Palestinian Lutheran pastor to receive 'German Media Award'

[<NEWS@ELCA.ORG>]

Title: Palestinian Lutheran pastor to receive 'German Media Award'
ELCA NEWS SERVICE

>January 22, 2012  

Palestinian Lutheran pastor to receive 'German Media Award'
12-01-MRC

CHICAGO (ELCA) - Dr. Mitri Raheb, pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran
Christmas Church in Bethlehem, will receive the German Media Prize award
Feb. 24 for his work in founding educational, cultural and health care
institutions and his commitment to inter-faith dialogue and peacemaking
in the Middle East.

"Mitri Raheb is a pastor with passion in proclaiming the gospel of
Jesus Christ. Persistently working for a lasting, just peace in the
Middle East, Pastor Raheb is a visionary leader who has created new
pathways in the areas of education, employment and health care," said the
Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church
in America (ELCA).

"This deserved recognition of Pastor Raheb is testimony to the
global leadership shared by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and
the Holy Land, and the ELCA remains committed to accompanying this
partner church," he said.

The Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church is one of six
congregations of the 2,000-member Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan
and the Holy Land. The denomination is the only Arabic-speaking Lutheran
church in the world and the only indigenous Lutheran Church in the Middle
East. The church and ELCA engage in ministry together in a variety of
ways, and both are members of The Lutheran World Federation based in
Geneva.

In 1988 Raheb became pastor of Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church
and founded the International Center of Bethlehem in 1995. The center
includes the Dar al-Kalima Health and Wellness Center, which focuses on
general preventive medicine, community health awareness and psychological
health issues associated with the current situation in Palestine.

Raheb also founded the Dar al-Kalima School and Academy in
Bethlehem. Together with the International Center of Bethlehem, the
school and academy have become the second largest private employer in the
Bethlehem area.

The Mission Investment Fund, a financial ministry of the ELCA,
provided a loan to support the construction of Dar al-Kalima College in
Bethlehem. The loan is the Mission Investment Fund's first to an ELCA
global partner.

According to Raheb, the college is an answer to the current shortage
of higher education institutions in Palestine and "a beacon of hope for
future generations." Raheb is president of Bright Stars of Bethlehem, a
not-for-profit organization based in the United States that is
instrumental in securing funding for the college.

"We wanted to contribute to empowering generations of Palestinians
and help strengthen this vital ministry of the ELCA's companion, the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land," said Eva Roby,
president and CEO of the Mission Investment Fund.

"The ELCA's relationship with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
Jordan and the Holy Land is long-standing and deep, and we are proud to
have relationships with each of the pastors in that church and to
accompany them as they seek to respond to the needs of their context,"
said the Rev. Robert Smith, ELCA program director for the Middle East and
North Africa and coordinator of the Peace Not Walls Campaign.

Born in Bethlehem, Raheb received his undergraduate degree in
protestant theology from the Hermannsburg Mission Seminary in Germany and
earned a master's degree and doctorate in theology at Philipps University
Marburg there.

He has written numerous articles, essays and books that concentrate
on inter-religious dialogue, contextual theology, church history,
biblical interpretation and issues related to the civil society.

Raheb will receive the 2011 German Media Prize along with three
others in Baden-Baden, Germany.

>---

About the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America:
The ELCA is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United
States, with 4.2 million members in 10,000 congregations across the 50
states and in the Caribbean region. Known as the church of "God's work.
Our hands," the ELCA emphasizes the saving grace of God through faith in
Jesus Christ, unity among Christians and service in the world. The ELCA's
roots are in the writings of the German church reformer, Martin Luther.

>For information contact:
>Melissa Ramirez Cooper
>773-380-2956 or Melissa.RamirezCooper@ELCA.org
>http://www.ELCA.org/news
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