Our Roots

Sometimes people ask us how this work began. The truth is that it did not begin as a business. It began with a place, a people, and a way of life.

Our family comes from the villages nestled among the hills of Galilee. The Galilee we knew was more than the places written about in Scripture. It was also the small villages, the stone churches, the olive groves, the dusty roads, the farmers in the fields, the shepherds on the hillsides, the baker preparing bread before sunrise, and the craftsmen working quietly in their workshops.

These were the people around us. The woodcarvers were our neighbors. The icon makers were our friends. The families making crosses and rosaries were people we prayed beside in church. We grew up among them. It was simply life.

Only later did we begin to understand that many Christians around the world knew the Holy Land through the Bible, yet knew very little about the Christian families who still live there today. Many pilgrims would come to Nazareth, Bethlehem, Jerusalem, and Galilee. They would visit the holy places and return home carrying a cross, an icon, or a piece of olive wood. But often they never met the families who made these things. They never heard their stories. They never knew that Christians were still living, working, praying, and raising their children in the land of Christ.

When Azar came to Sweden, he carried a piece of that world with him. Not as suppliers. Not as business contacts. But as neighbors, friends, and fellow Christians. He had grown up knowing the artisans of Nazareth and Galilee. He knew the workshops. He knew the villages. He knew the people behind the work.

And he saw that many Christians abroad loved the Holy Land, yet knew very little about the people who still called it home. So he began sharing the work of the people he knew.

There was never a grand plan. The work simply continued, year after year.

Today, more than twenty years later, we are still a small family company. In many ways, we still do the same work we did in the beginning. Yet over the years, something changed.

When you spend your days surrounded by crosses, Scripture, icons, prayer, and the story of Christ, it becomes difficult to separate the work from the faith behind it. We do not see these pieces as products. They are reminders of Christ. Reminders of faith. Reminders of the people and places that shaped us.

Over time, what began as ordinary work slowly became something closer to devotion. Somewhere along the way, the work became woven together with prayer. Every cross that passes through our hands points us back to Christ. Every icon speaks of a faith carried from one generation to the next. Every package is a reminder that somewhere, in a home or a church far away, another Christian is seeking to keep that same faith close to their heart.

We often feel that we have been greatly blessed. Not because of anything we have achieved. But because we have been allowed to spend our lives close to these things.

Close to the story of Christ.

Close to the people of the Holy Land.

Close to the prayers, symbols, and traditions that have nourished believers for generations.

For this, we are deeply grateful.

This is who we are.

A family from Galilee.

Doing our best to serve faithfully.

Trying to honor the people who make these pieces.

And thankful that God has allowed us to spend our days in this work.