without visible fruit, and that our sovereign God is at work in what we cannot see.
To be present in places of pain is not nothing. Peacebuilding is worth doing even when peace doesn't come.
I’m not writing this to sound resilient. I’m writing because I want you to know that your prayers, your messages, and your solidarity from wherever you are reach us.
Please pray with us:
• For protection over people on all sides of these conflicts
• For comfort for grieving families and healing for the wounded
• For wisdom and restraint for those whose decisions affect millions of lives
• For this land that it would one day be known for something other than conflict
• For our ministry, as we continue to serve and work in these painful days
• That even now, in this darkness, seeds of peace are taking root
In stubborn hope,
Rula
Rula Khoury Mansour, PhD
Founder and Director
Nazareth Center for Peace Studies
