A new ministry in an interesting place...

The Following is from the Newsletter of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem.
-The Archer

--------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
Mrs. K is in her mid-80's - she's not sure of her exact age.  She shares two spare rooms with her developmentally delayed daughter. They're pictured at the top of this page.   Her daughter is able to get some occasional part time work as a cleaning woman in the local school, but the pay is poor - less than $300 a month.  It's all they have. 
There are no pensions, no hope for more income.  As Mrs. K becomes more frail, she wonders what will become of her and who will take care of her daughter if she is no longer there for her. 
The Rev. Hanna Dalleh, priest at St. Andrew's parish in Ramallah and also St. Peter's in Birzeit, ministers to Mrs. K and many others like her.  Their stories break his heart.  He's brought his congregation together to pool funds to buy food for Mrs. K and many others who have no means of support.  Fr. Hanna calls on each elderly parishioner, bringing a few minutes of joy into their lives as well as nutrition. 
Their families have left, seeking a better life in another country.  Unwilling or unable to face the daunting changes in language and lifestyle, many of the elderly opt to stay behind in the community they know and love.  But the tragic result is a large number of failing, frail elderly with no one to care for them. 
St. Peter's Home for the Elderly is under construction in Birzeit, a Diocesan project to provide shelter and a sense of security and hope to 16 of Fr. Hanna's seniors.  It's pictured to the left above.  Your gifts can help create a long term solution to this sad situation.  Please help us get this facility completed so Mrs. K and her daughter, and others like her, can live with dignity and peace of mind. Naming opportunities exist for capital gifts, a permanent way to be remembered in love. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Thoughts on the 'Connecticut 6'

For some weeks, I have had several friends (mostly non-Episcopalians surprisingly) wanting me to voice an opinion on this Connecticut 6 (sounds like a fleabag motel) business. If you are unfamiliar with this fiasco, for lack of a better term, let me describe it as best as I understand it. There is so much spin going on (from both sides I might add) that I have been having trouble discerning fact from fiction. As I understand the situation, the Rt. Rev. Andrew Smith is the Bishop of Connecticut. Well, at least he has a pointy hat, I do not think he is particularly acting like one. Likewise, as I understand, there are Six rectors of churches (at least they have collars, but likewise are not acting like it) that have applied for DEPO oversight (i.e. another Bishop to oversee them.) The best way I know how to describe the hoohah is as follows: The Feloniously Rev. Smith is trying to defrock the Superciliously Reverend Rectors. Darth Smith claims they have abandoned communion and has shadil...
Read more

My board gaming journey, pt. I

Image
     Something a bit different today than my normal reflections. I thought I would delve a little bit more into a topic that is not necessarily theological in nature. I am a real person, and not some ethereal doctor in an ivory tower who gets to smoke a pipe and contemplate the infinite mysteries all day. So, today, I thought I would delve into one of my personal hobbies: board gaming.      Now, do not tune me out because you hear "board gaming" and immediately default in your brain to your brother overturning a table with Monopoly money flying everywhere because the game has gone on for hours and overturning the table was the only option left other than murder. Most people, including myself at one time, thought of board games as those boring or frustrating games that seem stuck in 1952. You know the usual suspects: Clue!, Monopoly, Scrabble, Chess, maybe even more saccharine games like Life or Candy Land, i.e. those games that everyone owned at some p...
Read more

The History of the Football helmet

Image
NCAA.com put out an interesting editorial about the evolution of the football helmet that can be found here . This is in part due in my estimation to the current buzz (one might go so far as to describe it as hysteria) about concussions in contact sports, particularly football. I have always found this an interesting evolution. Long gone are the days of strapping on your leather helmet: In the 50's and 60's, the helmet evolved into, basically becoming a metal then hard plastic version of the leather helmet with the addition of a rudimentary face mask (which was really just a bar at first): Gradually, the helmet's face mask itself began to evolve: Combines with new space age style lightweight plastics and foams, the helmet mask ultimately became a type of full, goalie style face mask (This little number costs just under $1000 to purchase new): Ironically, being a military history major, the football helmet evolution followed the pattern of design that helmets worn...
Read more