A Theme Song: Psalm 133

When we first gathered as a group, all 23 of us, at JFK, I read Psalm 133 to them. A "song of ascents", the psalm would have been sung by the faithful as they made their way up to the Temple in Jerusalem to pray. "How good and pleasant it is when kindred sit together." It was meant as a prayer for us as we literally ascended through the clouds as well as for unity of our group as we began our travels together and as we connected with brothers and sisters in Christ from across the world.

Little did we know that we would encounter it again today. On a visit to Tent of Nations, an incredible ministry of patient persistence in the face of overwhelming odds, we met it written in Arabic and Hebrew as a kind of statement of purpose.

The Nassar family purchased their land in 1916. Successive generations have lived on it since. In 1991, they received an eviction order from the Israeli military. Since then, they have fought at every level of the Israeli court system, have faces repeated threats, bribes, and harassment from neighboring Israeli settlers, and continue to live and farm their land despite having no running water, no electricity, and the roughest of lean-to sheds and caves to call "home". And yet, they still believe in the possibility that their land could be a place of hospitality to all nations. They have even held "peace circles" with neighboring settlers - provided they leave their guns behind.

"How good and pleasant," the sign reads, "when kindred sit together." Amen.