06/05/2026
PLEASE PRAY FOR THE QUICK AND SAFE RETURN OF FOUR YOUNG CHRISTIAN GIRLS WHO HAVE BEEN TAKEN BY ISRAELI ARMED SOLDIERS.
National Bishop Larry Kochendorfer is inviting the church to join in prayer and advocacy following an urgent request from Bishop Dr. Imad Haddad of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL), an ELCIC partner church.
In a June 3 letter to the church, Bishop Kochendorfer shared Bishop Haddad’s concerns regarding Natalie Abuddayeh, a youth member of the ELCJHL, who was detained alongside three other women from her student apartment in Birzeit. Abuddayeh is a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Reformation in Beit Jala, a graduate of Talitha Kumi Lutheran School and a media and journalism student at Birzeit University.
“Our prayers and actions for justice are always intertwined,” Kochendorfer wrote. “We join in prayer for our siblings in Christ.”