“Coffee with Our Missionaries”

by Pastor Wade

“And when we take your gifts to those who need them, they will thank God. So, two things will result from this ministry of giving – the needs of the believers in Jerusalem will be met, and they will joyfully express their thanks to God!”  As a result of your ministry, they will give glory to God!” 
1 Corinthians 9:11-13

It is a cup of coffee I was looking forward to but didn’t get to have this past winter.  Last year I shared with you and opportunity to tour the Holy Land, to make a pilgrimage to the land of our Lord and walk where he walked when on earth. While we were there I had hoped to have a cup of coffee with the missionaries our congregation supports through its offerings.  Pastor Mark and Marcia Holman serve at Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in Jerusalem.  I am sure the coffee would have been rich and dark (taken in small cups because of this fact) and the conversation about life in Jerusalem would have been fascinating.  Well…it was not to be.  The changing of the economy and a rise of tension last summer in Israel put such a trip on hold.  We were not able to make that trip nor share that cup of coffee.

The good news, however, is that Israel is coming to us…sort of.  Pastor Mark and Marcia have returned to the United States for the summer months and are presently spending time visiting the congregations that support their ministry with the Lutheran Christian community in Jerusalem.  They will be with us in our worship on Saturday and Sunday, July 18th and 19th and will be speaking to the challenges and opportunities for ministry in Palestine, the ancient name for the land of God’s chosen people.  It is an opportunity that I hope you will not miss!
 
Even though Israel is the birthplace of our Lord among us and the birthplace of our Christian faith, it is not easy to be Christian in that land today.  The Christian community, mostly Palistinian, is often marginalized by the Israeli leadership and now makes up less than 2% of the population of Israel.  Not wanting to deal with the persecution they often experience, many Christians have emigrated to other countries.  Those who remain are deeply in need of the encouragement of the larger Christian Community.  The Holmans are a part of that encouragement that we Lutherans in the United States extend to our brothers and sisters in that far off, but special land.  As a congregation, we support their ministry with our gifts and our prayers.

There is much we do not know, however, but them and their ministry, and much we do not know about the land in which they serve.  Again, we will be afforded a rare opportunity to hear from them and to visit with them during their time here in the U.S.  Here are a few tidbits about the history and ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL):

Mission – God calls the ELCJHL to proclaim the gospel within an Arab context in the Holy Lands.  This proclamation of the kingdom of God and the message of salvation is to Arabs, including Palestinians, and is expressed both through witnessing to the Gospel as well as through diakonia (service).  God calls the ELCJHL to serve the poorest of the poor and to care for people who have suffered long because of the difficult political situation in this area.
History – The ELC in Jerusalem – working in Palestine, Jordan and Israel – grew out of mission schools and orphanages initiated by European missions in the mid-19th century.  People became interested in Lutheran teachings and eventually established congregations.  Redeemer Lutheran Church, founded in 1898 in Jerusalem, became a hub of church activities, serving Arab, German, and English-speaking members.

You can learn more about this ministry and the people it serves by visiting http://www.holyland-lutherans.org

Perhaps I have whetted your appetite to hear more from the Holmans and to be encouraged and challenged by our connection with the vibrant Christian Community that is so much larger than what we experience in our local community.  We will join in prayer and worship and hopefully have time for that cup of coffee, too!

Following and serving with you,

Pastor Wade

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