AFEDJ Trustees share reflections on their recent visit to Diocese of Jerusalem’s institutions
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In October, 12 AFEDJ trustees spent nine days in Palestine, Israel, and Jordan meeting diocesan leaders and visiting 12 schools, hospitals, and centers for children with disabilities.
Upon returning home, several trustees shared accounts of the encounters that moved them the most.
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Cotty Peabody
of Scottsdale, Arizona, writes about offering hope.
“Our donors offer tangible proof to our brothers and sisters in the Holy Land that many people genuinely care about them in a world that often seems to be filled with people who don’t.”
Cotty Peabody joins the fun with the Kindergarteners at Christ School in Nazareth.
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Lisa Sams
of Bethesda, Maryland, tells of the loving care and support children with disabilities receive.
“The children are receiving a level of care that is second to none. At the Jofeh Community Center, one of the sheltered workshops, there is so little money that many of the staff are working on a small stipend, essentially as volunteers, to keep the programs going.”
The young teacher pictured with her deaf students at Jofeh Community Center is a graduate of the Holy Land Institute for the Deaf.
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Barbara Boehm of Montclair, New Jersey, shares a story of healing in the Holy Land.
“Sometimes the Gospel readings about Jesus’ healing ministry have sounded to me like tall tales from long ago. Not anymore. The story is still being written, every day, in the work of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem.”
A deaf student signs the lunchtime blessing for his deaf-blind friend at the Holy Land Institute for the Deaf.
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In this video Ahli Arab Hospital Director
Suhaila Tarazi and AFEDJ Board Chair Bishop
Barry Beisner of the Diocese of Northern California, talk about the impact of U.S. cuts in aid to Gaza.
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From Episcopal News Service -
Check out
this story about the effects of U.S. cuts in aid to humanitarian institutions published by Episcopal News Service on October 26.
“I’m afraid that if [cuts] continue in the future, that on your next visit, you can find children nearby the walls of this hospital dying,” Tarazi said in a briefing to AFEDJ trustees during their visit. “We are people. It’s possible there are conflicts between governments, but what are the faults of normal people? Of poor people?”
From
The Episcopal New Yorker
Giving transforms the lives of the giver and the receiver: Members of two Diocese of New York congregations who gave through AFEDJ
tell their stories in the fall edition of
The Episcopal New Yorker.
"Because there is no effective cancer treatment in Gaza, Rana has to travel to Jerusalem. At that time, only 60% of those applying for medical permits to leave Gaza were granted. Rana is one of the lucky ones, but she travels alone. Her family is not allowed to accompany her."
The Rev. Dr. Deborah Dresser
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Welcome to the Rev. Don Binder, new chaplain to Archbishop Suheil Dawani
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The Rev. Dr. Donald Binder, (at right) recently-appointed chaplain to Archbishop Suheil Dawani, was commissioned at St. George’s Cathedral in Jerusalem on October 21.
Binder comes to the post after serving as rector of Pohick Church in Mount Vernon, Virginia, for 17 years. A past participant in St. George’s College programs, he has a long-standing relationship with the Diocese of Jerusalem.
“I am thrilled at this opportunity to serve the Archbishop as his chaplain over these next three years. My wife Chris and I look forward to becoming a part of the St. George’s community and to helping the Archbishop advance his ministry of reconciliation, faithfulness to the Gospel, and welcoming of pilgrims to the land where our Lord Jesus Christ himself once served and offered his life for the redemption of the world.”
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Look for our fall newsletter in the mail next week
Here’s a peek at the headlines:
- Saviour’s School: a safe haven for empowering a “can do generation” of girls
- Harold C. Smith Foundation gifts “live it” by transforming children’s lives across Jordan
- Cuts in U.S. aid jeopardize healthcare services to our most vulnerable brothers and sisters
- St. Luke’s Hospital in Nablus: So much is riding on a new ambulance
- A Message from the Chair, Bishop Barry Beisner
- Meet Carol Myers, AFEDJ donor: Believer in the triumph of justice, the power St. Nicholas’ message, and the importance of keeping the lights on
- How a bucket list trip becomes a legacy: Karen Telleen-Lawton
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American Friends of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem | 203-655-3575
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www.afedj.org
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Transforming lives of the vulnerable and displaced
in the Middle East through support of schools, hospitals,
and centers for children with disabilities.
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AFEDJ offers a safe, secure channel to make gifts to support the work of the humanitarian institutions of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem.
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