Elizabeth & Marthame Sanders
1891 Sandlewood Lane
Atlanta, GA 30341
Email: Elizabeth Sanders

Elizabeth and Marthame returned to the United States in 2005 to serve as missionaries-in-residence at the national offices of PC(USA) in Louisville. Marthame was called to a pastorate in November 2005 (Oglethorpe Presbyterian Church in Atlanta, Georgia ). Elizabeth ended her term of service in June 2006.

Marthame and Elizabeth Sanders began their ministry in August 2000 with the support of the Presbytery of Greater Atlanta of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Beginning July 1, 2002, they came under appointment as long-term volunteers with the PC(USA), and they continue their work with the Latin Patriarchate College in Zababdeh, Palestine, which is located in the northern West Bank between Jenin and Nablus. They support the ministry of northern West Bank Christian parishes (including Roman Catholic, Anglican, Greek Orthodox, and Greek Catholic) and help build connections between people in those parishes and congregations in the United States.

One of the few majority Christian population centers in Palestine and Israel, Zababdeh's population is roughly 3000. The 66 percent of the population that is Christian belongs to the Roman Catholic (Latin) Church of Visitation, St. George's Greek Orthodox Church, St. Matthew's Anglican Church, St. George's Greek Catholic (Melkite) Church. The rest of the population of Zababdeh is primarily Sunni Muslim. There is one small mosque in Zababdeh.

Marthame’s call to ministry in the Middle East began taking shape in 1993 when he visited Palestine with a young adult mission trip to Ramallah organized by the PC(USA). He holds a B.A. in history from Yale University and an M. Div. from the Divinity School of the University of Chicago. He was ordained to the ministry of Word and Sacrament in May 2000 at First Presbyterian Church, Wilmette, Illinois, and is now a minister member of the Presbytery of Greater Atlanta.

(Photo Album)

Letters from
Marthame and Elizabeth Sanders

• June 2006
• March 2006
• September 2005
• August 2005
• March 2005
• December 2004
• July 2004
• June 2004
• December 2003 (2)
• December 2003 (1)
• November 2003
• August 2003
• July 2003
• June 2003
• April 2003
• March 2003
• December 2002 (2)
• December 2002 (1)
• October 2002 (2)
• October 2002 (1)

Visit the Sanders' personal Web site at:

http://come.to/zababdeh

Both Marthame and Elizabeth feel that their call to ministry includes a call to share their witness of how God works in the world. They maintain a large Web site about their lives and ministry and about the lives and ministries of their neighbors in Zababdeh. Visit their well-organized, frequently updated Web site at http://come.to/zababdeh

Marthame was program associate for youth and ministry at Park Ridge Presbyterian Church in Park Ridge, Illinois, in 1997 and 1998. From 1998 until leaving for ministry in the Middle East, he was pastoral and program assistant at First Presbyterian Church of Wilmette, Illinois.

Elizabeth, a native Texan from Lubbock, is also a graduate of Yale College, receiving her B.A. in environmental biology. In 2002, she completed her M.A. in geography and environmental studies from Northeastern Illinois University. Elizabeth has been an active lay leader in several Presbyterian churches in the Chicago area, taking leadership in worship, education, and personnel committees. Her sense of call to mission work has been greatly shaped by Paul's description of the mutuality of common ministry (Romans 1:11-12).

Elizabeth worked with Bonne Santé Health Foods as an assistant manager from 1994 to 1997 and then with the Nature Conservancy as its Chicago wilderness field representative in 1998. From October 1998 until the Sanders departure for the Middle East, Elizabeth was the Chicago wilderness field representative for the National Audubon Society.

Elizabeth and Marthame were married in Atlanta in 1995.

Birthdays:
Elizabeth - October 4
Marthame - May 21