Anglican Diocese of Jerusalem—February Newsletter

by Global Ministries | published on Oct 10, 2014

Lent offers us all a very special opportunity to grow in our relationship with God, to deepen our commitment to a way of life that is entirely rooted in love and forgiveness. Lent is first and foremost a season of repentance and of seeking to understand what our real needs are and what the world requires in order to be truly embedded in God’s love. In Lent we are once more reminded that in order to be truly God’s disciples, we need to take up our cross and follow Him.

Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?

Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter –
when you see the naked, to clothe him,
and not to turn away from your
own flesh and blood?

Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you,
and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
Then you will call, and he will answer;
You will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.

(Isaiah 58:6-9)

Greetings

Warm greetings to you all from a snowy Jerusalem.

Like Jesus, we need to open our hearts and minds, our eyes and ears to the most needy around us. We cannot afford to stand afar watching. Let us then take the first step towards seeking those who are lost, forgotten and isolated, towards responding to God’s calling with willingness and humility, loving and sharing as He has loved and shared. Let us follow Him to the edges to stand beside those who are voiceless, marginalized and rejected, those who experience pain and hardship, loneliness and grief, coldness and hunger.

St. Luke’s Hospital, Nablus – ON STRIKE!

Please, remember St. Luke’s Hospital in your prayers! The emergency situation at the hospital continues and the employees have been on strike again in the last few days. With its extremely low occupation rate and a huge financial burden, the hospital struggles to survive.

In recent years, St. Luke’s Hospital has struggled financially. The reasons are many and complex, but include the political reality in the Occupied Territories where economic hardship leaves private hospitals like St. Luke’s with reduced occupancy and income. In previous times, higher occupancy rates allowed St. Luke’s to continue its charitable philosophy of treating all patients, including the poorest. But in today’s more difficult economic circumstances, assistance of supporters is needed to continue this Christian ministry. The hospital needs supporters of courage and vision to invest in it, and capacities to direct it on a new track.

The drop in income at St. Luke’s Hospital in recent years continues to be a great burden to the hospital and to the whole diocese. The likelihood is that the political situation will continue for the foreseeable future, adding to the urgency of St. Luke’s financial needs. Although the new programs of re-structuring the hospital established by Bishop Suheil and Dr Nassar have had promising beginnings, time will be needed for their full realization. In the interim period, assistance is needed, particularly for the poorest patients.

As a Christian hospital, St. Luke’s ministry of charity is vital. Many patients cannot get to the hospital because of the reduced movement of persons in the West Bank, and most patients cannot pay the minimum fees required. For the hospital to continue serving these people, outside financial assistance from supporters is needed.

Al Ahli Arab Hospital, Gaza – SEVERE SHORTAGES!

Please, remember Al Ahli Arab Hospital in your prayers! “We are very proud to raise our cross,” says Suhaila Tarazi, director of Al Ahli Arab Hospital, “I feel people are changed inside, just if they enter this hospital. They become different people. It is God’s work. The ministry of this hospital is the translation of God’s commandment ‘Love one another’. It is here that together we can make changes during this conflict. We share the same misery – Christians, Moslems and Jews. We all want to live in dignity.”

The hospital continues to suffer from the political situation. “Due to Israel’s decision to further reduce power supply to Gaza, we have had severe shortages of electricity and fuel,” says Suhaila. “Nowadays, we have about 10 hours of electricity cuts every day. They do not come at once. We never know when they come. Moreover, hardly any fuel gets in. I was about to call the bishop to announce the closure of the hospital because we had no electricity and we were running out of fuel. However, with UNRWA and the Red Cross putting pressure, some fuel finally came through. The long hours of electricity cuts are a great burden to our hospital. We entirely depend on fuel for our two generators. Right now, we cannot even afford to heat the hospital, because we need to save fuel for our operating theater.

“Furthermore, we continue to be short of medicines and medical supplies. We are trying to build a stock. The constant threats by Israel are very scary, and we are expecting more and more civilians to be affected as well in the coming days and weeks. We can be subject to attacks at any moment.

“I am still working to get our new boiler into Gaza. Our old one threatens to collapse at any moment. If it breaks down, we will be out of hot water for sterilization. The new boiler is ready since last November. But it is still at the provider inside Israel and needs to be transferred directly from the provider to Gaza via Karni Crossing. Yet, we are still waiting for permission from the Israeli army.

“Government hospitals have minimized their work. Yet, people in pain cannot wait, so they come to our hospital. Out of 50 beds in operation, we have 45 fully occupied, and our in-service training and free medical missions continue successfully.”

Since June 2006, 1.5 million people in the Gaza Strip live with constant power cuts – which affect all walks of life: People started to buy only small amounts of food since one never knows how long the refrigerator will have electricity. For the same reason bakeries and butcheries produce much less than before and have discharged personnel; the now much lower income is now being consumed for the Diesel, which makes the generators run. Half of the Gazans live in high buildings – many of them do not leave them anymore because the elevators do not work or for fear the elevators might get stuck once electricity is back. Since water needs power to be pumped into the tanks on the roof, many households have only water for a few hours a day. People have started to go to relatives or friends who live in the basement in order to shower. The operation of wastewater plants is often interrupted by power stoppages, which increases the risk of flooding and finally epidemics.

Especially in winter, people use more power than normally – it is around 240 Mega Watt in the Gaza Strip. But the Strip does not have more than 180 Mega-Watt: 108 are purchased from Israel, 17 from Egypt, and 55 by its own power plant. This could produce 80, if Israel would allow bigger amounts of Diesel into the Strip; before the bombardment, the power plant produced even around 100 Mega-Watt.

After the recent increase in rocket fire from inside Gaza into nearby Israeli neighborhoods, Israel has decided to reduce the power supply to Gaza – and got the approval of the Supreme Court of Israel. Since early February, Gaza has received 5 percent less power than before – according to official Israeli opinion a legitimate method, to exert economic pressure.

Israeli and Palestinian human rights organizations warned that the decision of the Supreme Court was like an approval of collective punishment in its most blatant way. They had petitioned the Supreme Court, saying reducing the power supply was a collective punishment that violates international prohibition to target civilians.

Please, be assured of our most warm thanks for your many prayers and your generous support!