wfn.org | Palestinian youth to help burned Georgia church

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

June 24, 1999 News media contact: Linda Bloom*(212) 870-3803*New York
10-21-71B{350}

By United Methodist News Service

A group of Palestinian youth will be the first team to begin rebuilding
efforts at a Commerce, Ga., United Methodist church destroyed by fire.

When they're not digging in the red Georgia clay at New Salem church, the
students will perform cultural dances in the area and talk about their life
under Israeli occupation. The 15 young people are from a Lutheran
evangelical high school in Beit Sahour (Shepherd's Field), outside
Bethlehem.

The group, which also includes four families, arrives in the United States
on June 25 and begins work the next day. At the end of June, they will
travel to Lake Junaluska, N.C., for 10 days and then embark on a two-week
dancing and "itineration" tour of the Northeast.

Bonnie Jones Gehweiler of Lake Junaluska, N.C., has coordinated the group's
visit on behalf of the United Methodist Volunteers in Mission in the
denomination's Southeastern Jurisdiction. The jurisdiction has sent a number
of volunteers to work on projects in the Beit Sahour area. 

This reciprocal visit by the Palestinians, she explained, is a way "to say
thank you for the teams that had come there."

Lamar Beard, director of local missions for the North Georgia Conference
United Methodist Men, said his congregation at Berkmar United Methodist
Church in Cummings is pleased to host the group during its stay in Georgia.

He added that the New Salem congregation is "stunned" that people would come
all the way from Bethlehem just to help rebuild the church.

The 138-year-old landmark building was torched last New Year's Eve. Kennan
Loy Williams, a volunteer firefighter, lost his life fighting the blaze. A
suspect, arrested elsewhere, has been charged in the case and is expected to
stand trial in Georgia.

United Methodist Men has taken on the rebuilding of the church as a mission
project. Because the building was underinsured, the congregation only
received $80,000. But even with volunteer work teams, the cost has been
estimated at $450,000. "They had no way of raising that kind of money,"
Beard said.

So far, fund-raising efforts have gathered $360,000, which includes the
insurance payment.

After months of planning, New Salem is ready for the Palestinian team, which
will dig footers for the basement and trenches for underground plumbing. A
token gift of vials of red Georgia clay is being prepared for the team.

Beard expects volunteer work to continue at New Salem for the next 75
Saturdays. More teams, as well as donations, are needed to complete the
work. To help, contact Beard by e-mail at lbeard@nortelnetworks.com.

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