Mission Interpreters We say THANK YOU and SHARE MISSION SUPPORT STORIES. October 2018 Mission Support CHURCHWIDE Mission Interpreters Orientation Opportunities October 28 th --Pizza Ranch, LeMars, 12 p.m. November 10 th --St. John, Carroll, 11-12 or 12:30-1:30 November 11 th --Emanuel Lutheran, Council Bluffs, 3 p.m. SYNODS CONGREGATIONS INDIVIDUALS When Disaster Strikes! When Hurricane Sandy struck, we all saw pictures of flooded homes and massive devastation. Our hearts went out to those folks, but how could we help? The agency of our church that helps people when a disaster strikes is called Lutheran Disaster Response (LDR). It collaborates with other disaster response organizations and religious entities in the United States and around the world, enabling efficient use of resources and maximum impact. But what sets LDR apart from other relief agencies? Former ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson once remarked that "in the event of a disaster, the first to show up is the Red Cross but the last to leave is Lutheran Disaster Response." The point is that LDR remains in place to meet the needs of victims of disaster until they get back on their feet. Hurricane Consider the ordeal of Gilbert Johnson, a blind 70-year old widower victim of Hurricane Sandy who was helped by Lutheran Disaster Response case manager, Yussef Parris. Gilbert s home had been declared unsafe by FEMA six months earlier. The house was dark and foul smelling. Gilbert explained that he had lost electricity and heat after the storm but had declined the federal agency s offer of emergency rental assistance. He did not trust the government s promises of help, and he was unable to see well enough to fill out forms. Occasionally, neighbors invited him over for a hot shower and a meal, but he passed the winter mostly alone in the cold, dark and moldy interior of his home. Yussef went to work quickly. He first gave Gilbert a food relief box and a referral to the local food bank of Lutheran Social Services. Walking together through the well-stocked shelves, Yussef read the labels aloud, helping Gilbert select various food and household products. Together Yussef and Gilbert charted a plan for recovery, which included different housing arrangements for Gilbert during house repairs. The plan also included processing insurance claims and emergency assistance forms, as well as sorting out important financial documents and putting together a bill payment plan. I was skeptical. I didn t trust anybody to help me, Gilbert told Yussef. But you ve proven to me that you will advocate for me you re on my side. Yussef and the long-term disaster recovery organizations are walking with Gilbert on his journey to rebuild his home and his life. He is eager to get back into his home and is very grateful. I never could have imaged this; it is better than I ever could have dreamed. Now I have hope.
We know that God has promised to be with us in all of life s difficulties. Lutheran Disaster Response embodies this promise by walking hand in hand with people to move them from hopelessness to hope. Through your contributions to our congregation, as well as your special gifts to LDR, you make this work possible. Approximately 5% of the contributions you give to your congregation are passed on to the ELCA. These Mission Support dollars are used to support the administrative structures of our church (such as LDR) that carry out the work of the church that we do together. The special gifts from individual members are extra donations that are given specifically to Lutheran Disaster Response and fund their work in the field. At any time, you can make out a check to your congregation with Lutheran Disaster Response in the memo line and know that 100% of the funds will be sent to LDR. California Fires Lutheran Disaster Response (LDR) brings God s hope, healing and renewal to people whose lives have been disrupted by disasters in the United States and around the world. When the dust settles and the headlines change, LDR stays to provide ongoing assistance to those in need. The main impact of LDR s work is on those individual people who are immediately affected by disaster. Consider the comments of Rev. Michael Stadie, U.S. Program Director for LDR, who recently traveled to California to accompany the communities impacted by the recent wildfires. When I recently visited California, I knew I wanted to visit some of those whose homes were destroyed by the fires. That is one of the most important things Lutheran Disaster Response staff do when visiting areas impacted by a disaster visit not only with those who are responding but with the survivors as well. We want to make sure they know LDR and the ELCA cares about what happened to them, make sure they know they are not in our blind spot. While I had seen the pictures taken from the air of the destruction, seeing it from the ground was even worse than I had imagined. It was stunning to see for block after block the charred remains of peoples homes During my visit, I heard many stories of how at 1:00 or so in the morning, people were awakened and told to flee for their lives. One of the hardest stories for me to hear was the one where the gentleman heard the evacuation order and got his family in the car, and promptly got stuck in a traffic jam with all the others who were evacuating. He shared that as he was waiting in traffic, he saw the back of his neighbor s home catch on fire and when he saw that, he knew his home would be destroyed. 2
Stories like these are being told by the survivors. These traumatic events mean while people may recover physically with a new home, it will take a very long time, if at all, for people to recover emotionally and spiritually. And what is true of the people in California is also true for all those impacted by the hurricanes. With all of the disasters the past few months, please remember to keep the survivors in your prayers. And please pray for their emotional and spiritual well-being. While it is easy to be concerned about their physical needs, we are also called to be concerned about a person in their entirety. And Lutheran Disaster Response is working with the local affiliates and synods to address the emotional and spiritual needs as well as the physical one. Lutheran Disaster Response strives to help the ELCA continue to be Church in the midst of disaster following Christ s call to bring hope and healing to our neighbor in need. The latest storm in a deadly hurricane season, Hurricane Michael, brought dangerous winds, heavy rainfall and storm surge to our neighbors. The storm made landfall with winds upwards of 150 miles per hour. Our gifts ensure that our church will be able to provide help and hope for those whose homes have been devastated or who have been otherwise affected by Hurricane Michael. Lutheran Disaster Response continues to monitor the aftereffects of Hurricane Michael and is coordinating its response with Lutheran Services Florida, the Florida-Bahamas Synod, as well as our partners and affiliates in other potentially impacted areas. As a church, we re ready to stand by our neighbors as they recover from this storm. Stay connected to the latest events and our response to this and other disasters through the Lutheran Disaster Response Facebook page. 3
Seeing God s Work in the Holy Land Are there really Christians in Palestine? The short answer is that there have been Christians there since the time of Jesus and, while their numbers have gone up and down, they are still there 200,000 in the state of Israel and more than 50,000 in the occupied West Bank and Gaza. Our ELCA is in partnership with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL), a small church body of 2,000 members in six congregations that makes a large impact on the region. Jerusalem Carrie Smith is the pastor of the International Church in Jerusalem, an English-speaking Christian congregation in the Lutheran tradition. She is supported as a missionary by the ELCA and serves not only the congregation s members and programs but also as a resource to the ELCJHL. The ELCJHL in runs four schools in the West Bank. These schools serve more than 2,500 students, both Christian and Muslim, boys and girls, in an environment that fosters peace and understanding. Bethlehem Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb is the pastor at the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem and President of the Diyar Consortium, an ecumenical organization serving primarily young people and the elderly in Bethlehem. The work of this group is to develop the talents of youth through education and cultural activities. While this work is not directly supported by our church it is indicative of the efforts to foster a life abundant for the people of Palestine. Lutheran World Federation Lutheran World Federation is an organization based out of Geneva, Switzerland. There are at present 148 member churches in 99 countries of the Lutheran tradition. Our Bishop Eaton is the vice-president of the North America region. LWF re-opened Augusta Victoria Hospital in 1949. Augusta Victoria Hospital Augusta Victoria Hospital on the Mount of Olives overlooks Jerusalem. The hospital was built in the early 1900s by Germans and taken over by the British after WW I. After the War of Israeli Independence in 1948, neither the British nor the new state of Israel would run this hospital which, at that time, was the only one to serve the Palestinian people. The newly formed Lutheran World Federation (LWF) stepped up in 1949 to open Augusta Victoria to care for this population, both Muslim and Christian without discrimination. Augusta Victoria Hospital 4
Today, the hospital is still run by LWF and several other small specialized hospitals serve Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza. Augusta Victoria specializes in cancer care for both adults and children and in treating kidney disease and it is still the only hospital open to the 4.2 million Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza who need this care. The hospital is partially funded by the Palestinian Authority, but it depends on support from the US government, the EU and from Lutherans around the world. ELCA promotes Peace not Walls You may be surprised to know that our ELCA takes a position on the situation in Israel and Palestine. The ELCA is working for justice and peace in Palestine and Israel through the campaign called Peace Not Walls. Through accompaniment, advocacy and awareness-raising, Peace Not Walls connects ELCA members to our companions and promotes dignity, full respect for human rights, healing and reconciliation. A Palestinian girl being treated for renal failure at Augusta Victoria Hospital in East Jerusalem. The East Jerusalem Hospital Network, which includes August Victoria, said a U.S. decision to cut $25 million in aid will cause great harm. Report from the Conference of Bishops Addressing concerns about the Trump administration freezing $25 million in funding to Palestinian hospitals including Augusta Victoria Hospital in east Jerusalem., the conference issued a statement that strongly affirms ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton s Sept. 6 letter to Secretary of State Michael Pompeo, calling for the release of $25 million of U.S. FY 2017 funding that will help to ensure that there is no interruption in the treatment of Palestinians at the East Jerusalem hospitals. The statement urged the president to instruct the U.S. Department of State to release this vital funding so these patients will receive the treatment and care they need. Washington Post By William Booth and Sufian Taha May 26, 2017 There are many ways to tally the human costs of the Israeli occupation, which began 50 years ago in June. Israel has faced rockets and three wars with the Islamist movement Hamas in Gaza, whose members deny Israel s right to exist. Israelis endured two Palestinian uprisings, the second marked by suicide-bomb attacks against civilians. More recently there was a wave of knife and vehicular assaults. Thousands of Israelis have died in Palestinian attacks. This is why Israelis say they need walls and permits. On the other side, Palestinians in 2017 live their lives under a cone of control that they say Israelis or Americans would rebel against. There are checkpoints, walls and more than a hundred kinds of permits that a Palestinian needs to enter Israel. An automobile needs a permit. What is a permit for a Palestinian? A permit is required for a sick Palestinian to go to a Palestinian hospital in East Jerusalem. A permit is required for a son to be by his mother s side in a cancer ward here. 5
Israel annexed East Jerusalem years ago. Palestinians consider this half of the city occupied territory. Israel says all of Jerusalem is theirs eternal and undivided. Israel often highlights its generosity toward the Palestinians, especially their access to top-flight Israeli hospitals care that the Palestinians, or their American and European patrons, pay for. Left unsaid is the fact that Palestinians come to Israel because health care in the West Bank is substandard. It s even worse in the impoverished Gaza Strip, which suffers from strict trade and travel restrictions imposed by Israel and Egypt and is ruled by the Islamist militant movement Hamas, a terrorist organization. Last year, the Palestinian Health Ministry sent 4,500 patients from the West Bank and Gaza to Israeli hospitals. It sent an additional 20,000 to the six hospitals in East Jerusalem, institutions such as Augusta Victoria Hospital. Walid Nammour, director of the Victoria hospital, told us, Believe me, we would go to the moon to get our people the care they need. Nammour praised Israeli doctors. He called an Israeli medical coordinator, who works round the clock to help get medical permits for his Palestinian patients, a saint, an angel. Nammour said the cooperation between Jewish, Christian and Muslim medical workers is a model for how to put aside decades of hatred and suspicion, and to make peace together. An update on Always Being Made New: The Campaign for the ELCA Four years ago, we launched Always Being Made New: The Campaign for the ELCA with a bold and daring goal of raising $198 million in a five-year span a significant increase in support for existing and new ministries. As of July 31, the campaign has received $198 million for campaign priorities; $160 million in cash and commitments and $38 million in planned gifts. The period of the campaign has been extended an additional five months to June 30, 2019 Barb Brennan, Mission Interpreter barb.brennan@wisynod.org (712) 260-3364 cell, (712) 859-3503 home Pastor Jeff Ungs, Director for Evangelical Mission (our DEM)/Assistant to the Bishop jeff.ungs.rev@wisynod.org (712) 732-4968 (ext. 449) (641) 529 2479 (cell)