April 5, 2007

GENEVA – The General Secretary of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko has reiterated a recent LWF Council call upon the member churches to pray on Maundy Thursday for Christians in the Middle East and for their continued presence and ministry in the region.

In a message today to Christians and churches in the region, Noko points out that the landmarks of the Easter story for the people and churches of the Holy Land, "are not ... imagined or remembered images, but daily concrete realities" in increasingly harsh circumstances. He notes the Christian presence throughout the Middle East is rapidly declining "due to emigration provoked particularly by occupation, conflict, abandonment and the loss of hope for a better future."

Endorsing a recommendation of its Program Committee for International Affairs and Human Rights at the end of the 20-27 March Council meeting in Lund, Sweden, the LWF governing body urged the LWF member churches to pray on Maundy Thursday for Christians in the Middle East.

The LWF member church in the region is the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land.

The full text of Dr Noko's message follows:

Message from the LWF General Secretary
to Christians and Churches in the Holy Land

On this Maundy Thursday, as we contemplate the sacrifice of Jesus in atonement of all humanity's sins and we await the joyous resurrection, our thoughts also turn to the Holy Land in which Christ's ministry on earth was fulfilled and his blood offered for us all.

For our sisters and brothers in the churches of the Holy Land who strive to follow in Christ's footsteps and to proclaim the gospel in that region, the landmarks of the Easter story are not – as for most of us – imagined or remembered images, but daily concrete realities. Equally real and practical for them are the increasingly harsh circumstances in which they struggle to continue their lives and ministries in that region. Throughout the Middle East, the Christian presence is in rapid decline – due to emigration provoked particularly by occupation, conflict, abandonment and the loss of hope for a better future.

The LWF Council, meeting in Lund, Sweden, on 20-26 March 2007, expressed its deep concern about the emigration of Christians from Palestine and the entire Middle East and called on LWF member churches to pray about this matter on Maundy Thursday. Therefore on this Maundy Thursday, in the hope affirmed by the resurrection, we pray for the Christian presence and witness in the Holy Land and for their continued ministry in the land that was witness to the life, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko
General Secretary
The Lutheran World Federation
Geneva
5 April 2007

Lutheran World Information