Update letter for supporting parishes back in the USA

“But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.” Mark 16:7

Dear friends in Christ,

Greetings from a peaceful day here in Nazareth in the Holy Land.  Out my apartment window lies the apse of Christ Anglican Church, and two hundred feet away the Basilica of the Annunciation, where Catholic tradition remembers the angel Gabriel visiting Mary. Since January, I have been serving at Christ Church in Nazareth and teaching in local schools as a missionary of the Episcopal Church and member of Jerusalem Peacebuilders. It is another chapter of my life and ministry, rich with our Lord’s gentle guiding and steadfast love.                                     

After a cold arrival in January characterized by two weeks without hot water in my apartment, I quickly went to work in reaching out to the schools where I had previously arranged to lead Jerusalem Peacebuilders (JPB) Leadership and Peacebuilding programs. What unfolded was a surge in demand and multiple grace-filled meetings with schools who were interested in bringing JPB programming to their students. In total, I secured four programs, with each class meeting weekly. Combine four days of teaching with two and a half days of volunteering at Christ Church and you end up having a very busy servant! Deeply rewarding, I have observed each of my nearly one hundred students grow and develop as a result of my teaching, example, and witness. They have grown in confidence, both personally and in their command and use of English as a second or third language. They have grown in their capacity to see the other side of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and have developed new skills in communication and peacebuilding. Most importantly, they have a renewed sense of hope for their future – that things will get better and peace is possible.

One very special moment came when the Presiding Bishop Michael Curry of the Episcopal Church was on pilgrimage to the Holy Land in late-March during Holy Week and visited one of my school programs. Leading up to his visit, I had been working with the 11^th graders on writing speeches and they were ready to share their words with Bishop Curry. Each student spoke well and captured the attention of the Presiding Bishop and his delegation, leaving me feeling like a proud parent but shying away from stealing the spotlight from the teens. For more detail, read the Episcopal New Service article on the visit.

JPB Teens from Christ School, Nazareth present speeches on leadership
and peacebuilding to Presiding Bishop Curry

These sacred moments of teaching in schools and serving in worship and parish administration have taught me one important lesson: that I am called to use my gifts to serve the Church and further the Kingdom of God in this life. And so, with this quiet confidence and sense of righteousness, I rise each day and go out into the Galilee to do the will of our Father in Heaven. Sending my prayers and thanksgivings for the community that so warmly welcomed me last fall.

In Christ,

Jack Karn

Gone on to Galilee

Dear friends,

Greetings from Nazareth! The city where our Lord grew up from a vulnerable infant into an unrivaled man. I will be here for four months, the length of the spring semester in Israeli schools. My role includes serving at Christ Church alongside its Vicar, The Rev. Nael Abu Rahmoun, and teaching leadership and peacebuilding courses in several middle and high schools. With just under three weeks into my term of mission service, much has been accomplished in the name of the Church and Christ’s peace.

My mentor, friend, and manager, likes to describe my work thus far as “opening doors and moving mountains”.  It makes me chuckle, but I don’t contest its meaning and authenticity. In the Holy Land, sometimes things don’t work out exactly as planned or only take real shape when you are in-country and meeting with people face-to-face. 90% of life is simply showing up. Indeed, it has been these in-person meetings, informative presentations, and key relationships that have led to my ministry flourishing here in Nazareth.  With four in-school leadership and peacebuilding programs established and now launching, my hands, in service to our Lord, are quite full.

Just last weekend, I traveled to Tel Aviv and Jaffa for an overnight youth leadership retreat with 20 Jewish and Arab teens from across Israel. For two days, we had dialogues on inequality and gender norms, workshops on the religious significance of Jerusalem, field visits to the beach and a historic Libyan synagogue, and project planning to overcome misperceptions in our home communities.  While the two days were brimming with programming and hard work, the result is always what I give thanks to God for allowing me to see. A microcosm of the dream of God, to see our youth, growing up in divided communities where they don’t have the easy opportunity to meet and interact, now coming together to learn, communicate, listen, play, laugh, eat, pray, and love. It is these experiences, and those of the summer programs in the USA each year, that fill me with an indescribable joy, hope, and peace. For me, these experiences and the feelings invoked provide an incontrovertible sign of God’s truth and presence in this world.  My prayer is that I can share this part of God’s Good News with boldness and with as many people as I can.

Jack with young Israeli and Palestinian teens participating in a two-day
youth leadership retreat in Tel Aviv/Jaffa, Israel

The journey continues and I am ever grateful to all of you, known and unknown, who take the time to read my blog and share in this exciting adventure and encounter with the Divine Presence. With Lent fast approaching, you will be sure to hear more of me, as I enter into a more penitent and contemplative state of being. It is only with God’s help and mercy that I will succeed and accomplish the task laid before me.

In Christ,

Jack Karn