I. Healing in a Holy Land: Augusta Victoria Hospital
II. Dreams of the Future: Educating Palestine
III. Christians of the Pentecost: Our New Arab Neighbors

The September 11, terrorist attacks in New York, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C. have re-focused world attention on the Middle East.  The ELCA has strong ties with Lutherans in Palestine.  This edition of Mosaic helps understand  the people of this conflicted land, the issues that affect both them and world peace, and the ministry that is being supported by our church among them. We invite you to use this Mosaic in your ministry of interpretation and advocacy.

I. Healing in a Holy Land: Augusta Victoria Hospital
Augusta Victoria Hospital, a health care facility funded by the Lutheran World Federation, serves both Palestinian Christians and Muslims. Here, 12-year-old Jameleh, a Muslim, comes by bus three times a week for kidney dialysis. She lives on the West Bank and cannot legally enter Jerusalem. Only papers verifying her condition allow her and a family member to pass through difficult Israeli border checks for the four-hour treatments that keep her alive. We go with Jameleh as she receives the ministry of Augusta Victoria and learn how a hospital with limited resources serves as a lifeline for more than 18,000 Palestinians each year.

II. Dreams of the Future: Educating Palestine
In 1999, the ELCA Church Council voted to provide additional funding for the schools of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan (ELCJ). To discover why, we meet staff and two high school students – one Christian, the other Muslim – in Ramallah (the biblical Bethel). Our story is one about their desires and concerns as they struggle to live in peace and security.

III. Christians of the Pentecost: Our New Arab Neighbors
Palestinian born and an Arab Christian, Bassam Abdallah serves today as an ELCA pastor in Hammond, Indiana. Mosaic was with him as he visited Jerusalem's old city. Through his story we are reminded of the legacy of Arab Christians whose forebears were among the first to follow Christ, and what those who have migrated to the United States bring to our church.