For years, friends of mine have been actively involved in ministry to and with Palestinians. Relationships they have forged and their understanding of the plight of Palestinians means they are personally devastated by the current crisis in Gaza. They too are outraged over the vicious October 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel and their horrifying atrocities against ordinary Israelis—men, women, children, even babies. They also grieve the estimated 200 hostages Hamas seized in this attack and are still holding—teenagers, young children and elderly people—and are praying for their safe release.

My friends are also grieving Israel’s retaliatory bombardment aimed at eradicating Hamas that is decimating Gaza and creating enormous collateral damage in the loss of innocent Palestinian citizens lives—men, women, children, even babies. Homes and entire communities are being destroyed. They know and love Palestinians, many who are Christians, but countless others others who are caught in the crossfire of a war they didn’t start and are helpless to end.

To help the rest of us understand both the Palestinian people and the ongoing conflict better, over the next 3 weeks, my friend, Rob Dalrymple of DetermineTruth, is hosting a series of livestreams (on YouTube and Facebook live). These livestreams will feature various Christian experts who are passionate about peace and justice between Israel and Palestine. They will help us understand more about this crisis and events leading up to it.

Eight livestreams are already scheduled; several more are in the works. Below are the links and a brief description for the first 3. The first one is already posted, with a second later today.

Rob will post updates on the DetermineTruth website daily to alert you of the next event and will also send out the links via email 2-3 livestreams at a time. He will also post these livestreams on his FaceBook account. These presentations will present a fuller understanding of the Palestinians’ and present information about the impact of this crisis on them that doesn’t always reach us or our church communities.

These friends of mine are passionate—as they should be. So buckle up and prepare to have your thinking challenged and expanded and your hope refueled in what God is doing through his image bearers to bring peace to this region. We all have a lot to learn.

Here are the first three livestreams:

#1 Into to the series: Rob Dalrymple, DetermineTruth Podcast Host—Tuesday, October 31 at 2:00 PST/5:00 EST

#2 Rob and Dr. Mae Cannon: Wed, November 1 at 8:00 EST/5:00 PST

In this livestream, Rob interviews Mae Cannon (PhD). Mae is the Executive Director of Churches for Middle East Peace. She is as deeply connected as anyone on the issue of Israel-Palestine. She is in regular communication with world leaders from the White House to Tel Aviv to Ramallah. This is a can’t miss interview. No one is better connected than Dr. Cannon. She speaks before the United Nations. She is in touch with the White House and other heads of state. And she is a really good person!

#3 Rob and Professor Bruce Fisk, Thurs, November 2

In this Livestream, Rob will interview Dr. Bruce Fisk. Dr. Fisk is a retired professor at Westmont College. He is the Senior Research Fellow for the Network of Evangelicals for the Middle East. This event will surely be informative and challenging.