There are some places that never quite leave you. For me, the Holy Land is one of them.
In my late teens, I had the joy of spending six months living and working on a kibbutz in the Galilee region of Israel. It was a remarkable experience that allowed me to travel widely across the country. We would hitchhike through the West Bank, visit Jerusalem and Jericho, and encounter people from many different backgrounds and traditions.
Looking back now, I realise what a privilege it was to experience such freedom of movement and to glimpse something of the extraordinary richness and complexity of the land where Jesus lived and ministered.
It breaks my heart to see the suffering, division and fear that have become such a defining part of life there today.
Faithful prayer
Like many of you, I have watched events unfold in recent years with a deep sense of grief. We have seen lives lost, families torn apart and communities devastated. The Holy Land, which has shaped the faith of Christians for two thousand years, has become a place where so many people now live with violence, uncertainty and loss.
As Christians, our first instinct is rightly to pray.
We pray because we believe God hears us. We pray because we know that Christ himself wept over Jerusalem and longed for peace. We pray because, when the needs of the world seem overwhelming, prayer reminds us that the world remains in God's hands.
But as I have prayed about the Holy Land, I have found myself asking another question. What does faithful prayer lead to?
Throughout the Gospels, Jesus' compassion is never passive. Time and again he sees, he is moved, and he acts. His love is expressed not only in words but in deeds.
As those who seek to follow him, we are called to ask ourselves how our own compassion finds expression in the way we live.
I wonder, when we pray for peace, are we also willing to become peacemakers? When we pray for justice, are we willing to support those who seek it? When we pray for those who suffer, are we prepared to stand alongside them in whatever ways are open to us?
None of us can solve a conflict as deep and complex as this. Yet none of us is called simply to turn away because the challenge feels too great.
Time to act
The Time to Act campaign has been shaped by the appeal of Palestinian Christians, who have asked the worldwide Church not simply to remember them in prayer, but also to respond in practical ways. I believe we should listen carefully when our brothers and sisters in Christ ask us not to forget them.
This campaign offers one way of responding to that invitation. It encourages Christians to continue praying, to learn more deeply about the realities facing those who live in the Holy Land, and to add their voice to others calling for a just and lasting peace.
Each of us must decide prayerfully how we respond. But I hope none of us will allow the enormity of the situation to persuade us that our response does not matter.
The Christian story is one of hope. Not because the world is always as it should be, but because God is faithful, even in the darkest places. That hope calls us to pray. It calls us to persevere. And it calls us to act.
My prayer is that, as we continue to pray for the Holy Land, God would give us ears that are willing to listen, minds that are ready to learn, and the courage to act where he calls us. May we each play our part in seeking justice, upholding the dignity of every person, and working for a just peace for all who call the Holy Land home.
With every blessing in Christ,
The Rt Revd Gavin Collins
Bishop of Dorchester
Add your name
Visit the Just Peace coalition website to sign the petition and join the growing movement of people committed to listening, learning, living differently and taking faithful action:
"Together with others, I hear the call of Palestinian Christians and stand alongside all those living and working for a just peace in Palestine and Israel. I will listen, learn, live, and act in ways that support justice, human dignity, and freedom for all who call the Holy Land home."