Schools need support too
About 3,000 Middle Eastern children attend schools run by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan (and Palestine), but with the current economic decline few can pay tuition — sending these schools into staggering debt.
With a third of their budget dependent on tuition, ELCJ Bishop Munib Younan took out a personal loan in December to pay the $100,000 a month in salaries.
"If a parent comes and says, 'I can't work because of the intifada,' it's our policy not to ask for tuition," Younan said. "Even if the intifada stops, there will be long-lasting effects on any sound economic growth and development."
To survive the schools need financial and spiritual support from sister churches, Younan said.
Send donations to ELCA, Box 71764, Chicago, IL 60694-1764. Designate your gift for "ELCJ schools (code F3)."
George Nassar wants a good life for his family. So he works two jobs — as a gardener in Jerusalem's Old City and on his family farm five miles south of Jerusalem. But he can't get to either job because Israel closed its doors to thousands of Palestinian workers when the second intifada (uprising) broke out last September.
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