Anglican Communion News Service

Jerusalem 2000, the Archbishop of Canterbury's Millennium Appeal for the beleaguered Church in the Holy Land, has committed much of the money already raised in an initial round of grants. These grants will help the Church in its task of serving the community through the provision of hospitals, schools and other civic amenities.

The aim is to provide long term capital development projects to alleviate the plight of Christians, Moslems and Jews caught up in the current violence in the Holy Land.

The projects include:

• The Ahliyyah and Bishop's Schools in Amman for Information Technology provision and playground renovation - £38,000 grant.



• St. Luke's Hospital, Nablus for two ventilators and a neo natal resuscitation unit - £10,000 grant.



• A single parish added its gift of over £1,100, to the £109,000 needed and given for the church building project at St.Paul's, Shefr Amr.



• £130,000 has been earmarked for the sewerage system for avoiding seriously contaminated water at the Theodor Schneller School for orphan boys, Marka.

The appeal has already raised £700,000 from individual gifts, but will not stop there. The Archbishop of Canterbury's vision for the appeal is that it will meet or exceed a sum equal to £1 from every Church member.

Throughout the Autumn the appeal will concentrate on inviting schools to raise funds for the children of the Holy Land and others yet to contribute. Fresh initiatives will be publicised through the Dioceses culminating in a widespread Christmas Appeal.

A teacher from the Evangelical Home and School, Ramallah, Mrs Amal Duaybis, visiting Lincoln Minster School this week, said: "Everyone knows someone who has been injured or killed and people are scared. I feel like I am in a big prison - Jerusalem is only a fifteen minute drive away and I can't visit." Amal is visiting Lincoln Minster School as a result of contacts made through Jerusalem 2000 between the Diocese of Jerusalem and the Church Schools Company.

Amal is worried about her family and the level of unemployment, particularly of young men who cannot work in Israel. Poverty is a major burden and affects the school where she teaches English. She says her visit to Britain has "brought home to me the universal nature of education," but she knows many in Palestine who cannot sit their final examinations because they are imprisoned, injured or just prevented from getting to school.

But, she says, with help, the current building project at her school could be finished and furnished. Amal's school in Ramallah is one of the projects promised support by Jerusalem 2000.