LWF General Secretary Rev. Dr. Anne Burghardt visited the LWF member church in the Holy Land and the LWF World Service program in Jerusalem from 18-25 January 2023. She was deeply impressed by the work of the LWF Vocational Training Centers and the Augusta Victoria Hospital, as well as by the life and witness of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land.
Dr. Fadi Atrash (2 from the right), CEO of the Augsta-Victoria-Hospital (AVH) shows the LWF General Secretary Rev. Dr. Anne Burghardt (left, in black) a unit of the Hospital. Photo: LWF/ E. Shaheen
LWF vocational training center, Augusta-Victoria- Hospital and historic ordination
(LWI) - During her first visit to the Holy Land and the Middle East as General Secretary of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Rev. Dr. Anne Burghardt had a chance to learn first-hand about the work of the LWF country program in Jerusalem, including the Vocational Training Centers and the Augusta Victoria Hospital.
She also met with leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL), a member church of the LWF, and participated in the ordination of Rev. Sally Azar, the first Palestinian woman to be ordained as a pastor in the country.
Going ‘that one step further’
LWF World Service, the humanitarian and development arm of the LWF, runs two Vocational Training Centers in Palestine: one in Beit Hanina (Jerusalem) and one in Ramallah in the West Bank.
Training programs currently include carpentry, auto-mechanics, graphic design and printing, interior decoration, aluminum work, vocational secretary, telecommunications, and green energy (solar panel installation).
I believe the training centers play a very crucial role in giving a perspective to these women, and giving them the possibility of being breadwinners themselves, to contribute with their gifts, and to develop their professional interests.
Rev. Dr. Anne BURGHARDT, LWF General Secretary
“I believe the training centers play a very crucial role in giving a perspective to Palestinians to be able to live and earn their living in their country,” reflected General Secretary Burghardt. “It is also a very important tool for empowering women, and it was encouraging to see how the number of women graduates has increased during the years, across different curricula.”
The centers are more than a place for learning a trade or profession. As part of the LWF’s commitment to gender justice, the centers work intentionally with partners and the local private sector to lower the barriers particularly for young women and women with disability to be able to access training as well as actual work after graduation.
21 January 2023, Ramallah, Palestine: 19-year-old telecommunications student Reham Rajh (right) from Ramallah is at work during a class taught by Anas Shtaya (left) at the Lutheran World Federation’s Vocational Training Centre in Ramallah. The centre currently hosts 141 students across eight different training programmes. This school year, 85 of the students are female. Photo: LWF/ Albin Hillert
The LWF, for example, provides scholarships and transportation support for young women applying to study at the training centers – meaning tuition fees are waived in order to facilitate access.
But also, explains programs coordinator Bana Husseini, “the LWF works actively together with companies in the local market to create work environments that are also inclusive and adapted to the needs of women in the workplace,” aspects which may otherwise not be considered in fields of work where women have traditionally been a minority.
August-Victoria-Hospital “source of pride”
In Jerusalem, the well-known landmark of the Augusta Victoria Hospital (AVH) on the Mount of Olives, serves as another example of the way the LWF works intentionally to go that one step further in serving the neighbor, in this case by providing not just medical care to patients in need of it, but genuine hospitality.
“I have been deeply impressed by how committed the staff of the AVH are. Without this commitment it would be impossible to have a hospital that really offers hospitality, beyond regular medical treatment,” the General Secretary reflects.
“Providing medical care is extremely important in this context, especially for cancer patients from the West Bank and Gaza who cannot access certain treatments elsewhere. But besides this, it seems that the AVH is more than ‘just a hospital providing medical care.’ The whole AVH is a source of pride for many Palestinians, and I can clearly see the enthusiasm and a genuine will to serve the people,” Burghardt added.
A historic day for the church in the Holy Land
The LWF General Secretary also had occasion to witness history in the making on Sunday, as hundreds of people from around the world gathered to celebrate the ordination of Sally Azar – the first Palestinian woman ordained for service as a pastor in the ELCJHL – an LWF member church.
22 January 2023, Jerusalem, Palestine: Rev. Sally Azar, ordained minutes earlier as pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land, exits the church in procession together with her Bishop Sani Ibrahim "Barhoum" Azar. Photo: LWF/ Albin
“I was glad to see wide participation in the service and such a strong international presence, which shows that the ELCJHL as a church is not alone. It has many friends, sisters and brothers around the world. But also, the local community was strongly represented, and seeing especially the many young people there is for me a sign of hope, in the context which is becoming increasingly challenging and difficult for people in Palestine,” Burghart reflected after the service.
Wide impact of church in local communities
For Burghardt, the role of the ELCJHL as church in society has become evident as she has got to see some of the fruits of the long-standing witness of the ELCJHL among Palestinian communities.
“I have been deeply impressed by the life and witness of the ELCJHL, and positively reminded that a church, though small in numbers perhaps, can have a wide and positive impact in serving its communities.
It is also clear to me that partnerships – between LWF member churches, and among ecumenical partners – offer a vital boost to the life and witness of the Church in the Holy Land,” added the General Secretary.
“This is one of the ways in which the LWF can and should play a significant role, in acting as a kind of super-connector between churches and other partners,” Burghardt reflected.
“But also, one of our tasks as a global communion of churches is to make the voice of Palestinian Christians heard globally, to share their stories, and to make sure that we help these people to retain hope. This includes advocacy efforts
