GAZA STRIP (BP)—“A love offering from the Baptist Church in Gaza” proclaims the sign as Christian Mission to Gaza serves hot meals to both Christians and Muslims in the Gaza Strip, where people are starving to death.
Christian Mission to Gaza served about 2,000 hot meals July 24-26 in the name of Gaza Baptists, said Hanna Massad, who served as the church’s first Palestinian pastor before founding the nonprofit organization. But the meals only touch a small fraction of those in need.
Massad continues to hold online prayer services each Sunday with about 30 online connections, including members of Gaza Baptist Church and other Gazans, he told Baptist Press as he prepared to preach and teach at two Baptist churches in Texas July 27-29.
At least 63 people died of starvation in the Gaza Strip this month, the World Health Organization reported July 27, including 25 children and 38 adults, with 24 of the children under age 5. The bodies of the dead bore “clear signs of severe wasting,” the organization stated.
Malnutrition is spiraling out of control in Gaza, WHO reported, with more than 5,000 children under five seeking outpatient treatment for malnutrition in the first two weeks of July alone, about 20 percent suffering Severe Acute Malnutrition, the most life-threatening form.
In June, 6,500 children were admitted for treatment, the highest number recorded since October 2023, WHO reported.
The Christian Mission to Gaza meal distributions have managed to avoid the Israeli attacks WHO said killed 1,060 people and injured 7,200 others at food distribution sites in Gaza since May 27, including friends of the church community.
Massad tells of a friend whose 40-year-old nephew died while trying to retrieve food.
“I have a friend, my neighbor, he lost his nephew,” Massad said. “He went to get a bag of flour to feed his family, and he’d been shot, killed.”
The Israeli government, which had accused Hamas of fabricating news of a hunger crisis and starvation deaths, began food airdrops July 27 and announced tactical pauses in attacks on three highly populated areas of Gaza for 10 hours daily to allow food distributions, the Associated Press and other news outlets reported.
‘We continue to minister to the Christian community’
Two families are living in what remains of Gaza Baptist, Massad said of the church that had dwindled to 60 members because of persecution before the Israel-Hamas War. Its building was heavily damaged by Israeli bombs in late 2023.
“We’ll need to see after the war what to do,” Massad said of the church. “But we continue to minister to the Christian community.”
Massad preached the morning sermon July 27 at PaulAnn Baptist Church in San Angelo, updating worshipers on the war’s impact on Gaza and the work of Christian Mission to Gaza.
He is scheduled to speak to adults at Vacation Bible School July 28 and 29 at First Baptist Church in Garland.
President Donald Trump recognized the starvation crisis July 28, pledging U.S. food aid and urging Israel to secure its distribution.
Israeli attacks continue to strike the Christian community, Massad said, with airstrikes hitting the Latin Church in Gaza July 18, killing three Christians and injuring 10 others, including a priest.
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