Playgrounds for Palestine
<>GRAND RAPIDS MINISTER TO SPEAK ABOUT BETHLEHEM MISSION
Building Goodwill and Playgrounds for Palestinian Children
Nathan Dannison, a graduate student at Chicago Theological Seminary and
director of Outreach Ministries at Park Church in Grand Rapids, will be in Traverse City on Saturday, March 29, 2008 and Sunday, March 30, 2008 to talk about his upcoming trip to Palestine to learn Arabic, follow in the footsteps of Jesus, and finance and build a playground for Palestinian children in Bethlehem. The playground is a project of the Philadelphia-based Playgrounds for Palestine (www.playgroundsforpalestine.org), whose mission is to give Palestinian children bright, safe, developmentally appropriate places to play. The group describes its work as “an affirmation of their right to childhood and a minimal recognition of their humanity… an act of Love.”
Dannison’s presentations are sponsored by the local peace group MidEast:
JustPeace which was founded in Traverse City in 2002 to bring more
attention to the efforts to end the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands. Attendees will be asked to help with donations toward the Bethlehem
playground. Dannison will speak three times over the weekend.
- Saturday, March 29th at the Grace Episcopal Church Hall, 341 Washington St. at 6:00 PM beginning with a potluck Attendees
are asked to bring a dish to share and their own plates and utensils.
Presentation at 7:00 PM.
- Sunday, March 30th at the Traverse Area District Library at 2:00 PM.
- Sunday, March 30th at the Potter’s House Church, UCC at 5:00 PM. The Potter’s House Church, UCC meets at Grace Episcopal Church, 341 Washington St. The Potter’s House is co-sponsoring his presentation at their church.
<>“Ever since I became “politically aware” in high school the Israeli / Palestinian conflagration has deeply troubled me. In my adult
life have had an opportunity to spend my graduate career studying and following Jesus of Nazareth, a man from Palestine, who was a healer and proclaimed the justice tradition of the prophet Isaiah and
the Tanakh,” said Dannison. “[Reports state that] only 2.5% of children living in the occupied territories are free from symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, and one survey found that 83% of local children had witnessed shootings. This, coupled with the fact that Palestinian children are regularly killed by military actions carried out near their homes, is why I feel very strongly about what Playgrounds for Palestine is doing for the people who live in this impoverished region.” For more information please call Marian Kromkowski at 231.271.5600 or
Gina Aranki at 231.620.6515.