We send
you Christmas greetings from the Land of the Holy One, Jesus,
our Savior, born in Bethlehem. Even as the Separation Wall
continues to be built by Israel, our Palestinian Lutheran
churches and schools are celebrating the birth of Christ who
brings down barriers between people. As St. Paul wrote, “For
Christ is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups
into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the
hostility between us.” (Eph. 2:14).
We thank you for all your prayers and expressions of support
and love in this blessed season and throughout the year.
In this newsletter we will tell you about
the recent retreat enjoyed by the ELCJ pastors and their families,
together with the all-too-familiar difficulties encountered
in their travel; the opening of the new media website at the
International Center in Bethlehem and the special award given
to Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb; comments from Bishop Younan about
the ecumenical work of the Middle East Council of Churches
(MECC); and a visit to the Sunday School of the Lutheran Church
of the Reformation in Beit Jala.
1. ELCJ Pastors and Families:
From November 24-30 the pastors of the ELCJ together with
their families enjoyed a time of retreat in Limassol, Cyprus.
In 1997 the pastors were on retreat in Haifa but have not
had an opportunity to study and pray together since that time,
primarily due to the difficult political situation in Palestine
and Israel.
Bishop Younan reported to the European, Nordic
and American Lutheran church bodies that contributed financially
to make the retreat possible by saying, “The Pastors’
Retreat was a splendid time – a time of sharing and
communion, a time of relaxation for all the pastors and their
families. We were able to revive our communion and our community
together.”
However, Bishop Younan included in his report
the following information about the problems encountered in
leaving Palestine and Israel for Cyprus: “We had applied
to the Israeli Ministry for Religious Affairs for the necessary
permits a full month before the retreat. Our particular request
was to get permits for the people from the Bethlehem district.
It was only on Sunday, Nov. 23, at about 5:45 pm that the
people from Bethlehem received their permits. However, Rev.
Jadallah Shihadeh was denied a permit to travel through Ben
Gurion Airport. The Israelis cited ‘security reasons’
as their explanation for denying the permit.
“I was already in Amman, Jordan, on
Sunday afternoon and evening, Nov. 23. I made endless telephone
calls to the Israeli Ministry for Religious Affairs and others,
arguing that Rev. Shihadeh should receive the necessary permit.
‘How can he possibly have security problems,’
I demanded, ‘when he already has a valid three-month
permit to enter Jerusalem along with the required magnetic
card?’ By 9:30 pm nothing was happening so I called
the Ministry for Religious Affairs and asked them to cancel
everything and instead open the Allenby Bridge so I could
return to Jerusalem immediately. I very much admired the consensus
among the pastors that none of them would go to the retreat
if Rev. Shihadeh was not allowed to travel.
“It was 10:28 pm and I was with Rev.
Samer Azar in the parsonage in Amman. A sudden phone call
came from the Ministry for Religious Affairs, telling me that
Rev. Shihadeh would, after all, receive a permit to travel
through Ben Gurion Airport. I immediately called all the pastors,
telling them the news and preparing the Bethlehem area people
to be ready at 2:00 am for a taxi that would arrive and take
them to the airport. At 12 midnight Rev. Shihadeh’s
permit arrived. I was really surprised at how the ‘security
reasons’ suddenly evaporated and Rev. Shihadeh’s
permit was granted.
“The pastors from Ramallah and Jerusalem
also needed to hurry to the airport in the middle of the night,
and by God’s grace all the pastors and their families
were able to fly to Cyprus the morning of Monday, Nov. 24.
Rev. Azar and I traveled from Amman to Cyprus. Thanks be to
God!
“Our study together centered around
John 6:68-69: ‘Simon Peter answered Jesus, “Lord,
to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We
have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of
God.” ’ We spent the mornings in study, discussion
and prayer. The pastors had the time to deal with pastoral
issues related to spiritual growth, liturgy and education.
The women’s committee met and made plans. The children
were free to play together. We also gathered together as a
big family in the mornings for prayer time. Afternoons and
evenings were spent with our families and with each other,
deepening relation-ships and friendships.”
The pastors’ retreat was especially
important because the ELCJ pastors are usually prohibited
from seeing one another in Palestine and Jordan. Checkpoints,
closures and the refusal of travel documents even to Jerusalem
keep them apart. To be together in meetings, worship, prayer
and fellowship for nearly a week was a tremendous blessing.
2. Bethlehem News: A New Website
and a Special Honor:
The International
Center in Bethlehem (ICB), part of the Christmas Lutheran
Church and the ministry of the ELCJ, has announced a new media
website which is providing a “Voice of the Voiceless”:
www.bethlehemmedia.net
This media website is unique because of the feature articles
written by Palestinian and international journalists, statements
of church leaders and the professional pictures which are
provided. Another important feature of this website is that
it has a special interest in the fate and ministry of the
Palestinian Christian community. Working with media has become
a top priority because the Palestinian reality is not communicated
fully to the outside world. The ICB was provided seed money
for this project by Lutheran World Relief, through the Lutheran
World Federation.
The ELCJ
congratulates the Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb, pastor of the Christmas
Lutheran Church and Director of the ICB, on the special honor
he recently received. On November 8 the Luther Institute of
Washington, DC, USA, awarded the prestigious Wittenberg Award
for Distinguished Service to Church and Society to Rev. Raheb.
He was honored for his critical work in promoting intercultural
and interfaith dialogue in the Middle East. Also honored with
the Wittenberg Award in the ceremony were Rev. Dr. Ramon Alcantara
Mejia, a combatant of poverty in Mexico City, and Dr. Mark
Jacobson, a medical missionary in Arusha, Tanzania.
3. The Middle East Council of Churches:
Reflections by Bishop Younan:
The Middle East Council of Churches
(MECC) was established in 1974. Over the years the MECC has
grown to include four families of Christian churches in the
Middle East: Orthodox; Oriental Orthodox; Catholic; and Evangelical.
The Evangelical family includes Lutherans, Anglicans, Armenian
Evangelicals and Presbyterians. The MECC is directed by its
four presidents, one from each of the four families of churches.
Today there are member church bodies from Syria, Lebanon,
Palestine, Iran, Iraq, the Gulf States, Cyprus, Egypt, Sudan,
Algeria and Morocco in the MECC.
The MECC held its General Assembly in Cyprus
during the week of December 1. Bishop Younan attended the
assembly at which four new presidents were elected as well
as a new General Secretary. As it happened, all four presidents
and Mr. Girges Saleh, the General Secretary, are from Egypt.
Bishop Younan reflected on the General Assembly
and on the work of the MECC, particularly in regard to ecumenism:
“I congratulate the new presidents and Mr. Saleh on
their elections. I also pray for strength and wisdom for the
new General Secretary as he faces the demanding task ahead
of him. I also want to thank the outgoing General Secretary,
Dr. Riad Jarjour, for his long service to the MECC and pray
for God’s blessing on his next endeavor.
However, I must share some reflections about
the future of the MECC. One thing that concerns me is that
many heads of member churches, giants in ecumenism, did not
attend the assembly. Is this a lack of interest in the MECC
or a desire for a different style of leadership or structure
of the MECC? My primary concern is that I believe the situation
for ecumenism in the Middle East is an issue that needs more
dialogue among the churches to contextualize the ecumenical
movement and to own it.
“I believe we need to dare to have a
different ecumenical approach, one in which the MECC shifts
from concentrating only on ecumenical diaconia to becoming
a platform of dialogue and mutual recognition among the Middle
East churches. Cardinal Kaspar from the Vatican spoke to the
assembly and after hearing his speech, I raised the issue
of having a mutual agreement on baptism. Unfortunately, I
was confronted by representatives of one church who said we
have differences on faith issues and the priesthood. We have
had thirty years of existence as the MECC. If we do not dare
to be prophetic in the Middle East and see Christ in the other
– if we cannot see that our ecumenical movement is for
witness and mission – then I am afraid the words of
St. Paul must be applied to us: “If I speak in the
tongues of mortals and of angels but do not have love, I am
a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.” (I
Cor. 13:1). Ten years ago we started to get something
accomplished, such as a joint Arabic translation of the Lord’s
Prayer and the Nicene Creed, and also a study on baptism.
Now even these simple things are at a standstill.
“Some say that ecumenism in the Middle
East is different, but I say the Holy Spirit is the one who
leads; we do not lead the Holy Spirit. When the Spirit leads,
we do not need to cling to our own historic fears. What unites
us is much more than what divides us. As Christianity has
become a minority in the whole Middle East, we as the churches
cannot afford only intellectual dialogue and being far from
each other. This leads nowhere. We need action for mission
and evangelism. That is how the love of Christ brings transparency
into the Church, when we dare to gather around the unifying
factors, not the divisive factors.
“My deep concern regarding ecumenism
in the MECC is born out of love, not anger. Where are we going?
What are we achieving? If the MECC dares to take down obstacles
and refuses to allow national interests to rule us, we will
find that we are living together, built up by our love of
Christ. Therefore I call on the Middle East churches to have
a constructive dialogue regarding the future of ecumenism
focused on love and witness, to accept and recognize each
other with all our differences. We in the Evangelical family
of churches recognize the treasures in the Catholic and Orthodox
families and we ask those churches to recognize the treasures
in our Evangelical family of churches. Only when we see the
treasures in the other will we learn how rich we are in the
Body of Christ in spirituality, mission and witness. The ecumenical
movement is not for our own importance but to glorify Christ
in our broken world, especially in the Middle East.
4. A Visit to the Sunday School
in the Lutheran Church of the Reformation:
The Sunday School in the Beit Jala congregation of the Lutheran
Church of the Reformation is lively and filled with children.
Ms. Hannelore Shihadeh, who works with the children and youth
of the congregation, has given us this report:
“I am working together with six other
colleagues in groups of children of various ages. We have
about sixty children from three to thirteen years of age who
are regularly taking part in our Sunday School service.
“We do not have any fixed yearly Sunday
School curriculum for the ELCJ but over the years I have gathered
a lot of material, such as workbooks, prepared lessons, pictures,
work sheets and many ideas for Sunday School activities. Every
two to three months we set a new teaching plan which enables
us to choose material according to the situation and the children’s
ages and needs, and it also prevents the children from getting
bored. We want the Sunday School to become very interesting
for them.
“In our Sunday School curriculum we
take specific occasions such as Christmas, Easter, Pentecost
and other feasts into consideration. For instance, on Christmas,
we have the following program: during that very special time
of the year, we try – despite the tragic situation in
Palestine – to rejoice our children’s hearts by
telling stories, singing songs and doing other activities
related to this great occasion. Moreover, we do a special
Christmas play each year. It is always a new, self-written
play that reflects on the Palestinian culture, daily life
and hard situation. In fact, these plays have a great meaning
to the children as well as to the congregation because they
help to bring the hope and light of Jesus into their lives
again.
“In addition to that, we have a changeable
program in the time between the feasts. During this time we
talk about subjects such as forgiveness, belief, hope, reconciliation
and so on. In relation to each of these topics, we choose
suitable stories from the Bible or other appropriate stories.
In our choice, we consider getting biblical personalities
as close as possible to the children. I really think that
children may benefit a lot from learning about them! Seeing,
for instance, the belief of Abraham, the missions of the Apostles
and the faithfulness of Daniel will teach the children so
much and might influence their personal lives. We plant the
seeds of God’s Word deep in their hearts and pray that
these seeds may grow and thrive during their lives.”
All the ELCJ congregations teach children
in Sunday Schools and young adults in special programs. We
thank God for the pastors, leaders and teachers who take the
time to plant the seeds of God’s Word deep in the hearts
of the children.
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Now at Christmas we rejoice
in the birth of Jesus our Savior,
and wish all of you
A Merry and a Blessed
Christmas.
May the New Year of 2004
be a time of just peace and reconciliation in all our lives,
no matter where we live in
this world.
