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Summary of the foundation of the country of one or more Zutendaal missionaries ...


Country summary with history, mission regions, where one or more Zutendaal missionaries were sent out to... with underneath list of those zutendaal missionaries staying there

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History, profile and mission of Israel




Israel is located in the Middle East, on the eastern Mediterranean coast, with Jerusalem as its official capital (though this is partly disputed internationally).
Area: approximately 22,000 km² — about 0.7 times the size of Belgium (Belgium: 30,689 km²).
Population (2025): around 9.9 million (Belgium: ~11.8 million).




When was the State of Israel founded? Who ruled the area when?

  • Ancient Israelite kingdoms: ca. 1000–586 BC
  • Babylonian, Persian, Hellenistic, and Roman periods: 586 BC – AD 135
  • Byzantine ? Arab-Islamic ? Crusader ? Mamluk ? Ottoman rule: 7th–20th centuries
  • British Mandate for Palestine: 1920–1948
  • Founding of the State of Israel: 14 May 1948
    • Palestinians commemorate this as the Nakba (“catastrophe”), due to mass displacement and expulsions of inhabitants.

First Christian missionaries – who, where, and why?

Why?

From the 1st century AD, Christianity spread outward from Jerusalem, the centre of the early church.
The Holy Land became a key region for pilgrimage and later for missionary religious orders.

Key early Christian developments

  • 1st century: The apostles preach in Judea and Galilee; early Christian communities form in Jerusalem and surrounding areas.
  • 4th century: Under Emperor Constantine, Christianity is legalised; his mother Helena builds major shrines (Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Bethlehem).
  • 5th–7th centuries: Growth of monasteries (desert monasticism), and Byzantine church foundations.

Middle Ages & Early Modern Period

  • Crusader period (1099–1291): Latin Christian institutions, hospital orders, and new churches.
  • Ottoman period: Mainly Orthodox, Armenian, Catholic, and later Protestant missionaries active.

Important monastic and missionary orders (selection)

  • Franciscans (since 1342): Custodia Terrae Sanctae, custodians of the Holy Places.
  • Dominicans (19th century): including the École Biblique in Jerusalem.
  • Jesuits (19th–20th centuries): schools, biblical scholarship.
  • Protestant missions (Anglican, German, American): active from the 19th century, especially in education and healthcare.

Belgian presence in the Holy Land (selection)

  • Assumptionists (A.A.) – pilgrimages, publications, biblical studies.
  • Scheut Missionaries (CICM) – contacts from the late 19th century; limited presence, mainly through study centres and pastoral support.
  • ICM Sisters – occasional cooperation through schools and social ministries.
  • Benedictines of Keizersberg (Leuven) – Tabgha Abbey (from the 1930s, together with German Benedictines).

Development of Christian presence & “high point”

  • Byzantine period (4th–7th centuries): greatest concentration of churches, monasteries, and holy sites.
  • Crusader period: rebuilding of holy places; major influx of Latin religious orders.
  • Ottoman period: restoration of Greek Orthodox, Armenian, and Latin (Franciscan) presence.
  • 19th–20th centuries: rise of new Catholic and Protestant institutions; schools, hospitals, biblical scholarship.
  • Today: Christians make up about 1.8% of the population, concentrated mainly in Nazareth, Haifa, Galilee, and Jerusalem.

Population — past and present

  • 1st century: several hundred thousand inhabitants in the Judea–Galilee region.
  • Ottoman period (1500–1900): from approx. 200,000 ? 600,000 inhabitants.
  • 1948: around 1.9 million residents in Mandatory Palestine.
  • 2025: about 9.9 million inhabitants in the State of Israel
    (approx. 7.2 million Jewish, ~2 million Arab-Palestinian, plus other groups).

Poverty and inequality — overview

  • Ottoman period: agriculture-based economy, heavy taxation, limited infrastructure.
  • British Mandate period: growing inequalities between urban centres and rural Palestinian villages.
  • After 1948: development of a highly technological state, but:
    • higher poverty rates among Arab minorities;
    • significant income inequality;
    • regional underdevelopment (Negev, northern Galilee);
    • conflicts with major impact on economy and social wellbeing.

Difficulties for Christian mission work

  • High religious diversity: Judaism, Islam, Christianity (many denominations).
  • Political tensions and conflicts: hinder pastoral and social projects.
  • Linguistic diversity: Hebrew, Arabic, Armenian, Greek, Russian.
  • Movement and visa restrictions: access to Jerusalem, Gaza, and the West Bank tightly regulated.
  • Competition among churches for control of holy sites (the Status Quo arrangements).

Short timeline

YearEventNote
1st centuryFirst Christian missionaries (apostles)From Jerusalem
313–335Constantine & HelenaConstruction of major shrines
1099–1291Crusader statesLatin churches; hospital orders
1342Franciscans officially entrusted with Holy PlacesCustodia Terrae Sanctae
1800–1900Rise of modern missionsSchools, hospitals
1948Establishment of the State of IsraelStart of the Arab–Israeli conflict
1967Israel captures East JerusalemMajor impact on churches
TodaySmall but active Christian minorityMainly Galilee & Jerusalem



< !-- ✅ Toegevoegd blok: tabel met missionarissen-- >

List of Missionaries from Zutendaal working in Israel

► missionary lay Rita Camp 1939
► missionary lay Mia Camp 1941







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