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"What I’ll be doing as a mission worker is a continuation
of what I have been doing with my life for the past years,"
he says, "and it is also where my life goals are leading
as well. Working with peoples and groups to improve their communities
and living conditions is a calling for me. I believe that this
service is what the Lord has put in front of me at this time in
my life."
Hala echoes Chris’s enthusiasm. "I am very happy about
being part of mission service of the PC(USA) because I know that
I will be able to work with families who are suffering and in
need, and especially with children. Many children in the Middle
East are suffering due to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict and
the situation in Iraq. The suffering of the children makes the
entire family suffer. After working as a social worker for several
years in Bethlehem, I know how to deal with Arab families who
are in need."
The Doyles have made their home in Amman, Jordan, a city founded
by the Romans and inhabited since at least 3,000 BC. Jordan is
considered a hub or transportation and commerce in the Middle
East. It is also a country of biblical significance. Almost every
conqueror has passed through Jordan on their way to Jerusalem,
and it is considered as part of the land that God originally gave
to the Israelites, if they kept their covenant true.
Most Jordanians are Muslim, but there is also a well-rounded
Christian community as well. The majority of Christians are Creek
Orthodox, but there are also communities of Assyrian and Armenian
Orthodox, Catholic, Lutheran, and Episcopalian.
Jordan has a total population of about 5.2 million, but almost
two-third of them are Palestinian refugees who came after the
wars in 1948 and 1967. Jordan has a popular monarchy with an elected
parliament.
Since his graduation from college in 1992 Chris has lived most
of his life in Palestine. His most recent position, however, was
based in New York, where he was assistant director at the General
Board for Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church from
2000 to 2002. He was responsible to the director for Middle East,
North African, European and South Asian missions. From 1997 to
2000, he was the English administrator of Bethlehem Bible College
in Bethlehem, Palestine. He also worked as director of the Bethlehem
Education Center, which specializes in ESL night courses from
1999 to 2000. He was an English teacher at the Beit Jala Latin
Seminary from 1996 to 1999. He taught ESL at the Terra Sancta
Boys School in Bethlehem from 1994 to 1996.
Chris earned a bachelor of arts in history and education from
Friends World College in 1992. He attended graduate school in
English at Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
Hala served as director of Hope International for the West Bank
from 1999-2000. Hope International is a provider of social services
and a facilitator of small-scale economic development through
a micro-lending program. From 1991 to 1997 Hala was a social worker
for the Israeli Civil Authority, later the Palestinian Authority,
in Bethlehem, Palestine. From 1988 to 1991, she was a mobility
instructor and social worker at the Al-Ali’ School for the
Blind in Bethlehem, Palestine and the Ohio State School for the
Blind in Columbus, Ohio.
Hala has a bachelor’s degree in sociology and psychology
from Bethlehem University in Bethlehem, Palestine. She has a diploma
in mobility orientation for the blind from the German Christian
Blind Mission in Bethlehem, Palestine. She has also studied social
work and psychology at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Israel,
and has taken graduate courses in social work at Ohio State University
in Columbus, Ohio.
Chris and Hala are members of Sacred Heart Church in Palenville,
New York. They attend the Syrian Orthodox Church in Bethlehem,
Palestine. They are the parents of two boys, Nadiim and Adeeb.
Birthdays:
Chris - August 16
Hala - March 3
Nadiim - February 18, 1996
Adeeb - June 28, 1997 |
