Pastor Ashraf Tannous is the newest pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land. He is serving the Lutheran Church in Beit Sahour. Here he discusses his life and feelings as a Palestinian Christian from a refugee family.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bNqaZwXLVo&feature=share&list=UU9FKTVBng6XeDUEArww1S3g
Pastor Mitri Raheb of Christmas Lutheran Church in Bethlehem shares an advent greeting from the Holy Land. Christmas Lutheran does a simulcast Christmas Service between Bethlehem and the National Cathedral in Washington DC each year. Find out more about this year’s simulcast on Saturday, Dec. 22 at 10 am EST. Check out the new website for Bright Stars of Bethlehem, a US organization that supports the work of DIYAR Consortium, begun by Pastor Raheb in cooperation with the ELCJHL.
In another article, Pastor Raheb reflects on the Christmas story in his hometown of Bethlehem:
Bethlehem at the birth of Jesus was a besieged city. Today Bethlehem is again a besieged city surrounded from three sides by a 25 foot high concrete wall. So what if Jesus were to be born today in Bethlehem? If Jesus were to be born this year, he would not be born in Bethlehem. Mary and Joseph would not be allowed to enter from the Israeli checkpoint, and so too the Magi. The shepherds would be stuck inside the walls, unable to leave their little town. Jesus might have been born at the checkpoint like so many Palestinian children while having the Magi and shepherds on both sides of the wall.
On the way to celebrate what happened in Bethlehem 2000 years ago, let us not forget the people who yearn for peace with justice now in Bethlehem and all over the Holy Land. Here are some Advent reflections by various people and organizations to help us remember:
A delegation from the group “The Elders” visited Palestine recently to see and hear about the situation on the ground and see the work of the Lutheran World Federation in Jerusalem. The Elders is an independent group of respected leaders who work together for peace and human rights. Founded by Nelson Mandela in 2007 and chaired by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the Elders work to find solutions to some of the world’s most challenging political issues.
Members from the group visited with LWF President Bishop Munib Younan of the ELCJHL and a roundtable of others he had assembled to hear more about faith and life under occupation. Read more about this visit.
President Jimmy Carter led the group to the LWF Jerusalem campus. Former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson and Gro Harlem Brundland, former Prime Minister of Norway and former Director-General of the World Health Organization, were a part of the group.
Members of The Elders, led by former President Jimmy Carter, visit Augusta Victoria Hospital in Jerusalem. Photo by Anna Johnson.
Dr. Tawfiq Nasser, CEO of Augusta Victoria Hospital (AVH), and Rev. Mark Brown, the Regional Representative of the Lutheran World Federation in Jerusalem and the Middle East, received the guests and spoke about the work of the Lutheran World Federation in areas of education and health, as well as the issues of access to healthcare facing Palestinians. Dr. Nasser and Rev. Brown emphasized the role of Augusta Victoria Hospital as a specialty care facility providing treatment for Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza. In some cases, such as specialized cancer treatment and juvenile dialysis, AVH is the only place in the West Bank where such care is provided.
The delegation visited the $4.9 million medical linear accelerator provided by USAID and housed in a radiation-safe facility built with support from the Norwegian Government, as well as the hospital’s Specialized Center for Child Care, where they met young Palestinian children receiving dialysis or cancer treatment at AVH.
In a statement on The Elders website about their visit, Prime Minister Brundtland stated:
“As a medical doctor, I was particularly affected by our visit to Augusta Victoria Hospital in East Jerusalem, a Palestinian model of excellence for the entire region which faces enormous difficulties in treating those people nearest to it from the West Bank – never mind Palestinians from Gaza – due to Israeli travel restrictions. It tragically illustrates the direct human impact of the present deadlock.”
– From the LWF Jerusalem story – Read full LWF story
A delegation from the Lutheran World Federation, including LWF President Bishop Munib Younan of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land and LWF General Secretary Martin Junge visited one of the ELCJHL schools in Ramallah recently.
Bishop Younan said that the mission of the ELCJHL schools is to prepare young Palestinian women and men to build their state.
“We teach our students to respect human rights—especially women’s rights—to respect freedom of religion and to dialogue with other religions. We emphasize peace education in our schools, and the right for each and every person to live in dignity,” said the ELCJHL bishop who had previously served as pastor of the Ramallah congregation.
The importance of Christian education was also a subject when the LWF delegation met with the Palestinian National Authority Prime Minister Dr Salam Fayyad. The premier noted that the role of Palestinian Christians in Palestinian society was indispensable, and urged encouragement for their efforts.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hope, one of the six congregations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL), was founded in the mid 1950s as Palestinian refugees fled to the Ramallah area after the war. The School of Hope began in 1965 as a kindergarten with ten students and two teachers, and graduated its first class of three students in 1979. The school has since been serving the greater Ramallah area and continues to grow. It is currently serving more than 450 students—comprising 20 percent Christians and 80 percent Muslims.
And the constant expansion has led the European Union (EU) to fund construction of a 4,000 square meter building that will accommodate around 500 students, who are now located in the old campus. The new school campus is expected to be ready in 2013 when it will be handed over to the church. The construction of the new campus comes as a result of the EU’s continuous support to the Palestinian education sector not only by increasing the physical capacity of school buildings but also by developing the quality of education in the occupied Palestinian territories.
During the meeting with the premier, General Secretary Martin Junge reiterated the crucial role the Christian communities play in the region through their institutions.
“The importance of the Lutheran schools in the Palestinian context became evident again in the conversation with the Palestinian Prime Minister,” Junge said after the meeting. “I was pleased that the Prime Minister brought up the issue and the importance of the Christian presence among the Palestinians, as a matter of identity for the Palestinian people,” he added.
From the LWF article – Read the full LWF article
His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan hosted an iftar dinner with Muslim scholars and Christian leaders.
Sunday, August 12, His Majesty King Abdullah II hosted an iftar banquet for Muslim scholars and Christian leaders. The banquet was held at Basman Palace in Jordan. One of those attending was the Rt. Rev. Munib Younan, far left, Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land and President of the Lutheran World Federation.
Sources say as many as 2 million people have come to Jerusalem to celebrate Eid al-Fitr, the celebratory end of the holy month of Ramadan.
On the night of 14th August, Palestinian Jerusalemites and West Bankers came together in the Holy City to celebrate Laylat al-Qadr, the holiest night of Ramadan upon which Muslims believe that the first revelation of the Quran was delivered to the Prophet Muhammad in 610 CE.
Over 200,000 Palestinians gathered at Al Aqsa Mosque to perform Itikaf (the overnight retreat into the Mosque and reading of the Quran), which went on deep into the early hours of the morning.
The Old City was said to have a liberated feel for a night as crowds swarmed through the Damascus Gate, surging down the Old City’s packed-out alleyways to reach the deeply symbolic site of Haram al-Sharif. The sheer number of people totally overwhelmed the city’s infrastructure. Israeli authorities, in an unprecedented move, did not place a quota on the number of permits to be issued to Palestinians: all Palestinian women and men (over the age of 40) were allowed to enter Jerusalem with only minimal supervision by Israeli security.
If you’ve ever been to Jerusalem and wanted to worship in English, you may have been welcomed in the English-speaking congregation of the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer. The main Lutheran Church of the Redeemer is an Arabic Lutheran congregation, and also hosts a German-speaking congregation as well. It is one of the 6 churches of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land, a small but vibrant and vocal force for justice and peace in the Holy Land. It’s Bishop, the Rt. Rev. Munib Younan, is also the president of the Lutheran World Federation.
Each Sunday, this is the worship home for many internationals of all denominations who work for justice and peace in the area, as well as countless pilgrim groups just visiting. If you’ve ever been there, you’ll know what a gift it is for the community, as this video by Laurin Whitnet-Gottbrath shows. Laurin is a Young Adult in Global Mission in Jerusalem finishing up her mission year. Learn more about the program here.
The Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb has edited a new book called The Biblical Text in the Context of Occupation: Towards a new hermeneutics of liberation. A wide variety of scholars write on the importance and meaning of the biblical narrative in the midst of occupation and the need for liberation in the Palestinian context. Read more about it and find it soon on Amazon.com.
Here is the table of contents:
1. Toward a New Hermeneutics of Liberation : A Palestinian Christian Perspective Mitri Raheb
2. Engaging the Palestinian Theological-Critical Project of Liberation: A Critical Dialogue Fernando F. Segovia
3. Palestinian Theology: Between Construction and Identification: A Comparative Analysis of the Theology of Naim Stifan Ateek and Mitri Raheb Peter Lodberg
4. Toward an Emancipatory Palestinian Theology: Hermeneutical Paradigms and Horizons Luis N. Rivera-Pagán
5. (Home)Land, Diaspora, Identity, and the Bible in Imperial Geopolitics: What does the Asia-Pacific Region have to do with Israel-Palestine? Eleazar S. Fernandez
6. Interpreting the Bible, Interpreting the World: Anglo-American Christian Zionism and Palestinian Christian Concerns Robert O. Smith
7. The Hermeneutical Predicament: Why We Do Not Read the Bible in the Same Way and Why it Matters for Palestinian Advocacy Julia M. O’Brien
8. Talmudic Terrorism in Bethlehem Santiago E. Slabodsky
9. One Text, Many Meanings: Reading a non-Zionist Judaism from the Hebrew Bible Steven Friedman
10. The Contribution of Hermeneutics to Peace and Reconciliation J.H. (Hans) de Wit
11. Arab Christian Fundamentalist Reading of the Book of Daniel: A Critique Munther Isaac
12. Biblical Hermeneutics in the Kairos Palestine Document Jamal Khader
13. The Context of the Christians of the Arab World as a Key to Biblical Interpretation according to the Six First Pastoral Letters of the Eastern Catholic Patriarchs Rafiq Khoury
14. I Am a Presbyterian Christian: Toward a Dialogical Contextual Hermeneutics Patricia K. Tull
15. What has the Bible to do with us? Erik Aurelius
16. The Theological and Historical David: Contextual Reading Samuel Pagán
17. The Ambiguity of Identity and Responsibility toward the Other Dexter Callender, Jr
18. “Contact Zone”: Exploring Land, Liberation, and Life Yak-Hwee Tan
19. The Dignity of Resistance in Solidarity: The Story of Rizpah Allan Boesak
The Rt. Rev. Bishop Munib Younan, President of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL) has written a new book called OurShared Witness: A Voice for Justice and Reconciliation. Bishop Younan is known as a bridge-builder, an ambassador of reconciliation, a prophetic voice and an advocate for justice, peace, and non-violence.
In the world in which he lives – where Palestinians struggle for life and coexistence with their neighbor Israelies – one might imagine that despair and hopelessness dominate. However, in reading Bishop Younan’s writings readers will find unending hope for a future of peace and goodwill, along with an optimistic determination to be part of the solution for this troubled Holy Land.
This collection of writings, speeches, and sermons reveals Bishop Younan’s context, his perspective, and his hope. Readers will find his theology to be contextual—deeply rooted in his daily reality as a Palestinian Christian —while at the same time being universal, offering insights and principles that apply to other situations in vastly different parts of the world.
Order his book at http://www.lutheranupress.org/Books/Our_Shared_Witness.
Biographical Sketch
Foreword
Part One: The Life and Work of Lutherans in the Holy Land
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land
Adapting to a Changing Environment while Drawing Strength
from Deep Christian Roots
Lutheran Interest in the Middle East: A Historical Survey
Fifty Years of Living Witness and Creative Diakonia
Word for Graduates of ELCJHL Schools
Part Two: Messages of Reconciliation for a World of Division
Justice, Reconciliation, and Hope: United for God’s Mission
Reforming Luther: Toward a Prophetic Interfaith Dialogue
Among Christians, Jews, and Muslims
Give Us Today Our Daily Bread
What’s Lutheran about Health Care? Insights from Martin Luther
Ecumenism Is Reconciliation in the Middle East and in the World
Jerusalem Today and Tomorrow: Four Visions
What Does the Lord Require of Us? A Vision of Peace through Justice
The Church’s Commitment to Non-Violence
Bring Religion Back to the Front Lines of Peace
The Role of Religion in the Middle East
Why Lutherans Should Recognize Interfaith Harmony Week
A Suggestion for Christian–Muslim Dialogue
Part Three: Sermons about Love for Neighbor and Reconciliation
Fear not! (Luke 2:10)
Living Stones (1 Peter 2:5)
Reformed for Costly Discipleship and Creative Diakonia
With Eyes and Ears on Jesus (Matthew 17:1-9)
Jesus’ Strategy Session for the Early Church (John 14:1-14)
I Am the Resurrection and the Life (John 11:25)
One in the Apostles’ Teaching (Acts 2:42)
Living as the Children of Light (Ephesians 5:8)
Welcoming the Stranger (Matthew 25:31-46)
Christ–the Hope of the World (Ephesians 1:15-23)
Planting a Tree for the Future (Genesis 8:11)
httpv://youtu.be/mgbKvBY0CDQ
Maya, an 8th-grader at one of the schools of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL), speaks about her family as she wins the 8th grade English speech contest at the ELCJHL Educational Fair for 2012. The ELCJHL schools are a great asset to the West Bank, as they emphasize many worthwhile practices such as academic excellence, holistic growth, democratic principles, interfaith dialogue and women’s rights. In the schools as a whole, about half of the students are Muslim, the other half Christian, and they learn to understand and live with one another as friends.
To see more about the Educational Fair, including photos and more videos, see www.elcjhl.org.