Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

Salaam and greetings from Bishop Riah Educational Campus in Nazareth.

Words alone cannot express our deep gratitude and thanks to each and every one of you for your continued support and encouragement to us.  The school that we serve would not have been had it not been for you and for the tireless efforts of our dear Bishop – the Rt. Rev. Riah Abu El-Assal – President of the Campus.  It was not a surprise to us when Ronit Terosh – Director General of the Ministry of Education in Israel - said: "you come from another planet."

Many years ago, man dreamed to fly like birds; Man dreamed to swim and dive like fish; Man dreamed to travel as fast as horses; Man dreamed to bring down some stars from the sky.  Attempts to imitate creatures, flowers, the moon and its light, lead people like Brothers Wright to invent what has become today planes and jet planes; and others to bring about endless discoveries - among them cars, submarines, the expensive Paris perfumes, and Edison's manufactured stars! Indeed, there is a strange line which no human genius can ever cross:  We qualify and rank rather high as CREATIVE creatures fueled with the power of imagination and the capacity to think and logically translate what already exists into different sizes and various languages.  The word CREATOR however, could never belong to Man.

The life of spiders in nature is another great source of inspiration to mankind:
A spider's most challenging and difficult part in the process of its web's construction is the FIRST thread.  With the help of wind and some luck, a spider manages to throw out the first line and make it stick to some proper spot.  Very carefully, the spider walks over that thread, strengthening it with a second thread.  When it gets strong enough the spider begins its building process by making strands come out of the CENTER and thus form some amazing geometric forms.  At the break of every new morning a spider would either need to do some maintenance work to its web or would need to weave a brand new web.  The only part that remains intact is the FIRST thread.

Coexistence of Time and Space, regardless of all geographical and hourly aspects, has been another dream.  Technological human brains have managed to weave some wireless amazingly elastic and stretchy threads, and thus unite and LINK all continents and the millions of inhabitants in a single web with Mother Earth and humankind at its center. 

In such an era, we are granted the best opportunities to be in constant touch with each other.  Nazareth of the Middle East is no more far away from the U.S., Europe, China or Africa.  Interacting with each other, exchanging ideas on daily basis is no more a far fetched dream.  Whether it is on a personal or institutional, local or global level, there is no more a great need for stamped envelopes to fly over the oceans to ensure the arrival of a message here or there.

The earth has been captured!  Yet, it is rather essential to keep safe the unalterable jewel of the crown.  At our magnificent various labs, we must not forget to make humanity run in parallel speeds and phases to that of technology.  Evolving and multiplying humanity is the only sure way forward.  Else, what we thought to have come to our blessing will actually bring us endless curses.

"YOU ARE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD." Matthew 5:14
Here at Bishop Riah Educational Campus, we are proud to adopt Christ's words as our motto.  We are on the go, along with the rest of the world, and with our technological means, we are happy to welcome you to visit us through our web site at: www.bishopriah-hs.org

We repeat and repeat again that you too can be the LIGHT that shines the world.  You can be the spring that breeds energy and enthusiasm.  We must never confuse goals with means.  Ability alone – not least technological ability – is not sufficient.  You and us are at the center of it all.  Human loyalty, sincerity, responsibility, and devotion are the heart of the human charisma.  Let us cultivate and invest first and foremost in humanity and mankind.

Every tomorrow is another step into the unknown.  While it is true to say that we do not know what the future holds, we know who holds the future:  our God to Him be glory now and forever.

Sincerely Yours,

Hanna Riah Abu El-Assal

General Director
Bishop Riah Educational Campus
Nazareth