On January 8, I received a call from Bishop Azar from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL) asking me to come for a solidarity visit to help lift their spirits. On January 20, I was on a plane on my way to Jerusalem and visited there and in the West Bank until my return on the 28th. Here is some of what I experienced.
First, everyone either has family or knows someone who is in Gaza. So, they have literally seen through social media or heard of displacements, injuries and deaths. Everyone is grieving someone in Gaza.
There is a huge amount of fear and anxiety that the war will spread to Jerusalem and the West Bank. This was iterated by everyone I spoke with, but most apparent when I spoke with the social workers in two of the ELCJHL Schools, Dar Al-Kalima in Bethlehem and the School of Hope in Ramallah.
Children are particularly afraid. Many will no longer sleep alone. Some have reverted to bedwetting. Children worry about what will happen if the war starts while they are away from their family—at school or on the way to and from school. My heart broke when I heard these stories and saw the children.
There are signs of increased hostility in both Jerusalem and the West Bank. Settlers have been given arms, including settlers in Jerusalem. It is not uncommon to see civilians carrying automatic rifles. Many checkpoints into the West Bank have been closed and roads within the West Bank are closed on a random basis.
This makes travel extremely difficult. It means students have trouble getting to the Lutheran World Federation Vocational Training Programs for their classes. It means patients are having difficulty reaching Augusta Victoria Hospital (AVH) for dialysis or cancer treatments. It means the mobile units of AVH like the mammography unit are curtailed in where they can access.
I spoke with the heads of both the Lutheran and Catholic Diaconal programs in the West Bank. They are seeing increased poverty and even the beginning of some starvation.
Most incomes in the West Bank are based on tourism. That source of funding has been cut off by the war. Those that had permits to work in Jerusalem have had their permits revoked so that is another source of funding cut off. And finally, those who work for the Palestinian Authority (PA) are only receiving partial salaries as Israel is holding off international funding to the PA.
I spoke with the head of the Gender Justice Program. Despite the excellent progress they have been making, the stresses of war, poverty and fear are leading to an increase of gender-based violence.
I spoke with the pastors of the ELCJHL. They are all exhausted. The pastoral care needs have been off the chart. They must deal with their own anxiety including that of their families. It is hard to continually answer the question, “where is God?”
Their assurance that God is with people —those in the rubble, those who are injured, those who have died, those who are ill, those who are being marginalized, those who are being oppressed is comforting, but not always enough.
But the first and last thing I heard from everyone I spoke with was thank you for coming. Thank you to your church for sending you. We have felt so cut off and alone.
This is what accompaniment is about. Being with each other in the difficult times as well as the times of joy. Some of the ELCJHL partners have suspended their funding at this time. Some individuals in partner organizations have made cruel accusations about our Palestinian partner church. We are needed now more than ever.
I promised our ongoing love and support. I told them of our fundraising efforts through the ELCJHL Appeal.
And I promised them on our ongoing prayers. Please join me in keeping the ELCJHL, Bishop Sani Azar, Pastors Munther, Imad, Ashraf, Fursan, Sally and Rodny, their schools and ministries in your prayers.
Please, if you have not already done so, make a donation to the ELCJHL appeal! Your donations allow the ELCJHL continue its important ministry.
Rev. Susan Johnson
National Bishop
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