News

A message from AFEDJ Executive Director Eileen Spencer As each new report of violence in the West Bank and Jerusalem arrives, my heart goes out to all people of the region affected by unrest, uncertainty, and fear for themselves and their loved ones. In recent...

There’s no better place to watch and wait for the birth of Jesus than the Holy Land. Beginning on December 1 the American Friends of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem (AFEDJ) will launch its Holy Land Advent calendar to offer a daily glimpse into the...

After many pandemic-related delays, AFEDJ’s video-based study program provides a window into the remarkable witness of Christians in the Holy Land  AFEDJ’s education program, Bearing Witness: A Journey with Holy Land Christians, is one the Episcopal Church has been calling for at regular intervals over...

Spencer will become AFEDJ’s new executive director in December After a thorough, thoughtful national search, Eileen Spencer joined AFEDJ as its Executive Director-Elect on September 6. She will work alongside John Lent, the current Executive Director, who will retire at the end of this year....

In mid-October a small group of AFEDJ trustees and staff visited Malalha, an impoverished neighborhood of 3,000 Bedouins native to Gaza, and Ahli Arab Hospital, a beacon of light for all who seek care. Shortly after the May 2021 war in Gaza, the UN Secretary-General...

Eileen Spencer begins the transition process to become AFEDJ’s new executive director on December 1. Early Tuesday morning Eileen Spencer joined a Zoom call with leaders of the Princess Basma Center in Jerusalem to learn more about the USAID grant project to make all areas...

A $290,000 grant from Islamic Relief USA will allow the Jerusalem Princess Basma Center to expand its partnerships with six Community-Based Rehabilitation Centers across the West Bank. Children with disabilities in Palestine face enormous barriers to education, inclusion, and acceptance. For families who live in...

In the early morning hours of August 18, St. Andrew’s Anglican Church in Ramallah was damaged and disrupted by the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) in a raid on the offices of the human rights group Al-Haq, a tenant in an adjacent Diocese of Jerusalem building....

The Board of Trustees of the American Friends of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem (AFEDJ) is pleased to announce the appointment of Eileen Spencer of Dutchess County, NY, as Executive Director-Elect of the organization. She will join AFEDJ in September and work alongside John Lent,...

A brief war highlights the fragility of life in Gaza as families suffer from indiscriminate attacks on refugee camps and acute shortages of water, fuel, and medicine. Over three days last week, the exchange of bombs and rockets between Israel and the Islamic Jihad faction...