It is not uncommon to hear from Palestinian Lutherans that they are not optimistic about the future of Israel/Palestine relations but they remain hopeful because of their faith in Jesus Christ.  And because that is the only way to survive in a very difficult situation.

Hope was certainly a theme of today’s time in Palestine as we visited briefly with Walid Nammour, Chief Executive Officer at the Augusta Victoria Hospital and then headed to Ramallah for videotaping of stories at the Lutheran School of Hope.  More on Augusta Victoria Hospital will come on later days.

At the Lutheran School of Hope in Ramallah we visited an Environment Club recycled art project activity, listened to the school chorus sing their school song, watched the wonderful student dancers and even got to observe a German language spelling bee (students speak Arabic, English, and German). The Lutheran School of Hope has 458 students, 22% are Christian and 78% are Muslim.

Here are three photos from our time today at the Lutheran School of Hope:

Students making art projects out of recycled plastic bottles.  Hope School has one of the 26 Environmental Clubs sponsored by the ELCJHL’s Environmental Education Center.  There are also clubs at the other ELCJHL schools.

The Lutheran School of Hope Chorus singing their school song for us.

And the school dancers performed for us.

You can read more about the Lutheran School of Hope in Ramallah here.

Earlier today Tim finished editing the introduction to our “The Stations of the Cross: A Biblical Devotion” video Bible Study.  I think it turned out quite well – you can view it here.

Tired today, but still at it…