F R O M
J E R U S A L E M
by Pastor Carrie Ballenger, Redeemer Lutheran English-speaking Congregation, Jerusalem, Palestine (doulapastor@gmail.com)
How are you all holding up? This has been another week of lockdown here. I’ve been working on some writing projects from home and ventured into the Old City (see cover and Page 7 photos) for the first time in quite a while. It’s heartbreaking to see the many shops closed and streets empty. I find it hard to know what to pray for. Even with a vaccine or a miracle cure, it will surely be years before tourists and pilgrims fill the city once again.
In December with Issa Kassesieh, known as the Jerusalem Santa, took my mask off for the photo only!
Still, life continues on. Our church, the ELCJHL (Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land), continues its faithful work to educate young people, to provide care for the hungry, to share the Good News in word and in deed here in Israel and Palestine. I’m so proud to be part of this church. Leaving the Redeemer church building, I watched as a young boy carried his toddler sister into the empty Holy Sepulcher courtyard to play. The smell of fresh-baked bread still filled the streets. The pomegranates were red and ripe. The woman who asks for spare change on the trains still made her rounds. When I gave her a large bill this time (all that I had on me), she put a gloved hand on my head and gave me a blessing.
Receiving COVID-19 vaccination in January
And so we keep hoping, keep praying, keep loving our neighbor. What choice do we have? In my garden, I planted a baby avocado tree that I sprouted from a pit. It will take 5-10 years to bear fruit! Where will I be at that time? What will Jerusalem look like then? It’s hard to say. But, as Martin Luther is rumored to have said: “Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.” God loves you! And so do I.
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To learn more about Pastor Carrie Ballenger and Lord of Life’s Holy Land ministry, visit lordoflife.org/theholyland. Check out the YouTube playlist for a sermon from her visit in 2018!
