Mother’s Day, March 21, is a big day in Palestine. All the schools have special programs for mothers. Children at Al Mahaba Kindergarten sang songs, gave a small gift to their mothers and they all had a party. Students at each of the four Lutheran Schools prepared speeches, music, refreshments, and gifts to honor mothers. … [Read more…]
More than 200 gathered in the Church of the Ascension in the Augusta Victoria Hospital complex on the Mt. of Olives in Jerusalem Sunday for the funeral of Bishop Emeritus Daoud Haddad, the first bishop of the ELCJHL. The burial followed in Bethlehem, where the Beit Sahour Scout Troop met the procession to the cemetery. … [Read more…]
Over 100 Lutheran Church Leaders Will Join LWF Council GENEVA, 18 March 2007 (LWI) – The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) returns to the Swedish city of Lund, to celebrate its 60th anniversary at the place where it was founded in 1947. “Living in Communion in the World Today” is the theme of the 20-27 March … [Read more…]
Leaders of the Fellowship of Middle East Evangelical Churches (FMEEC) met in Cairo in early March to strategize about how to strengthen the evangelical witness in the Middle East in the face of huge challenges. Leaders from the Holy Land, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Egypt and the Sudan discussed their ministries and experiences. Although … [Read more…]
A recent publication for Palestinian children is the result of the teamwork of seven student editors in sixth grade from the Evangelical Lutheran School of Hope in Ramallah. Children from various schools in Palestine contributed articles, poems, stories, and art work for Al Raja al Sagheer, (The Little Hope), which may be one of the … [Read more…]
More than a hundred Palestinian and Israeli women gathered to protest the ongoing occupation and human rights violations in the Palestinian territories. Palestinian women who have lost their sons or not seen them in prison for years combined with Israeli women peace-makers to focus attention on these injustices and the high rate of violence against … [Read more…]
March 6, 2007 by Eldad Beck BERLIN – “This morning we saw pictures of the Warsaw ghetto at Yad Vashem and this evening we are going to the Ramallah ghetto.” Several hours earlier on Sunday you probably would not have heard German Bishop Gregor Maria Franz Hanke choose such a divisive analogy. But then on … [Read more…]
Like their counterparts in Europe and the United States, students and staff in the Lutheran Schools of the Holy Land come back to expect the usual school routine after winter holiday vacation. There were some differences this year, however. Teachers returned to their classes and also to help plan the educational ministry of the ELCJHL. … [Read more…]
Feb. 15, 2007 – For the first time in years, ELCJHL women from Jerusalem, Ramallah, Bethlehem, Beit Jala and Beit Sahour gathered together in Jericho for a 24-hour retreat celebrating the unity and strength of women and faith. Though the churches are close together geographically (Jerusalem is only about 13 kilometers from Ramallah and not … [Read more…]
Feb. 10, 2007 – Bishop Munib Younan urged Palestinians to “use brains, sanity, dialogue and non-violence and not arms to deal with differences” at a national conference Monday. The conference, called by independent groups, non-governmental organizations and other agencies, encouraged democratic, non-violent strategies as the only way to achieve Palestinian goals of an end to … [Read more…]