Phone: 972-2-626-6800 FAX: 972-2-628-5764 ADDRESS: Muristan Road P.O. Box 14076 Jerusalem 91140 via Israel
The MLCDC is located next to the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in Jerusalem's Old City. It is situated between the Muslim and Christian quarters in a neighborhood with a recent influx of Israeli settlers. This section of East Jerusalem is culturally part of the Palestinian community, which is now cut off from its educational and employment center in the West Bank.
The mission of the MLCDC is to strengthen the local community by developing the competencies of its clients through providing opportunities for education, recreation and communication. The goal of the MLCDC is to provide programs that improve the quality of life for the East Jerusalem community in general and Old City inhabitants in particular. By offering a meeting place, educational center, and recreational facility, it hopes to address the needs of a neighborhood that has limited open spaces, rising unemployment and overcrowding. With a Christian tradition and outlook, the MLCDC aims to promote peace, non-violence and dialogue in its unique location among Jerusalem’s three religious groups; it welcomes all who wish to promote these values. In an urban area experiencing modern social changes, economic problems and political stress, its programs are designed especially to help those with limited opportunities.
The sports hall, or fitness center, is open six days a week, excluding Sunday, from 8 a.m.-8 p.m., with special hours for women only, from 4:30-6:30 p.m. Equipment includes a treadmill, a cycling machine, a step machine, a bench press, free weights and a punching bag. New equipment is added regularly. Showers and lockers are also available to patrons, who subscribe on a monthly basis. For more information, please contact the Office of the Director of Education at chaddad@elcjhl.org.
A supervised play and activities program takes place once a week in a newly-equipped playroom. Young children engage in structured activities like crafts, cooking, story-telling and games.
An afternoon sports program supervised by a local physical education teacher takes place three times per week at the MLCDC. Children from eight to 12 years from the Old City participate in organized sports like football (soccer), basketball and volleyball.
The courtyard of the Center has a newly resurfaced playground for outdoor sports and games. Toilet facilities have also been constructed adjacent to the playing area, which will soon include equipment for younger children and a small garden where parents, children, and senior citizens can meet and relax. These features will improve the quality of life for visitors to the Center and residents of the Old City, which lacks safe play areas and public gardens.
A recent meeting of the MLCDC Advisory Committee has recommended the establishment of a preschool and kindergarten program in the center. Such a program would provide much-needed classes for children in East Jerusalem and the Old City, two areas with 62 percent of their inhabitants living below the poverty line and a school drop-out rate of 45 percent. This ministry would improve educational opportunities for families who cannot afford the city’s private school tuition rates but desire for their children a holistic approach to education based on Lutheran school core values of tolerance, religious dialogue and non-violence.
The vision is to add a grade level each year, with upper grades located on another campus, until the Martin Luther School is able to offer 12 years of instruction in addition to pre-school and kindergarten programs.