Mt. of Olives Housing Project
Help keep Palestinian Christians in the Holy Land
Since 1946, the Christian population in Jerusalem has decreased from 30,000 to less than 10,000. In a few decades, if the housing shortage and other difficulties continue, there could be no Palestinian Christians living in the Holy City.
The Lutheran World Federation (LWF), the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL), and the Kaiserin Auguste Victoria Foundation (KAVF) are addressing the need for housing through the construction of 84 apartments on the LWF property on the Mount of Olives.
These housing units will be leased to Christian couples and families at subsidized rates, providing an affordable housing solution within Jerusalem.
This solution will enable many Palestinian Jerusalemites to maintain their Jerusalem residency and keep the right to work and live in Jerusalem and to move freely within its boundaries. Jerusalemites also receive health care and pensions that are critical to maintaining family life. But without adequate housing, these families are being forced to leave the city of their heritage and to relinquish their rights.
 The housing project will be located near Augusta Victoria Hospital on the Mount of Olives property of the Lutheran World Federation.
Together we can build an apartment complex that will help to alleviate the critical shortage of housing and to strengthen the dwindling Christian presence in Jerusalem.
When completed, this project will not only offer hope to many Christian Palestinian families, but will also be a visible reminder to every Jerusalemite that there is hope for a lasting peace.
The housing project on the Mount of Olives is vital to the future of the Christian presence and witness in Jerusalem and it is important, therefore, to the future of Jerusalem as a city of peace for Jews, Christians, and Muslims and as an example of reconciliation for the world.
- The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, President, Lutheran World Federation
For additional information, contact GlobalMissionSupport@elca.org or call (800) 638-3522, ext. 2641.
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