ROCHELLE — St. Paul Lutheran Church was the internship site (2006) for Raeda Mansour, Christmas Lutheran Church in Bethlehem, as Dr. Marcia Schnorr (CLM-Parish Nurse)  completed the course to become the first parish nurse in the Middle East.  
She is still the only parish nurse in the Holy Land. Schnorr, at St. Paul and Education Coordinator for Parish Nursing of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, has escorted a parish nurse team on a pilgrimage at least once a year ever since.  This year the pilgrimage included an event to recognize the 10 years since Mansour completed the parish nurse education course and her service to primarily Christian older adults in and around Bethlehem.  
Letters of greetings were shared from Rev. Dr. Matthew C. Harrison, President of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS); Rev. Dr. Patrick Ferry, President of Concordia University Wisconsin; Rev. Dan Gilbert, President of Northern Illinois District of the LCMS; and Marguerite Nickels, Executive Director of Lutherans in Medical Missions.  Rev. Greg Hoffmann and his wife, Tina, participated in the team. Rev. Hoffmann shared greetings from St. Paul Lutheran Church (Rochelle) and provided pastoral care for the pilgrimage team. Tina Hoffmann provided IT assistance for various presentations and fellowship activities.

Mansour’s ministry began to the 14 older adults in Christmas Lutheran Church but now serves several hundred in and around Bethlehem as well as outreach to other Christian seniors in the various places throughout the West Bank.  In addition, Mansour provided a group for young parents and an outreach to women of all ages in a near-by village.
For more questions about the parish nurse ministry in Bethlehem or the team for 2018, please contact Schnorr at her office by calling 815-562-2744.