PILGRIM – A FRIENDSHIP FOR SOLIDARITY, DEMOCRACY AND HUMAN RIGHTS
Pilgrim is the name of special voyages we do for solidarity and justice, human rights and freedom, in the name of truth and love.
In a time when the geographic cradle of Christianity in the Middle East is cleansed of Christians, it is fearfully silent in the Western world. Few reach through with information about what is happening to our Christian brethren, and the purge continues in unreduced magnitude. This silent must be broken!
Elida is a small all-Christian organization that wishes to provide a stage for various voices to spread this important message and to help break this silence. We want to invite people and organizations that see what we see in the Middle East in order to show solidarity with our Christian brothers and sisters in raising this issue.
With these sails we also wish to emphasize the necessity of standing up against anti-Semitism, which we again see rising up in Sweden and other parts of the world. Unless we understand that anti-Semitism only changes its guise and behaves in different ways at different times, we will end up in the anti-Semitic currents of the 1930s. Sweden, as a country, has pledged never to forget, but we must also dare to act. When Jews no longer dare to stay in our country, we see it as our duty to speak out on their behalf.
Israel is the destination of our voyage as it is the only democracy in the Middle East where we are welcome with Elida. Surrounded by dictatorships, where human rights are incessantly violated, Israel shines like a beacon in the night. The Jewish state shows the way to an ethically sustainable society, where differences are allowed and accommodated in a united nation, despite the challenges it constantly faces.
Above all, this is the only country in the Middle East where the Christian minority currently isn’t declining in numbers, but is rather steadily growing. For 75 years democracy and justice has been the guiding light for forming the Israeli community.
Israel is also the land that God promised to Abraham, and its very existence is palpable proof of the steadfastness of God’s promises. When the modern state of Israel was established in 1948, God proved his faithfulness to His people – something every Christian should rejoice in, as it shows that God keeps his promises.
During the fall of 2023, we made our second Pilgrim voyage to Israel.
To read more about Pilgrim, click here.