From One Bethlehem to Another

If someone wanted to plant a new church, it makes a certain sense to call a person from Bethlehem.

Yes, the actual Bethlehem.

Adham Alaraj has been called by the ELCA to launch an Arabic-language congregation in El Cajon (in the San Diego area), the first in California and only the second Arabic-language Lutheran congregation in the United States after Salam Arabic Lutheran in Brooklyn, New York. Bethlehem Arabic Lutheran Church will be hosted by St. John’s Lutheran, where Alaraj is also a pastor.

“There are lot of people in this area who’ve come here from Arabic-speaking places and they want to come to an Arabic church,” Alaraj said. “So we’re just now building the communication, building the pastoral care, building the church, and doing justice and mercy about how we can care for the people, the immigrants, the refugees.”

Alaraj’s journey from his native Bethlehem to this newly-established one took him all over the world.  “I graduated from Bethlehem Bible College and went to Dubai, then Chicago, and then Iowa at Wartburg Seminary,” Alaraj said. “And while I was in Chicago, the head of the Arabic ministry for the ELCA heard about me and said he wanted to talk about planting a new Arabic church in California. We prayed and talked and I accepted a call to come to San Diego.”

The new congregation promises to be one that reaches to the sizeable Arabic-speaking population of El Cajon, many of whom are transplants from difficult circumstances.

“The most important part of our vision for Bethlehem Arabic Lutheran Church is pastoral care,” Alaraj said. “It’s important to care for these people who come from traumatic situations.”  In many ways, Alaraj is specially equipped for church ministry, growing up a Palestinian Christian in Bethlehem, though his call to full-time pastoral work came in a way he wasn’t expecting.

“In Bethlehem, I grew up going to a small gathering next to my house, it was called Prayer House,” Alaraj said. “I was going there, and the pastor asked me to speak to them for a few minutes. So I spoke, and the pastor was very impressed with my speech. So he suggested I study theology and see how God was going to call me. After a few months, I accepted this call because I had a lot of questions for God, I wanted to know what was happening.  

“In my first semester at Bethlehem Bible College, we had to go to a refugee camp in Jordan, and I was asked to preach for the first time,” Alaraj continued. “I was still a student—I was 19 years old.”

But something clicked. From there, the head of the college suggested Alaraj begin working toward becoming a pastor. And thus began his circuitous route from Bethlehem to El Cajon.

Alaraj’s calling at a young age has inspired in him the desire to minister especially to the next generation of believers.“I want to see young people, a new generation to come and have hope for the history that people are still here. To keep talking about justice and mercy. About what’s happening right now. People need to understand that we still have hope, the people of Bethlehem. We’re still here, surviving and helping.”  

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For more information about how you can pray for, support, or keep in touch with BALC, email Pastor Adham Alaraj at alarajad77@gmail.com.