Churchwide Assembly. The ELCA campaign works
against the occupation of the Pal- estinian Territories through accom- paniment, education and advocacy, especially with its companions, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land and the Jerusalem program of the Lutheran World Federation. After the conference, Danielsen
joined the synod task force as well as Austin’s Interfaith Community for Palestinian Rights. She also brought news of the struggle for justice and peace to Gethsemane, “to the com- munity of faith, the Christian com- munity and others, finding common ground for appreciation and respect of each other,” Gronberg said. In 2006, Danielsen helped orga-
nize a student dance troupe visit from the Lutheran School of Hope in Ramallah. When Gronberg saw the size of the venue Danielsen planned to rent, he didn’t know if they could fill it. “But she had the vision,” he said. “The night of the performance was standing-room only. These young people prod us to look at pos- sibilities for peace from other tradi- tions, other cultures.” Danielsen explained: “In addi- tion to dancing, troupe members told their stories and how the conflict had affected their families. [This] was an interactive way to educate my com- munity about the daily effects the
conflict has on ordinary citizens.” The Palestinian dancers went on to take part in the ELCA Youth Gathering in San Antonio and a Global Mission Event in Amherst, Mass.
In 2010, Danielsen left her job
as executive director of Samaritan Health Ministries in Austin. Faced with the challenge of raising the $6,000 fee for EAPPI participation, plus airfare, she turned to her con- gregation for support. Gethsemane agreed to match the funds she raised and allowed her to live rent-free in an unoccupied parsonage while she did it.
EAPPI ‘an honor’ “As a Christian it is an honor to carry out my faith in action in a place that is sacred not only to me but to thou- sands of others all across the globe,” Danielsen said. “[I’m] very thank- ful to have so many people at home supporting me through thought and prayer.” (Read her blog at http:// livingstonesofpalestine.wordpress. com).
Sharon Wiggins, a pastor from
Victoria, Texas, served with Dan- ielsen on the synod’s Peace Not Walls task force. Now retired, Wig- gins served with EAPPI in Bethle- hem from June to September 2011. “Being an ecumenical accompa- nier is not all about checkpoints,” she said. “It is about visiting with the
Te scholarly print journal at Gettysburg Seminary also features rubrics on “Fine Arts” and “Poetry + Teology.” Visit us at:
www.Ltsg.edu/SRP/Seminary-Ridge-Review.
many people who have stories.” Speaking about the program, Israeli peace activist Angela Godfrey- Goldstein said the presence of the ecumenical accompaniers “as living proof that oppression ends, that truth and reconciliation, nonviolence and dialogue, negotiation, justice and respect of the other are all part of the way forward, was for me, as an Israeli, a source of spiritual comfort. ... Thank God for people such as Mar- tin Luther King [Jr.], who said: ‘Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.’ ”
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