First Newsletter (text only)- September 2022

 MarHaba! Hello! And welcome to my first full newsletter.

I am writing this from a cafe in Beit Jala at the end of my second week here in the Holy Land. Orientation has come to an end, and tomorrow I and the rest of my cohort will finally move in with our host families for the year. 

For those reading who are not familiar with the Young Adults in Global Mission program, here is a brief overview: YAGM is a program within the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America that sends out young adults aged 21-29 into different global communities to experience a year of accompaniment with their host communities. We are missionaries, but we are not evangelizing; rather, our focus is on accompanying and building relationships with the communities in which we have been placed. I have been placed with the cohort living in Jerusalem and the West Bank, a place of deep religious, cultural, and geopolitical significance. 

The last two weeks of orientation have been so very full: full of new experiences, full of budding relationships, and full of Palestinian hospitality. We have visited holy sites, walked the busy, colorful streets of the Old City of Jerusalem, and eaten lots and lots of pita and hummus. We have heard stories both heartwarming and heartbreaking. Though I feel it is true that nothing can truly prepare me for the year ahead, these weeks of orientation have given me the opportunity to grow more accustomed to the discomfort of living in a new, unfamiliar cultural context. For the first time in my life, I am living as a cultural outsider, and I am learning to have patience with myself as I learn how to live in this place where I do not yet speak the language or know the customs. 

One thing I have been reflecting on in the wake of orientation is the experience of being a part of a minority religious community for the first time in my White American Christian™ life. The region of Jerusalem and the West Bank is, unsurprisingly, a deeply religious place. The Muslim call to prayer can be heard ringing through the city five times a day. Religious imagery and places of worship are found everywhere you look. Holy sites are absolutely filled with tourists from all over the world (and, let’s be honest, many of them are also White American Christians™) scrambling to catch a glimpse of the places venerated as the locations of Jesus’ birth or death. But being somewhere like the Church of the Nativity or the Church of the Holy Sepulchre feels a bit like what I imagine being in the room in the Louvre that houses the Mona Lisa is like; sure, you are in a place of significance, but ultimately the experience feels limiting and difficult to truly appreciate given the swarms of people present. For me, worshipping with Arabic-speaking Christian congregations in the West Bank has been much more impactful than visiting tourist sites. Many of the families in these communities have been Christian since the Pentecost. Yes, that Pentecost. I feel honored to be welcomed into a community whose roots run so deep.

Since we have had a later start than previous YAGM cohorts because of changes made due to COVID, our volunteer work has not yet started. However, over orientation, we had the opportunity to visit everyone’s volunteer sites which include several Lutheran schools, a university for the arts, the church office of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL), and an Environmental Education Center. I will be at Dar al-Kalima School in Bethlehem and the Environmental Education Center in Beit Jala. I am greatly looking forward to beginning work at both sites, and can’t wait to share about my experience through my blog/newsletter! I have no doubt that these volunteer sites will impact me in many profound and unexpected ways. 

I have worked through challenges up to this point, and I will certainly experience many more in the months to come. I want to thank you for taking the time to read my words and for joining me on this journey from afar. And if you have given financial support, an extra-special thanks; this would not be possible without you!