Mitri Raheb () is a Palestinian Christian, the pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem (a member church of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land, or ELCJHL), and the founder and president of the Diyar Consortium, a group of Lutheran-based, ecumenically-oriented institutions serving the Bethlehem area.
Background
Mitri Raheb was born in
Bethlehem, then in the
Kingdom of Jordan, in 1961. He pursued his higher education in Germany, first at Hermannsburg Mission Seminary (1980–1984) and then at
Philipps University in
Marburg, Germany (1984–1988), where he earned advanced degrees in
theology. He returned to Bethlehem in 1988 to serve as the pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church (Christmas Lutheran Church), also teaching at the Bethlehem Bible College (1988–1993) and serving as the managing editor of the
Al-Liqa’ Journal for religious and heritage studies in the Holy Land (1992–1996).
Since 1992, Raheb has founded and led a number of projects and institutions serving the social needs of Palestinians living in the Bethlehem area, focusing specifically on women, children, youth, and the elderly.
Raheb's work has been recognized by the Luther Institute in Washington, DC (Wittenberg Award, 2003), Concordia University in River Forest, IL, USA (Honorary Doctor of Letters, 2003), Spirituality and Health Magazine (50 Best Spiritual Books of 2004 for Bethlehem Besieged: Stories of Home in Times of Trouble), and the Central Islamic Archive Institute (Mohammed Nafi Tschleibi International Peace Award, 2006). In 2008, he was awarded the Aachen Peace Award.
He currently lives in Bethlehem with his wife and two daughters.
Organizations
Beginning with the Abu Gubran Guest House and the Authentic Tourism Program in 1992, Raheb has founded a number of institutions serving the Bethlehem area.
*1992: The Abu Gubran Guest House () and Authentic Tourism Program (now part of the ICB)
1995: The International Center of Bethlehem (ICB, or Dar Annadwa Addawliyya ())
1998: The Dar Al-Kalima Model School ()
1999: The Al-Kahf Gallery and Arts and Crafts Center () (part of the ICB)
2003: The Bethlehem Media Center () (part of the ICB)
2003: The Dar Al-Kalima Health & Wellness Center ()
2006: The Dar Al-Kalima College ()
2006: The Diyar Consortium () (now comprising the ICB, the Health & Wellness Center, and the College)
The Diyar Consortium
The Diyar Consortium is an umbrella organization that is responsible for the administration of its component institutions: the ICB, the Dar Al-Kalima Health & Wellness Center, and the Dar Al-Kalima College. “Diyar” () is the plural of “dar” (), meaning “house” or “homeland” in Arabic. It is headed by its president, Raheb, who is responsible for the overall vision of the consortium and securing funds for continuous growth. The consortium is governed by a Board of Directors, whose members come from diverse religious and vocational backgrounds, and administered by an executive committee and three program committees (for health, culture, and education).
The International Center of Bethlehem (Dar Annadwa Addawliyya)
The International Center of Bethlehem, or Dar Annadwa Addawliyya (), meaning “The House of Worldwide Encounter”) is located in Madbasseh Square, in central
Bethlehem, about half a mile (.8 km) from
Manger Square.
A number of initiatives operate under the aegis of the ICB. These include:
The Ad-Dar Cultural and Conference Center
The Al-Kahf Gallery and Arts & Crafts Center (independently, and in cooperation with the Dar Al-Kalima College)
The Bethlehem Media Center (independently, and in conjunction with the Dar Al-Kalima College)
The Bright Stars Program (in cooperation with the Dar Al-Kalima Model School)
The Abu Gubran Guest House and the Authentic Tourism Program
The Il’Iliyeh Restaurant and Al-Kuz Bar & Café
The Ajyal (“Generations”, Arabic: أجيال) community care program for the elderly
The Azwaj (“Couples”, Arabic: أزواج) group for young couples and families
The “Palestinian Christians: Strengthening Identity, Activating Potential” Project (headed by Rifat Odeh Kassis)
The ICB complex comprises the old Lutheran School building, the former church offices, and three other buildings. The Ad-Dar Cultural and Conference Center and other modern parts of the building were designed by Finnish architect Juha Leiviskä. The ICB complex sustained significant damage when it was occupied for 3 days by the Israeli army during the siege of Bethlehem in April 2002. Reconstruction and restoration costs totaled more than US$500,000.
The Dar Al-Kalima Model School
The Dar Al-Kalima Model School (), meaning “The House of the Word”) is located on the hilltop Mt. Murair campus and serves students in grades K-12. The school is coeducational and Lutheran-based, serving both Christian and Muslim students from the towns, villages, and refugee camps of the Bethlehem area. The Extra-Curricular Program after school offers students the opportunity to receive instruction in their specific, chosen areas of interest from professionals in those fields. The Bright Stars program (run through the ICB) is similar to the ECP program, but it meets once a week and is open to children who attend schools other than Dar Al-Kalima.
The Dar Al-Kalima Health & Wellness Center
The Health & Wellness Center is also located on the hilltop Mt. Murair campus, on the ground level of the building that houses the Dar Al-Kalima Model School. It houses health clinics (
audiology,
nutrition,
endocrinology,
cardiology, and
psychotherapy) as well as fitness facilities and programming, including a swimming pool and
sauna,
yoga and
aerobics classes, and exercise machines. The aims of the Health & Wellness Center are prevention through promotion of healthy lifestyles, and providing specialist care not available elsewhere in the southern West Bank.
The Dar Al-Kalima College
The College began operating in 2006 from the ICB complex in Madbasseh Square, offering diploma courses in
documentary film-making and
glass and
ceramic art. The College received accreditation in 2007 from the Palestinian Ministry of Education and Higher Education for
Bachelor’s degree programs in contemporary
fine art,
multimedia and
tourism studies.
Publications
Raheb has written 8 books and numerous articles on issues relating to interfaith dialogue, social transformation, contextual theology, and culture, many of them available in over 10 languages, including Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Swedish, Finnish, Danish, Norwegian, English, German, and Arabic.
* Das reformatorische Erbe unter den Palästinensern: Zur Entstehung der evangelisch-lutherischen Kirche in Jordanien, (= Die lutherische Kirche, Geschichte und Gestalten; vol. 11), Gütersloh: Mohn, 1990. ISBN 3-579-00127-2, originally presented in 1988 as author's doctoral thesis at Fachbereich Evangelische Theologie (faculty) of Philip's University in Marburg on Lahn
*I Am A Palestinian Christian (Augsburg Fortress, 1995. ISBN 0-8006-2663-X)
* "Die evangelische lutherische Kirche in Palästina und Jordanien: Vergangenheit und Gegenwart", in: Dem Erlöser der Welt zur Ehre: Festschrift zum hundertjährigen Jubiläum der Einweihung der evangelischen Erlöserkirche in Jerusalem, Karl-Heinz Ronecker (ed.) on behalf of 'Jerusalem-Stiftung' and 'Jerusalemsverein', Leipzig: Evangelische Verlags-Anstalt, 1998, pp. 183–200. ISBN 3-374-01706-1
*Bethlehem 2000: Past and Future (with George Stein. Palmyra Verlag, 1998. ISBN 3-930378-21-3)
*Bethlehem Besieged: Stories of Hope in Times of Trouble (Augsburg Fortress, 2004. ISBN 0-8006-3653-8)
*Palestinian Christians: Facts, Figures and Trends (with Rifat Odeh Kassis, Bethlehem, 2008)
Press
Raheb’s work has attracted attention from major media networks, including the
BBC,
ABC, and
HBO,
and has been featured in publications such as
the Washington Post,
the Economist,
Newsweek,
the New York Times and
the Boston Globe. He has also been interviewed by the
Australian Broadcasting Corporation,
CNN and
CBS.
External links
The International Center of Bethlehem (Dar Annadwa Addawliyya)
MitriRaheb.org
Dar Al-Kalima College
The Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem
BethlehemMedia.net
Luther in Arabic
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL)
References
Category:Lutheran theologians
Category:Living people
Category:Palestinian Lutheran clergy
Category:20th-century Lutheran clergy
Category:People from Bethlehem
