Below are sections of letters from Abuna Firas Boutros Khoury Diab, who is the pastor of St. George Melkite Greek Catholic Church in Zababdeh

Wed, 11 Aug 2004

Dear marhta:GOD bless you. thank you for all you are doing for the church.especialy in the holy land.
this night more than 30 young men ,comes behind the church,waiting for the israel soldiers to pass from the main street ,and when the car of the soilders pass ,they throw stones to it,empty thier hands, MY wife and my childrens were in the convent,I was outside.some classes of the church broke.my wife was very afraid,and my chilrens too.
I forgert to tell you,the young men were muslems.and they were throw stones from the church land in first intifada and the last three years.
this night was the first they throw stones from our land.
after 30 minites three israeli army cars come back,stand in the main street aginst the church. 10 minites they leave.
Iam afraid tommorow they will reture back to throw stones again.
this week I will clean the land from the big stones and bring a beldozer to build a wall ,in the east of the church,its the place they throw stones from. by the way I have to tell you if i was in the convent i will cant prevent them to not throwing stones,becuse they will think iam colborative[working] with the jewish.
pray for me and my family and my chucrch in the holy land.fr.firas khoury

Thu, 29 Jul 2004

Dear marth:thank you,GOD bless you. my prayers for all who love the church. I will remember you alwayes in my prayers, I dont you to wory but I have to tell you:this night at 11 oclok,I was at front of the convent working and taking care of my plants and trees I but in ,some unknown persons hide may be in the back of the convent shoot me :thanks GOD I did not heart ,but I understand the masege:they want me to stop working in the church and the convent1:to stop renwing the land in the convent becuse they use it a street and i stoped them.2:they dont want me to build a wall around the convent.
dont wory iam fine and very good,GOD protect me . I will keep continue working .
pray for me.fr.firas

Sun, 25 Jul 2004

Dear martha:thank you ,and GOOD bless you. I pray very hard for my church as you advise me to do.I know that GOD never leave me alone . Thank you very much for your trust,I know you trust me and becuse of that I will be and work to trust me more.I will call fr.elias shaqoure to aske his advise for the best way ,and the best work to do for the church . also i can send some pictures for you for every thing we work in the church or in the convent. fr.eliase he is my good friend and he can come to zababdeh to see and advise us what the best way to do. I have a question for you:are this donation from fr.james [holy cross melkite church]?becuse if this donation from him I want to write to him to thanks him in my name and my living stones name. thank you martha and GOD bless you. GOD know my church is the most need church between the churchs in the holy land .and I have many deficultes in my servise in north of the west bank/palestine. and GOD want me her not becuse iam very clever ,but GOD wants to rebuild the church and the convent . thank you agian ,pray for me ,and for my church,this church means to me my life. fr.firas khoury ---

Fri, 9 Jul 2004

... IN ZABABDEH I WORKE VERY HARD TRAYING TO HELP MY PEPOLE ,IN FACT THEY ARE IN BIG NEED TO HELP TO HAVE THIER DAILY BRED.I DONT EXPECT ANY THING FORM THE BISHOP. IAM THINKING TO SELL MY CAR ,SO I CAN BE MORE HELPFULL FOR MY COMUNITY,ESPECIALY I HAVE DIFICULTIES TO STOP SOME PERSONS IN MY CHURCH TO PRAY IN LATIN CHURCH [WHO COURGE THEM TO DO]BECUSE THEY HAVE SUPORTS FROM THAT CHURCH. I TRAY TO BUILD A WALL AROUND THE CHURCH THE LAST 6 MONTHS ,I FACE MANY BROBLEMS WITH THE PEPOLE LIVING AROUND THE CHURCH,THEY CLOSE THE WAY TO THE CHURCH AND TELL ME WE HAVE NO WAY TO PASS BECUSE ITS THIER LAND ... I WORKE IN ZABABDEH WITHOUT ANY SUPORT,SOME TIMES I WORKE IN MY HAND ,DONT THING I LOST HOPE,BECUSE I BELIVE IN GOD WORKING. ... ITS GOOD ADVISE THAT MY EMAIL ADRESS BE WITH THE LIVING STONES OF THE HOLY CROSS MELKITE CHURCH TO BE IN TOUCH BETWEEN MY PEPOLE WITH THEM.I COURGE ALSOO TO BE IN TOUCH WITH ANY CHURCH IN UITITED STATES.
... FR. FIRAS KHOURY

Wed, 31 Mar 2004

... I will send more pictures for you to see what hapened in 17 years the church and the convent wes closed.fr.firas

Wed, 24 Mar 2004

... i will send to you more pictures for donation page so you can see how is the situation very bad without any care from the mutrania the last 50 years ... why we need to continue renewing the church and build a wall around to protect the land
....fr.firas khoury

Thus, 4 Mar 2004

...in zababdeh we continue our work for the church now for water net for the church. our pishop didnt care for the smale church and smale living stones,so i have to work very hard to renew the convent[ we need a wall around the church to protect the land around the church from strangers coming to use the land ,and to protect the church from the thiefs]. we didnt have banches in the church ,our old banches from 90 years and its very old ,i throw them and i use plastic chairs. luturgical books for mass and others prayer we didnt have ,and we need them[i tell you the bishop is not care even for suport us in these books] becuse of the church needs iam very busy to work very hard for the church some of the works i do myself becuse i didnt have any suport....
fr.firas khoury

Thu, 26 Feb 2004

...NOW IN OUR CHURCH IN ZABABDEH WE ARE GOING TO BUILD THE NEW WALL AROUND THE CONVENT TO PROTECT THE LAND FROM THE STRANGER PEPOLE,WE WILL PUT YOUR NAME IN WITH THE PEPOLE WHO DONET [GIVE]TO BUILD THE WALL. IAM AFRAID WE DONT HAVE ENOUGH TO COMPLETE ALL ...

Fri, 9 Jan 2004

Subject: we are witneses for his born

DEAR FRIENDS ;the living stones in the holy land zababdeh melkite church are wishing for you merry christmas and happy new year.fr.firas khoury plese look for our website church;www.mliles.com/zababdeh