Restrictions on aid delivery and movement of people in Gaza have caused shortages of essential supplies, including food and medical care. Poor sanitary conditions have led to disease outbreaks, which have been increasing the need for medical services and straining medical staff. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, an estimated 40,000 Palestinians have died and 1.9 million have been displaced.

With this ongoing violence, displacement, supply shortages, and loss of livelihoods affecting communities in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, the Diocese of Jerusalem (which encompasses all of Israel, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon) identified five of its pre-existing ministries that were well positioned to make a difference. In addition to supporting health services at Al-Ahli Arab Hospital, this project also enabled people in the West Bank to access healthcare at St. Luke’s Hospital in Nablus and Penman Clinic in Jenin, along with maintaining access to school for children at the National Kindergarten in Nablus and St. George’s School in East Jerusalem.

The project supported 1,502 at-risk families and successfully reduced mortality rates through early detection and intervention and provided quality education for 125 children.

Support of Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza has made it possible for medical staff to provide critical care to those in need. The Diocese of Jerusalem shares the story of Ahmed, 35, one of the many patients who was injured during an Israel Defence Force military operation in Gaza. Ahmed underwent urgent surgery at Al-Ahli Hospital, where the medical team made every effort to save his leg. Thanks to their expertise and dedication, the operation was a success, and Ahmed received the necessary physical therapy to recover. The hospital provided all treatment and care, free of charge.

Yaser, a father of five, struggled to provide for his family after losing his job due to the war. When his youngest son, Saed, fell ill with a severe respiratory condition, the family turned to St. Luke’s Hospital. The hospital provided Saed with necessary treatment, including medication and respiratory therapy, at no cost. Saed recovered, and Yaser, grateful for the hospital’s care, offered his time and skills to help with repairs and maintenance of the hospital building.

The National Kindergarten in Nablus provides early childhood education and care to local families. Despite the challenges posed by the war, the kindergarten has continued to operate, offering a safe environment for young children. Recently, the kindergarten welcomed Mustafa and Malak, four-year-old twins who needed a supportive and stimulating environment. With the help of the kindergarten, the twins have begun to thrive, and their family has expressed gratitude for the support and care they have received during this time.

Besides supporting the Diocese of Jerusalem, PWRDF has allocated $100,000 from its equity in the Canadian Foodgrains Bank to a food assistance project in Gaza, led by the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC). This project is a result of the Humanitarian Coalition’s fundraising campaign in the fall of 2023 and has already begun distributing essential food packages to those in need.

How you can help
Please continue to pray for the people affected by this conflict. You can also donate to PWRDF’s Gaza and West Bank Emergency Appeal found on our Give Today page. You can also donate by phone at 416-822-9083 (or leave a message toll-free at 1-866-308-7973 and PWRDF staff will return your call) or by mail. Send your cheque to PWRDF, 80 Hayden Street, 3rd Floor, Toronto, ON, Canada, M4Y 3G2. Please indicate “Gaza and West Bank” in the memo field.

 Photo and article courtesy of PWRDF.

The post PWRDF health care and education support benefitting people in Gaza and the West Bank appeared first on Perspective.

“Words fail to convey how heavily the stories of violence and despair emerging from Gaza weigh on our hearts,” said Nelani Colletti, a student intern at the church, reading the opening words for the service. “Alongside Palestinian Christians and their churches many of us have been working and praying for justice for the Palestinian people for years. Now, with countless others around the world, we share the outrage, grief, and sense of helplessness this recent violence and war have awakened. But for the last five months it seems that we, as siblings in Christ and our Churches have been silent before the world, and we recognize that in this case, remaining silent is itself a form of violence. Tonight, we gather. Rooted in truth, compassion and justice, we come to lament, to confess, to ask for forgiveness, to find comfort and to be challenged. Seeking hope, we come to bear witness to the reality of injustice, oppression, and violence. We come to be silent, to sing, to pray.”

The vigil featured readings from Scripture, prayers and hymns, which were led and accompanied by an ecumenical trio of musicians; Anneli Loepp Thiessen, Ottawa Mennonite, vocals and piano; Charlie Edholm (guitar), St. Alban’s Anglican Church; and the Rev. Colin McFarland, St. Margaret’s Anglican Church (violin). Thiessen introduced one of the most beautiful and moving songs explaining that was co-written by a Palestinian woman named Manal Hreib and an Israeli Jewish singer-songwriter Daphna Rosenberg, and it has been sung in Arabic, Hebrew and English at Israeli-Palestinian gatherings. The songwriters generously shared the song to accompany the prayers for peace.

Between darkness and light, I will always walk,

And wherever I will go,

I will open the window of light

and will plant the seeds of love.

The service centred on excerpts from two open letters written by church leaders. The first was written by an ecumenical group of Palestinian church leaders to the Western Church soon after the war began escalating in Gaza in the fall, and the second was written by an ecumenical working group of Canadian church leaders in response.

The Rev. Anthony Bailey and Huda Kandalaft from Parkdale United Church read some excerpts from the letter from the Palestinian church leaders, written last fall as the war in Gaza began escalating following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack in Israel.

Words fail to express our shock and grief to the on-going violence and war in our land. We deeply mourn the death and suffering of all people. We are also profoundly troubled when the name of God is invoked to promote violence and religious national ideologies….

We condemn all attacks on civilians, especially defenseless families and children. Yet, we are disturbed by the silence of many church leaders and theologians when it is Palestinian civilians who are killed. …

We find courage in the solidarity we receive from the crucified Christ, and we find hope in the empty tomb. We are steadfast in our hope, resilient in our witness, and continue to be committed to the Gospel of faith, hope, and love, in the face of tyranny and darkness. In the absence of all hope, we cry out our cry of hope.

A working group from the United Church of Canada, the Mennonite Central Committee, The Presbyterian Church in Canada, Roman Catholic groups, the Anglican Church of Canada, and other ecumenical groups wrote a letter in response in December. The Rev. Canon Gary van der Meer from St. John the Evangelist and Heather Paton from St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church read some excerpts from the letter:

Dear Palestinian friends in Christ — We, have heard your Call for Repentance and
respond with contrite hearts and deep sorrow for the ways we have failed God, you, and all who are our family in faith in the land of the Holy One.

We decry the devastating loss of life in Gaza, particularly the deaths of thousands of children. We condemn the lack of moral and political leadership from our government. …

As followers of Jesus, who taught love and compassion, we condemn all violence. We condemn the violent actions of Hamas in killing innocent civilians. We condemn the brutal and disproportionate acts of violence by the Israeli military intent on ethnically cleansing Gaza of Palestinians….

To our shame, we have fallen short in living out costly solidarity. We commit to working with various groups, churches, and grassroots ecumenical organizations to amplify and strengthen our solidarity with you….

We commit to continue advocating to our federal government for a permanent ceasefire and for a process that will lead to a just peace. We commit to continuing to pray for you and your people.

Fr. Tim Nelligan of Blessed Sacrament Parish and Andy Brubacher Kaethler of the Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary led this prayer:

Every day, every hour the situation in Gaza, in the West Bank and within Israel gets worse. We pray for doctors, nurses, ambulance drivers, aid workers and all who are trying to alleviate suffering are working under extreme duress.  As they run towards the danger with help and acts of kindness and care may they too be comforted.

We lament every child who has been maimed, injured, or killed. Those who lost their parents, family members, everything they have ever known and. those who continue to be in harm’s way. Those who are still alive are traumatized and fearful. They face dehydration, starvation, and illness.

We pray for Israeli families with a member killed or taken hostage. We pray for Palestinian mothers and fathers in Gaza who stand in the midst of chaos, powerlessness, looking for food for their families, and a safe shelter for their children. Overwhelmed with loss—loss of life, loss of homes, loss of safety and security, they also search for hope.

We pray that those who have power to change the trajectory of violence and unfolding genocide, will hear our cry. We call for world leaders to use their leverage to stop the Israeli government’s ongoing massacre of the innocents in Gaza and return hostages to their homes. Teach them and us to resolve injustices with righteousness, not rockets. Guard hearts against retaliation and give hearts for love alone.

Carrying mini electric candles, all those gathered processed out of the church for more songs and prayers at the nearby Human Rights Monument in downtown Ottawa. The service was live-streamed and can still be viewed here.

The full text of the letters from Church leaders is available here.

Read more:

Dean Richard Sewell shares view of the war in Gaza and Israel and urgent need for ceasefire

The post Praying for peace appeared first on Perspective.

The current war in Israel and Gaza has cost too many civilian lives and has displaced too many more, with too many children left without families to care for them. It seems trite to mention how tourism has been flattened by the conflict, but many Palestinian and Israeli livelihoods depend on it. For the tiny Christian population in the Holy Land, no tourism also means increased isolation, and that is of concern—because Christians there are in large part Arab, in large part Palestinian, and their very existence is threatened by the violence and instability between Israel and Palestine.

Pilgrimages to the Land of the Holy One have been a cherished part of my spiritual life over the last 20 years—especially the ones I have had the privilege of leading. Bringing pilgrims to the places where the Gospel readings we hear from Sunday to Sunday become grounded in the “fifth Gospel” of the land itself has been wonderful. It has been deeply good to see participants transform from tourists to pilgrims as familiar readings are heard in the places, plants, water, sky, wind, air, and vistas of the land where Jesus walked.

But the most cherished part of my time in the troubled land of the Holy One—and this is true for many in our diocese who have been pilgrims—are the friendships with our siblings who live there. They are the ones who carry forward the faith of the very first Christians, and they are a visible sign of the presence of Jesus Christ in the land where he was born, lived, died, and rose from the dead. 

A year ago, I led a pilgrimage that underlined for me the importance of staying connected with fellow Christians in Palestine and Israel. It was the first time I was there as a bishop, and I was struck by how many local Anglican clergy knew I was coming. Normally, pilgrimages are tightly scheduled, with a careful mix of holy sites and meeting people to gain a better understanding of the Palestinian and Israeli narratives. (My dear friend, Archbishop Hosam Naoum, Primate of Jerusalem and the Middle East, tells pilgrims, “Please don’t divide us further. Listen, understand both narratives, as confusing as that is, and pray for the peace of Jerusalem”). I realized some of the clergy really wanted to meet with me and my group of pilgrims, but, regrettably, I had not planned for that.

One priest followed our bus for a great distance in order to meet up with us. When he did, he said, “Tell everyone we Christians are here: we are the living stones—we are not dead we are alive. Do not forget us.” I will never forget his determined effort to be seen and heard by me and my pilgrim group.

I was in Jerusalem for Palm Sunday last year, having spent the previous three weeks immersed in renewing old friendships and making a pilgrimage happen. On the Saturday before Palm Sunday, I went with Archbishop Hosam to Ramallah for a graduation ceremony at a secondary school operated by the Diocese of Jerusalem. As I watched the happy faces of the students lining up for photographs, I could not help but wonder how many would remain in the Holy Land. I suspect the current conflict will prompt many to consider their options, leaving even fewer Christians there.

For those who do remain, the commitment of our diocese and other churches around the world to maintain active relationships with Christians in Israel and Palestine is important and greatly appreciated. Inshalla, I will return again before too long, to remind cherished friends they are not forgotten.

The post “We are the living stones….Do not forget us” appeared first on Perspective.

“[My] sisters and brothers in Christ, I appeal to you to first of all to pray for our mission here, as well for the peace of Jerusalem (Psalm 122:6). Secondly, advocate with your representatives for a just and lasting peace in the Holy Land, so that all who dwell within these lands can live in security.

Finally, if you are able, support our ministries in Gaza, Palestine and Israel, and throughout the Diocese of Jerusalem by contributing financially through one of our international partners.

Archbishop Welby began his part of the appeal by writing, “As war devastates the Holy Land, we ask where Christ is to be found amid the cries of His children.”  Also urging those who are able to support the work of the Al Ahli hospital and contribute to the Gaza appeal, he added, “Please, continue to pray for those who mourn, those who are in pain, and those who are in fear, and for those who are caring for the injured and bereaved.”

The post Archbishops of Canterbury and Jerusalem issue a joint appeal for the Diocese of Jerusalem appeared first on Perspective.