wfn.org | Lutherans Respond to Crisis in the Middle East

[news@ELCA.ORG]

ELCA NEWS SERVICE

November 1, 2000

LUTHERANS RESPOND TO CRISIS IN THE MIDDLE EAST
00-253-MR

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America (ELCA) contributed $60,000 to the church's International
Disaster Response fund to support people affected by the crisis in the
Middle East.
     "Ever since the latest outbreak of violence between Israelis and
Palestinians, tensions have mounted with fingers of accusation pointed
in both directions," said the Rev. Y. Franklin Ishida, director for
international communication, ELCA Division for Global Mission.
     "It is almost as if a war has broken out, especially when the
Israelis bombed the West Bank town of Ramallah and Gaza on Oct. 12 in
response to the murder of two Israeli soldiers," Ishida said.
     Casualties have mounted among Israelis and Palestinians, he said.
"More than 140 people have died and thousands have been injured, most of
them Palestinians."
     Church-related organizations, including the Department of Service
to Palestinian Refugees/Gaza Area of the Middle East Council of Churches
(MECC) and the Near East Christian Council Committee for Refugee Work of
the International Christian Committee (ICC), are addressing issues
affecting people in the Middle East.
     The MECC and ICC are members of Action by Churches Together (ACT),
a worldwide network of churches and related agencies meeting human need
through coordinated emergency response.  ACT is based with the World
Council of Churches (WCC) and Lutheran World Federation (LWF) in
Switzerland.  The ELCA is a member of both the WCC and LWF.
  Proposals from MECC and ICC have been submitted to ACT to help the
"most vulnerable families affected by the current unrest and violence in
East Jerusalem, West Bank and the Gaza Strip," Ishida said.
  Components of the proposals include:
  + the provision of food relief supplies to families who have lost
their income sources;
  + the provision of medical supplies and emergency kits to
hospitals and clinics, as well as to rural villages that have no access
to main hospitals;
  + the provision of medical apparatus for assisting and/or
rehabilitating the physically impaired; and,
  + trauma counseling.
  The funds sent by the ELCA will help support the relief efforts
coordinated through ACT.  The ELCA International Disaster Response sent
$35,000 to support the work of Augusta Victoria Hospital, located on the
Mount of Olives; $10,000 for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan
(and Palestine); $10,000 to Lutheran World Relief (LWR) to assist
Palestinian hospitals in Gaza; and, $5,000 for MECC.  LWR works overseas
in relief and development on behalf of the ELCA and The Lutheran
Church-Missouri Synod.
  Members of the ELCA contribute funds to the church's International
Disaster Response fund.  Coordinated through the ELCA Division for
Global Mission, International Disaster Response helps relief agencies
provide funds for food, medicine, drinking water, emergency shelter and
other materials and supplies.  Funds are also used to rebuild
communities and to repair structures destroyed by major disasters.      
  Augusta Victoria Hospital, owned and operated by the Lutheran
World Federation, has "always been a key facility to which the
Palestinian population has looked for medical treatment.  The hospital
has been prepared for the worst in the midst of a tense atmosphere,"
Ishida said.  Lutheran World Federation is a global communion of 131
member churches in 72 countries, representing 59.5 million of the
world's 63 million Lutherans.
  "Augusta Victoria is operating as best it can considering the
restrictions on entry into Jerusalem imposed by the Israeli
authorities," Ishida said.
  "The hospital is not able to get patient referrals or to schedule
diagnostic or surgical procedures because of the ongoing closures.  Part
of the problem is hospital staff not being able to come to work due to
these closures.  Clinics of the primary health care system in Palestine,
the LWF's Village Health Clinics in particular, are unable to function
because health care providers cannot access their clinics in the West
Bank villages," he said.
  The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan (and Palestine)
continues to struggle not just in the context of the current crisis, but
also in terms of the ongoing difficulties of being a small church in an
unsettled situation, Ishida said.  "Many young Palestinians have been
the victims of violence."
  The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan (ELCJ) has 3,000 members
in six congregations in Amman, Jordan; Beit Jala; Beir Sahour;
Bethlehem; East Jerusalem; and Ramallah.  The ELCJ is the only
"indigenous" Lutheran church in the Middle East.  The church joined LWF
in 1974.
  In an open letter to the ELCA issued Oct. 25, the Rev. Munib A.
Younan, bishop of the ELCJ, said, "As the Lutheran bishop in Jerusalem,
I appeal to you, as sisters and brothers in Christ, do not leave us
alone."
  In his letter, Younan called for "international protection for the
Palestinian people." Among other items, he asked the ELCA to "pray for
the Christian churches in Jerusalem and their prophetic role for a
lasting, comprehensive, just peace and reconciliation in our area."
  Younan asked the 5.15 million members of the ELCA to assign Nov. 5
as "Sunday for special prayers, solidarity and support for the Christian
witness and mission of the ELCJ and for the children who are living in
horror and fear in our country." He also asked the ELCA to pray for
"peace in the land of the Resurrection."
-- -- --
INTERNATIONAL DISASTERS:

When listing organizations receiving funds for aid to survivors of major
disasters outside the United States, Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin
Islands, please include:

ELCA International Disaster Response
PO Box 71764
Chicago, IL 60694-1764
1-800-638-3522

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html