Friday Breakout Sessions

November 6

  • A Brief History of Palestine-Israel with a Palestinian pastor

    Led by : Alex Awad, Palestinian pastor and missionary

    Location: Classroom 5

    How did we arrive at the devastation unfolding in Gaza today? In this session, Rev. Dr. Alex Awad traces the history of Palestine from the rise of the Zionist movement in the late 19th century to the present day. Drawing on historical records and his own experience as a Palestinian Christian, he will examine the movement’s goals for the land, the repeated displacement of Palestinians, and the key turning points that have shaped the region over more than a century.

    The presentation will also explore the factors that led to the events of October 7, 2023, and the war and genocide that followed, helping participants understand today’s headlines in their broader historical context. A time of questions and discussion will follow.

  • Film Screening & Panel: Last Christian in Bethlehem

    With filmmakers Robert Leavering and Stephen Talbot

    Last Christian in Bethlehem is a new 64-minute documentary that gives voice to the often overlooked community of Palestinian Christians, who have existed in the Holy Land since the earliest days of Christianity. Today, in the West Bank, isolated and besieged by settlers and the Israeli military, Palestine’s 50,000 remaining Christians fear they will be driven from their homeland. After the horror and destruction in Gaza, they ask, “Are we next?”

    Filmed in the West Bank and East Jerusalem in late 2025, the film shows an ecumenical olive harvest, a Christian family struggling to defend their land against settler attacks, and a Christmas celebration in Nativity Square. Palestinian Christians in the film stress their commitment to nonviolence and creative resistance to the occupation, while making an urgent appeal for international understanding and support before it is too late.

    The screening will be followed by a panel discussion with the filmmakers.

  • Sustaining Humanitarian Action in Gaza and the West Bank: Answering the Call

    Led by: Jason Terry , Vice President of Programs, UNRWA USA

    Location: Multipurpose Auditorium

    This session begins with an introduction to the work of UNRWA, the largest humanitarian actor in the occupied Palestinian territories. From there, we take a look at how over 200,000 grassroots individuals from North America and beyond have joined together to sustain that vital work, generating over tens of millions of dollars in humanitarian aid support since October 2023, and thereby touching hundreds of thousands of lives. We’ll look beyond the headlines to learn about the impact of three years of military, settler, and economic violence on children in the context of their education, health, and mental health. Finally, we examine how Quaker testimonies and core beliefs – especially the concept that there is “that of God” in everyone – calls out to the speaker and sustains their work. Our time together will be part technical, part heartbreaking, and part uplifting, as we examine how small actions, often taken in faith, can affect the lives of people facing constant trauma.

  • Bible Study: Reading Scripture Along the Road to Emmaus

    Led by: Hatem El-Sayegh, Palestinian American deacon and engineer

    Location: Pavillion (outside)

    On the road to Emmaus, the risen Jesus walked alongside two grieving disciples and opened the Scriptures to them, showing how all of it pointed to him. What might it look like to read the Bible that way today, especially the passages we find hardest to understand?

    In this Bible study, Palestinian-American deacon [Name] invites participants to wrestle together with some of Scripture most used to justify injustice and persecution of the Palestinian people, even celebrating it as fulfillment of prophecy. We’ll read these verses as the Emmaus disciples learned to, through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Come ready to read, ask honest questions, and discover how Christ transforms the way we understand even the Bible.

  • Sip n'Stitch: Tatreez Embroidery Workshop

    Led by: Kendra Savusa, Palestinian-American and Georgia local (TBD)

    Location: Café

    Tatreez, the traditional cross-stitch embroidery of Palestine, has been passed down through generations of Palestinian women for centuries. Its colors and motifs once told where a woman came from, and today it remains a vibrant expression of identity, memory and resilience.

    In this hands-on workshop, Palestinian-American artist Kendra Savusa will open with a brief presentation on the history and meaning of tatreez, from regional patterns to its role in preserving Palestinian culture today. Participants will then learn basic stitches and begin a small piece of their own. No experience is needed, and all materials will be provided.

Saturday Breakout Sessions

November 7

  • From Implication to Action: What do we do now?

    Led by: Greg Khalil, Co-Founder of the Telos Group; and Lydia El-Sayegh, peacebuilder and BIPJ Fellow

    Location: Multipurpose Auditorium

    So what do we do? This interactive workshop will equip participants with frameworks, language, and relationships to take consequential action when they return home. Led by Telos alongside Lydia Sayegh, we will walk away from this workshop with clarity on what tailored steps we can take, both individually and together, to meaningfully confront injustice in Palestine while working toward a world in which everyone can flourish.

  • Faith, Law and the Future: Thinking Christianly About Palestine-Israel After Elections

    Led by: Jonathan Kuttab, Palestinian-American attorney & human rights lawyer

    Location: Main Hall

    How should followers of Jesus think about the political realities unfolding in Palestine/Israel, especially in the wake of the recent elections? In this session, Palestinian human rights lawyer Jonathan Kuttab offers a Christ-centered framework for understanding where things stand today and where they may be heading. Drawing on decades of legal and peacemaking work, he’ll explore how Christians can engage these questions with faithfulness, courage and hope. Participants will also have the chance to bring their own questions to the conversation.

  • Bending The Arc: Kingian Nonviolence from Atlanta to Palestine

    Led by: Steve Schallert, Director of Storytelling at St. Stephen’s University

    Location: Classroom 5

    A practical workshop seeking to cultivate agency amid despair by exposing participants to the philosophy and praxis of Kingian Nonviolent Conflict Transformation. Together we will briefly explore the six principles and six steps of Kingian Nonviolence. So, if you find yourself asking, "what in the world can I do amid all this violence & injustice?" May this workshop serve as a roadmap.

  • Beyond Good Intentions: Building Better Partnerships with Holy Land Churches

    Led by: Matt Nance, Executive Director of the Christian HolyLand Foundation

    Location: Office (above Cafe)

    American evangelical churches may approach ministry in the Holy Land with sincere intentions, generous resources, and a desire to help. Yet even well-meaning partnerships can unintentionally become paternalistic, short-term, or disconnected from the priorities of local churches. Drawing on doctoral research into relationships between Western missionaries and local churches in Jordan, as well as years of ministry experience in the region, this workshop will explore how churches can build healthier, more mutual relationships with Christian communities in the Holy Land. Participants will consider the role of listening, trust, power, local leadership, and long-term presence in cross-cultural ministry. Special attention will be given to church partnerships, financial support, ministry projects, and short-term visits. The goal is not simply to help Western churches “do ministry better,” but to encourage relationships in which local Christians are respected as leaders, partners, and fellow members of the global body of Christ.

Back to Main Program

Meet OUR Breakout speakers

  • Alex Awad

    Palestinian missionary and former Dean of Students and Director of Shepherd’s Society at Bethlehem Bible College

    Rev. Alex Awad is a Palestinian Christian pastor, educator, and author born in Jerusalem. He earned his B.A. from Lee University, completed his Master of Divinity (M.Div.) at Asbury Theological Seminary, and later received his PHD from Bethlehem Bible College.

    Rev. Awad served for decades as a pastor in East Jerusalem and professor at Bethlehem Bible College, where he taught theology, missions, and peacemaking. He also directed the Bethlehem Bible College’s Shepherd Society, providing humanitarian support to vulnerable Palestinian families.

    Now Rev. Awad is based in Eugene, Oregon with his wife Brenda. The Awads have three children and three grandchildren. Awad continues to write, teach, and speak internationally on issues of faith, justice, and the lived experience of the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

  • Hatem El-Sayegh

    Palestinian American deacon and engineer

    Hatem El-Sayegh is a Palestinian American Professional Environmental Engineer. Ph.D. from Duke University. Deacon and Life Group teacher at Peachtree Corners Baptist Church. Interested in cross cultural communication and bringing people closer to Jesus through better understanding the bible.

  • Lydia El-Sayegh

    Palestinian American peacebuilder and BIPJ Fellow

    Lydia El-Sayegh is a biomedical engineer and an advocate against war, genocide, and militarism. She is Palestinian-American with a Christian faith that moves her activism, writing, and daily life. She is studying a Master of Arts in Peace and Justice at St. Stephen’s University. With all the partners she can find, Lydia hopes to build a world where her younger siblings, her community in Palestine, and her global community all experience justice, equity, redemption, and peace.

  • Gregory Khalil

    Palestinian American Co-founder of The Telos Group

    Greg Khalil co-founded Telos in 2009, which forms and activates peacemakers for a more just world. Through Telos, Greg has helped engage thousands of American leaders and their communities on Palestine through a lens of human dignity and human rights. Greg was also an adjunct professor at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism from 2019-2025. Prior to founding Telos, Greg was a legal and communications adviser to Palestinian negotiators. Although Greg is currently based in New York City, most of his extended family still lives in Beit Sahour, Palestine.

  • Jonathan Kuttab

    Palestinian American attorney and human rights lawyer

    Jonathan Kuttab is a co-founder of the Palestinian human rights group Al-Haq and co-founder of Nonviolence International. A well-known international human rights attorney, Jonathan practices in the US, Palestine and Israel. He serves on the Board of Bethlehem Bible College and is President of the Board of Holy Land Trust. Jonathan was the head of the Legal Committee negotiating the Cairo Agreement of 1994 between Israel and the PLO. After graduating with his Doctor of Jurisprudence (JD) from Virginia Law School, and practicing a couple years on Wall Street, Jonathan returned home to Palestine. Jonathan was visiting scholar at Osgoode Law School at York University in Toronto in the Fall of 2017, and is a founding director of Just Peace Advocates Mouvement pour une Paix Juste, a Canadian based international law human rights not-for-profit organization. Jonathan is currently the executive director of Friends of Sabeel North America (FOSNA).

    Jonathan is a resident of East Jerusalem, and is a partner of Kuttab, Khoury and Hanna Law Firm in East Jerusalem.

    Jonathan Kuttab’s articles have appeared in the Middle East Institute, Arab News, Arab Center Washington DC, Al Jazeera, the Electronic Intifada, and others.

    Jonathan provides analysis regarding International Law & Human Rights, understanding the facts on the ground, what options are possible beyond a two state solution, Christian Zionism.

  • Matt Nance

    Executive Director, Christian HolyLand Foundation

    Matt Nance is Executive Director of the Christian HolyLand Foundation, a nonprofit serving and strengthening Christian communities across the Holy Land. He spent eight years living and working in Jordan, where he was involved in ministry and humanitarian response during the Syrian refugee crisis. Matt holds a PhD in Intercultural Studies from the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies (Oxford, UK), with research focused on relationships between Western missionaries and local churches in the Middle East. He also teaches intercultural studies at Johnson University (Knoxville, TN). Drawing on ministry, research, and long-term relationships across the region, Matt helps churches engage the Middle East with greater understanding, humility, and faithfulness to Christ.

  • Kendra Savusa

    American Palestinian based in the Southern United States.

    In the wake of October 7th, Kendra Savusa has dedicated herself to the urgent work of peacemaking and constructive dialogue, inviting American Christians to thoughtfully re-examine the theological and political foundations of Christian Zionism. She has also turned to art as a way to process grief, using watercolor painting to raise funds for Palestine and more recently exploring tatreez, traditional Palestinian embroidery, and its rich history and significance in Palestinian culture. Through empathy, creativity, and a commitment to shared humanity, she seeks to foster greater understanding and conversations about justice, peace, and the Holy Land.

  • Steve Schallert

    Director of Storytelling at St Stephen’s University

    Steve Schallert is a peacebuilder, organiser, educator and practitioner of Kingian-Nonviolent Conflict Transformation living and practicing in Cape Town, South Africa. Mentored by the Catholic Worker Movement and Plowshares tradition, for the past two decades Steve has helped develop and facilitate dozens of conflict transformation schools and projects in diverse conflict and post-conflict contexts such as Afghanistan, Egypt, Pakistan, Lebanon, and South Africa. His current passions centre on supporting and developing young peace and justice practitioners who are engaged in healing the walls of hostility within their communities.

    Locally, Steve serves as the Director of International Solidarity with Iziko Lamaqabane, a faith-based support centre for urban peace and justice practitioners throughout Africa. By working in relational solidarity with local practitioners, Iziko Lamaqabane serves those active at the site of struggle by facilitating spaces of retreat, exchange and collective learning grounded at the intersection of anabaptism, black liberation theology & critical consciousness.

  • Jason Terry

    Vice President of Programs, UNRWA USA

    Jason Terry is vice president of programs at UNRWA USA, a nonprofit that lifts up the voices, experiences, and humanity of Palestine refugees. Working in close collaboration with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), Jason oversees programs in education, healthcare, rights protection, and emergency response in all five fields of UNRWA operations. Since late 2023, UNRWA USA has mobilized over $115 million in grassroots support for UNRWA’s humanitarian work. Prior to joining UNRWA USA in 2022, Jason worked in international educational exchanges for 14 years. Outside work, Jason is a poet, writer, and worship leader at Friends Meeting of Washington (Quakers). Originally from Tennessee, Jason holds a bachelor’s degree from Guilford College and a master’s degree in international peace and conflict resolution from American University.