Taybeh, West Bank - With each tolling bell, Maryam Aranky traced a cross over her chest with her index finger.
Another resident of Taybeh had died, and the villagers were walking toward the Greek Orthodox church for the funeral.
Aranky, 69, who lives alone, said she would not celebrate Christmas this year. She is still mourning the recent loss of three relatives, including her brother -- "the one who took care of me," she said.
"We are dying," said Nabil Massis, who is 50, but appears older and said he has been out of work for years. "The one who gets an opportunity to leave for a job will leave."
In the past two months, there have been "nine or 10" deaths and just four births, according to Mayor David Khoury. "It's a big problem," he said.
The Arabic-speaking Christians of the Holy Land are fighting a losing battle against low birth rates and a tide of emigration that imperils the future of a 2,000-year presence in the place where Christianity began.
In Taybeh, a village with biblical origins located 19 miles northeast of Jerusalem and perched on a hilltop high above the Judean Desert, religious and civic leaders have launched new efforts to develop the economy and entice young people to stay.
"Everybody used to tell us the same thing: 'Give us a job. We love our country and family and village, but give us a job,'" said Raed Abu Sahliya, 43, parish priest of the Roman Catholic church in Taybeh, which has a population of 1,300, half the number of 40 years ago.
With donations mostly from the Catholic Diocese of Florence, Italy, the church has helped create dozens of jobs through an expansion of the Catholic school and medical center, and the construction of a guest house for pilgrims as well as an 18-bed nursing home.
Other recent projects include a ceramics and handicrafts workshop and a new olive press that produces extra virgin olive oil sold in the United States, France and Australia.
In the past year, the municipality has attracted grants from international development funds to repave roads and begin to restore 50 stone homes, many in ruins, in the historic village center in hopes of attracting more tourists.
Some 10,000 visitors, mostly European Catholics, came to Taybeh this year -- an increase over past years. According to Christian tradition, Taybeh is the site of biblical Ephraim, where Jesus retreated before his trial and execution. The ruin of a Byzantine church, St. George, is a focal point of the modern village.
Over the next few months, utility crews will bury telephone and power lines as part of the restoration. There are also plans to build sewer lines.
And the village is completing construction of 14 duplex apartments for poor families.
"All of these projects are designed for people to stay here," Abu Sahliya said. "We are the last castle. We are the only entirely Christian village left in the Holy Land."
Still, since these efforts began, 50 people have moved away. Most resettle in the United States. One family of seven -- especially missed because it was unusually large -- left for Sweden.
There is scarcely a family in Taybeh without immediate relatives living abroad. Sizable communities of Taybeh residents live in Jordan, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Guatemala and the United States, where they hold annual conventions.
City officials estimate that between 9,000 and 10,000 original Taybeh residents and their offspring live abroad.