Kuttab, George M. (1923-2006)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 2006 Feb 27 p. 12

Birth date: 1922 Apr 23

text of obituary:

GEORGE M. KUTTAB

George M. Kuttab, 83, of Wyncote, Pa., died Jan. 24, 2006. He was born on April 23, 1922, in Jerusalem, Palestine.

He married Frocina Ibrahim Nesheiwat from Jordan on Sept. 7, 1951.

He began his career in ministry as pastor of the Nazareth Church in Zarka, Jordan, in 1948. In 1953 he and his wife moved to Palestine, where he was pastor of the Church of God in both Jerusalem and Bethlehem. In 1969 he came to the United States and worked a variety of jobs but never lost his calling to preach. In 1981 he returned to Palestine to teach at Hope Secondary School and Bethlehem Bible College. He was asked to serve with the Nazarene Church in Jerusalem, translating for a missionary and doing church planting in remote villages. In 1988, they returned to the United States and moved to Pennsylvania. There he worked in West Chester and then with Lima Mennonite Church in Ohio. He served there until he started Salam Mennonite Church as an Arabic Home Church in Wyncote. He spoke in numerous churches, including Salam Arabic Lutheran Church in Brooklyn, Ambler Mennonite Church and both Chinese Mennonite churches in Philadelphia.

One of his passions was traveling and sharing his love of nature with others. He took groups of pilgrims to the Holy Land and was a great tour guide. He wrote his autobiography and a booklet on names in the Bible and their meanings. He translated religious books into Arabic. He was an awesome storyteller, telling how God sustained him and his family through World War II and the Six-Day War.

Survivors include his wife, Frocina; seven children, Jonathan and his wife, Beth, and Daoud and his wife, Salam, all of Amman, Jordan, Lydia Brenneman and her husband, Brice, of St. Marys, Ohio, Samuel and his wife, Jehan, of Wyncote, Phoebe Wurst and her husband, Roch, of Elkins Park, Grace El-Yateem and her husband, Khader, and Daniel and his wife, Rania, all of Brooklyn, N.Y.; a sister, Huda, of Kansas; and 24 grandchildren.

Services were held at Calvary Assembly of God Church in Wyncote. Burial was in Ivy Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia.

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 2006 May 15 p. 6

text of obituary:

Death of a patriach

Palestinian pastor brought unique witness to Philadelphia

By Freeman Miller

When the Anabaptist pastors of Philadelphia met for their monthly prayer breakfast in January, they closed with a time of prayer. Pastor George Kuttab prayed for the healing of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who had suffered a stroke, and for the peace of Jerusalem.

What made this prayer unusual was that Kuttab, a Palestinian Mennonite pastor in Philadelphia, was praying for the man and nation that had often caused his own people much suffering.

Though it was often dangerous or impossible to travel safely in Israel, Kuttab was planning a tour in May to the Holy Land he loved so much. He insisted I go along.

But it seems God had other plans. Kuttab, 83, died unexpectedly Jan. 24.

He died as he lived — always on the go for God, enjoying life, witnessing for his Lord, playing games, telling stories, making people laugh.

No matter what was going on, Kuttab always had a story — a story pointing to Jesus and the people trying to follow him in Jerusalem, Jordan or Bethlehem, where Kuttab and his wife, Frocina, raised their seven children and served in numerous pastorates and other ministries.

All who knew him agreed Kuttab was unusual and unforgettable. Always full of energy and enthusiasm, this ministry dynamo left most of us struggling to keep up. Unflagging love for his Lord seemed to give him boundless energy.

One burden long on his heart was for the birth of an Anabaptist congregation in the Holy Land where his sons and other believers could worship and witness. Perhaps his dream will still come true.

Kuttab was a true Palestinian patriot. He spoke out against injustice to Palestinians. He made sure his children and grandchildren appreciated Arab culture and language. He told those he met in America about Palestinian Christians.

When the Kuttab family moved into the Philadelphia area in 1988, they brought a rare addition to the Anabaptist mix in the city. there are not many Palestinian Mennonites in the world, let alone in Philadelphia. This unusual family brought new insights and stories from the Middle East into our churches and neighborhoods.

Kuttab asked me about starting a work among Arab-speaking people in Philadelphia. I was elated. And so, Salam Mennonite Fellowship was born. It remained mostly a house church. In the past few years, meetings were sporadic, but always the vision for a Christian witness stayed uppermost in Kuttab's heart.

The deeply moving memorial service in Arabic and English was unforgettable, paying tribute to a true father in the faith. At the dinner afterward, Lemuel So, pastor of Love Truth Chinese Mennonite Church in Philadelphia, gave a tearful testimony of how Kuttab was a spiritual father and mentor to him. Kuttab had preached his last sermon at Love Truth the Sunday before he died.

Kuttab wrote his life story in a book, My Family & Palestine — My Beloved Homeland, which the family gave out at the memorial service.

The hundreds present — mostly Christians, but also Muslims and Jews — gave visible evidence that this giant in the faith touched many lives with the love of Jesus during his long and fruitful ministry.

Kuttab's family on both sides of the ocean has lost a true patriarch, and so have I. I'm sure the many pastors in Philadelphia and Lancaster Mennonite Conference who knew him fell the same way.

Freeman J. Miller is bishop of the Lancaster Mennonite Conference Churches of Philadelphia.