Humanized view returning from Jerusalem with YAGM traveler

Girl at Al-Mahaba Kindergarten, YAGM service site

“Ignorance of our neighbors makes room for oppression in the place where love should be,” observes Michelle Steiner of Good Samaritan Lutheran Church in Lanham, Md., “and that is something we can all work toward improving in our own lives.”

Steiner is wrapping up a year spent in Jerusalem through the ELCA’s Young Adults in Global Mission program (YAGM). YAGM invites participants to step out of their comfort zones and challenge themselves in a one year international mission service and learning opportunity.

“My YAGM experience has pushed me to apply what I see to my own community back home,” Steiner writes from Jerusalem in her June 30, 2012 newsletter. “If I want people to be more aware of and loving toward their neighbors here, I also believe that such an approach can be very powerful back in the United States, and I have tried to take that into account as I plan for my future.”

Learn more about YAGM opportunities for 19-29 year olds from the ELCA Web site. Steiner’s blog from Jerusalem and the West Bank will continue to update supporters of her observations and return journey.