Pastor Timm meeting with Bishop Munib Younan of the ELCJHL
On Friday, July 25th, Marilyn and I met with Bishop Dr. Munib Younan, bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL). He received us quite graciously and gave us his welcome to the Holy Land. The ELCJHL has six churches here in Amman, Bethlehem, Beit Sahour, Beit Jala, Jerusalem, and Ramallah. Their ministries include a number of schools and programs like the ones I described in my comments on our visit to Bethlehem. Their mission includes teaching, witnessing for justice, creating hope, peace-building, and keeping local Christians in the Holy Land.
After talking about mutual acquaintances (Bishop Younan has worked with our synod’s Working Group for Middle East Peace and Rev. Paul Koch and Del Leppke; he knows Pastors Said Aelabouni and Gabi Aelabouni whose families hail from Galilee; his son worked as an intern in the ELCA’s Global Unit when Marilyn worked there), I asked him what message we should take back to the United States. Part of what he said was to agree that most people here (60% or so) desire peace. The question is what sort of peace; along with other peace activists Bishop Younan favors, not the ”Israelization” of the land, but a two-state solution with a shared Jerusalem. He also believes that peace will be fostered, not “from above” — that is, with grandiose, all-encompassing programs — but “from below” — that is, through grass roots programs that may seem small but that develop lasting, peace-building relationships. He talked about some of the needs the ELCJHL has, especially to help children in need in their schools. One of the concerns I’ve heard from several sources is the drain of Palestinian Christians from the land; he hopes for ways to keep Christians here because of a real concern that the Christian presence in the Holy Land may be lost. And he asked for our prayers.
The ELCJHL is quite small, but I believe its influence far exceeds its size. Bishop Younan and his churchbody are open to working with people of other Christian groups and other faith traditions. He is known for his stands for peace and justice. He has been mentioned favorably by the Rector and Vice-Rector of Tantur (both Roman Catholics), by the Muslim professor who spoke to us earlier on Friday, and by the Jewish professor who spoke with us on Thursday — the current president of the Jerusalem Conference for Jewish-Christian Relations, who quoted Bishop Younan: “As long as you believe in a living God, you must have hope” Amen.
