Accompaniment

Walking With Our Brothers and Sisters in the Holy Land

ELCA missionary Laurin-Whitney Gottbrath makes a new friend in the Young Adults in Global Mission program.

 Accompaniment is the ELCA’s central commitment in relation to our global companions. This commitment is illustrated by the image of walking alongside companions in respect and mutuality, together discerning future directions for shared mission. One of the ELCA’s most significant companions in the Middle East is the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL), led by Bishop Dr. Munib Younan.

With the ELCJHL, the ELCA also has strong relationships with Lutheran World Federation ministries in Palestine-Israel, including Augusta Victoria Hospital. LWF ministries provide all Palestinians with access to important services, including health care infrastructure, and the capacity-building benefits of vocational education.

The most tangible form of the ELCA’s accompaniment of the ELCJHL is our cadre of missionary personnel in the region, serving at the invitation and under the direction of Bishop Younan. The ELCA supplies a pastor for the English-speaking congregation, a communications assistant for the bishop and an assistant to the director of the ELCJHL school system.  There is also a Young Adult in Global Mission program there.

The 2010 ELCA Jerusalem missionary team with Pastor Robert Smith, ELCA Director of the Global Mission Europe and Middle East Desk, at Pastor Elly McHan's ordination: (L to R) Pastor Robert Smith, Pastor Elly McHan, Deaconness Gloria Strickert and Pastor Fred Strickert. (photo copyright: Heather Sysimaki, Life Shots Photos, used with permission).

Redeemer English-Speaking Congregation 
Pastor Fred and Diaconal Minister Gloria Strickert

Pastor Fred Strickert, PhD, graduated from Christ-Seminary Seminex (LSTC) and received a Ph.D. in Biblical Studies from the University of Iowa. He was ordained in Papua New Guinea in 1975 and rostered in the AELC, ALC, and ELCA. He has taught on the seminary level in Papua New Guinea and India and taught at Wartburg College, in Waverly, Iowa, for 24 years. He has led student travel courses for several decades to the Middle East, Honduras, and Tanzania. He has also published on New Testament and Archaeology issues, as well as the Palestinian struggle including Rachel Weeping: Jews, Christians, and Muslims at a Fortress Tomb (Liturgical Press, 2008), co-authoring with Rev. Mitri Raheb, Bethlehem 2000: Past and Present;and editing Alison Jones Nassar's Imm Mathilda: A Bethlehem Mother's Diary and Bishop Munib Younan's Witnessing for Peace: In Jerusalem and the World.

Diaconal Minister Gloria Strickert, graduate of Wartburg Seminary and consecrated as a Diaconal Minister in 1996, has served in Spiritual Care in hospitals in Wateroo, Iowa, for fifteen years and previously worked in education ministries in the LCMS and LCA. Previously, she had worked in Papua New Guinea for six years and spent a year as a Global Mission Volunteer at Christmas Lutheran Church in Bethlehem.

Pastor Elly McHan celebrates her ordination with Pastor Robert Smith (photo copyright: Heather Sysimaki, Life Shots Photos, used with permission).

ELCJHL Communication Assistant
Pastor Elly McHan

Pastor Elizabeth(Elly) C. McHan, a 2010 graduate of Wartburg Seminary, was recently ordained at her home congregation near LaCrosse, Wisconsin. Her International Horizon internship was completed at the American Lutheran Congregation of Oslo, Norway. A classical violinist and experienced global traveler, Elly will bring into this work a high level of skill regarding new media, including web-based communications strategies.

Young Adults in Global Mission and Trips' Coordination
Julie Rossate and Pastor Jeff Von Wald

Julie Rossate and Jeff Von Wald

Julie Rossate and Jeff Von Wald are delighted to be part of the ELCA Global Mission team, living and working in Jerusalem and the West Bank with the
Young Adults in Global Mission (YAGM) program and the Holy Land Trips' program.

Jeff is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ (UCC) and worked most recently at Harvard Divinity School in the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life. Jeff attended Harvard Divinity School and the State University of New York at Oswego. Jeff was an Americorps Volunteer in upstate New York. Jeff likes to read, discuss theology, play the guitar, kayak, canoe and follow all of Syracuse University's sports teams.

Prior to working with Global Mission, Julie was the director of an adult education program in the Boston area. She attended Macalester College and Harvard Divinity School. Julie was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Morocco. Julie likes to read, drum, study Arabic, kayak, canoe and tease her husband about his love of all Syracuse University's sports teams.