In This Issue
Relationships Still Alive
Heartbreaking Testimony from a Gazan Woman
Delegation to Palestine this May with PCUSA
Prayers from Sabeel
Stay Informed on Palestine
Relationships Still Alive
Image of the YMCA in Gaza, taken in February 2024
Contributed by David Janzen
Our regular Zoom call on October 7, 2023, to the Gaza YMCA by Fellowship of Hope (Elkhart IN) and other MennoPIN friends was canceled after the Hamas invasion of Israel that morning. Our 3-year relationship through the “twinning” program appeared to be over when Israeli bombs destroyed the facility along with much of Gaza.
Yet with God’s help we recovered contact through WhatsApp and other means with two of the main leaders of the YMCA and are now in regular Zoom conversations again with one who found his way to a relative’s house in the U.S. After receiving the 18-month visa offered by the Biden administration for Gaza refugees, he has applied for asylum and is working at getting a driver’s license and eventual employment. His mother and sister are with him.
The second leader with his family of 5 have crossed into Egypt and are seeking admission to another country. We have raised funds to help them make this transition. We have also sent funds to help provide food and supplies to those sheltering in the two main churches of Gaza City.
It is so tragic and wrong that these servants of God and their families are forced to flee from their beloved homeland, like their forebears did in 1948. We are grateful they have survived to this point. The urgency of pressuring the Biden government to stop sending bombs and other weapons to Israel, and pursue a diplomatic solution, is in our hearts
Heartbreaking Testimony from a Gazan Woman
Image of Bethlehem Bible College
This testimony came to us through our contacts at Bethlehem Bible College.
My name is Ann* I graduated with a master’s degree from the Bible College in Bethlehem. I do not want to share much personal information to protect my safety and the safety of my family. I am a displaced person in the Latin Church in Gaza, and every day new families join us. We are approximately 570 people, and in a neighboring church, there are more than 300. We are located in the northern half of the Gaza Strip.
I want to share with you that our hearts are broken, and we are full of fear and sadness. We are peaceful Christians and reject violence from both sides. Love, as Christ taught us, is an effective weapon for peace.
There are many people we love who have died. Our family members have died. My cousin and her children died. My best friend died. My daughter’s best friend died. Amid sadness, pain, and heartbreak we look at the face of Jesus Christ.
I would like to share with you the humanitarian situation here. It is catastrophic on the psychological, physical, and spiritual levels. There is very little food, and soon we will not be able to find food or water which will cause us to starve. As a mother of two children, I am afraid for the future. My children’s psychological state is very bad, especially with the lack of food. My heart is bleeding and wounded. I don’t expect to be able to recover.
There are many people whose voices aren’t heard, and we don’t know if the media is reporting any of this. We are not numbers. Each of us has a dream. But I’m afraid that our dreams will end, and the nightmare never will. We see death everywhere. We smell death everywhere. The people of Jesus are heartbroken and waiting for healing and peace. We want to live. I cry while I write this because my people, people who have nothing to do with politics or violence, are burned, broken, and heartbroken. All I can think of to do is write and hope that people will listen. Please don’t forget us. Please pray for us.
*Named changed to protect privacy
Come and See, Go and Tell: PCUSA Tour to Palestine this May
Image credit to ipmn_pcusa on Instagram
A message from Rev. Susan P. Wilder and Rev. Ron Shive of the Israeli/Palestine Mission Network of the PC(USA):
We are writing to invite you to a delegation to Palestine and Israel, May 26 – June 6, 2024 sponsored by the Israel/Palestine Mission Network of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). This will be a national grassroots delegation of approximately twenty-five people, both Presbyterians and those of other denominations. This delegation is being planned at the invitation of Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center in Jerusalem. As co-leaders of this delegation, we are reaching out to you in hopes you can join us.
MennoPIN members have gone on these kinds of trips before with the Presbyterians and we highly recommend them. Click here to read the full description of the trip, get your questions answered, and sign up!
Join a Tree Planting Adventure in Palestine and Israel
Jerusalem residents plant trees as part of an Earth Day event in 2021. Credit: Fadi Amira
Join Mennonite Men and MennoPIN February 12-27, 2025, as we travel to Palestine and Israel to plant olive trees, meet Palestinian peacemakers, and connect the land to Jesus’ way of peace. This is for anyone age 18 and older.
Our two-week sojourn in Palestine and Israel will bring us into multifold contact with this land. Tree planting days in the West Bank will give us intimate, hand-to-soil contact with the land itself as we work with Palestinian farmers. We will learn about the occupation of Palestine through relationship building and experiential learning. We will discover the critical place of trees in the culture, economy, and ecology of the region. And we will see that the olive branch is not simply a symbol but that olive trees are essential for God’s peace in this land. Since this is the homeland of Jesus of Nazareth, we will visit ancient biblical sites—in Nazareth, Jerusalem, and Bethlehem—and make connections between the ancient land of Abraham, David, and Jesus and of modern-day Palestinians. We will also meet with Palestinian peacemakers practicing creative non-violence to bring hope and courage into their local communities. We will make time for worship and reflection together, recognizing that there will be much to process, and much about this trip that will transform us.
We hope you will support this fund-raising campaign or join us for this trip to Palestine and Israel. Learn more about the trip on MennoPIN’s website here, and register for the trip here. Questions may also be referred to the trip organizers below:
– Steve Thomas, US Director of Mennonite Men and ISA certified arborist, SteveT@MennoniteMen.org
– Bob Atchison, Chair of MennoPIN and professional forester, robertleeatchison@gmail.com
– Amy Yoder McGloughlin, delegation leader for CPT (Community Peacemaker Teams) in Palestine, amy.yoder.mcgloughlin@gmail.com
Prayer from Sabeel
Last week, The Israeli military withdrew from the Gaza Strip’s largest hospital after a two-week raid, leaving behind scenes of devastation. Local sources who have witnessed atrocities for more than 180 days remark that the scenes at Al-Shifa Hospital are “indescribable”. Indeed, photos, videos, eyewitness stories reveal torture, killings and destruction that cannot be imagined. It is unclear what is the death toll since bodies are unidentifiable, however, Gaza’s civil defense agency claim at least 300 Palestinians were killed in and around the hospital. Al-Shifa is completely out of service.
God of healing (shifa), how much more death, destruction, and torture can our people take? How many Palestinian lives need to be killed for the world to respond? Why do you not stop this O Lord? Man of sorrows, help us be witnesses to your love and the suffering of the oppressed even though it is hard to see if you are with us “For we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7).
Lord in your mercy… hear our prayer
Stay Informed on Palestine
MennoPIN keeps you informed about Palestine through our monthly update, special alerts, calls to action, important resources and tour possibilities, all from an Anabaptist perspective. But there are additional excellent organizations and web publications that can keep you informed, some on a daily basis. We invite you to explore these groups and visit the web publications as another way to keep current and active for the people of Palestine. Here are some MennoPIN recommends:
- Friends of Sabeel North America (FOSNA)
- Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center (Sabeel)
- Mennonite Central Committee Palestine and Israel
- Community Peacemaker Teams (CPT)
- U.S. Campaign for Palestine Rights (USCPR)
- Kairos Palestine
- Kairos USA
- Americans for Middle East Understanding (AMEU)
- Christian Zionism
- Palestinian Christian Alliance for Peace
- Palestine Portal
Web Publications
Mennonite Palestine-Israel Network
mennopin@gmail.com | mennopin.org | facebook.com/mennopin | twitter.com/mennopin
Steering Committee:
Bob Atchison (Manhattan Mennonite Church, Manhattan, KS)
Dorothy Jean Weaver (Community Mennonite Church, Harrisonburg, VA)
Dave Janzen (Fellowship of Hope, Elkhart, IN)
Jonathan Kuttab (Palestinian lawyer and human rights activist, Manheim, PA)
Lydia Brenneman (Lima Mennonite Church, Lima, OH)
Rod Stafford (Portland Mennonite Church, Portland, OR)
Zachary Murray (Mennonite Central Committee, Washington, DC)
Lydia Miller (Kalamazoo Mennonite Fellowship, Kalamazoo MI)
MennoPIN 