Candlelight vigils. Prayer services of remembrance and mourning. Rallies of solidarity. Blood drives. Institutions closed out of respect for the untold numbers of victims and their families. Official and individual statements of support and outrage. All of these are happening in Palestinian communities of the West Bank and Gaza in response to the horror unleashed upon the United States three days ago.
Read MoreWe are in Zababdeh, safe and sound. We have been watching the television with disbelief and horror for the past several hours. During that time, many of our friends and neighbors here have expressed their concern and grief for the enormous tragedies today in the United States....Please know that the thoughts and prayers of many Palestinians are with those touched by the horror of today. As are ours.
Read MoreThis summer we spent much of our time in the Ramallah area studying Arabic at Birzeit University. From our summer residence, we were able to travel regularly to Jerusalem and Ramallah, which gave us the chance to taste parts of the Palestinian culture not available to us in the nothernmost reaches of the West Bank. Much of our time was spent in Areas C and B, the categories of the West Bank still under Israeli military control.
Read MoreAnd so, we find that even Zababdeh isn’t quite like home either. We share with so many of our neighbors a sense of homelessness, whether literal or emotional. There is a vision of healing for such a place, offered by the Apostle Paul. Speaking to the uprooted in Ephesus, he says that belonging to the church means that we are no longer strangers or aliens, but members and citizens of the household of God.
Read MoreIt was hot. Really hot. Instead of cooling us, the wind brought more searing heat and stinging sand as we marveled at the ancient city of Ur, nestled in the Iraqi desert. But the heat and wind could not stop us from exploring the immense stone ruins, for we were on a pilgrimage to the roots of our faith.
Read MoreOver the forty days of Lent, and particularly over Holy Week this year, we had drawn our own parallels between the humiliating treatment of the modern Body of Christ in this land and the via dolorosa walked by the historical Christ. We hungered to hear what parallel the message of resurrection would mean in this context.
Read MoreNo doubt you heard about the tragic shooting that happened March 26. Ten month-old Shalhevet Pass, infant daughter of Israeli settlers, was murdered by a sniper from the Palestinian Abu Sneineh neighborhood of Hebron. The news broke our hearts, reminding us of the 100+ children who have been killed in the last seven months.
Read More“Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to share their resources with the saints in Jerusalem. They owe it to them – they have come to share in their spiritual blessings, so they ought to be of service to them.” (Romans 15:25-26)
Read MoreAll of the traffic was turning off of the main road. Our taxi followed suit, and we headed with the rest of Ramallah's rush hour travelers through a residential neighborhood and its narrow dirt lanes....One hour later, feeling angry and claustrophobic, we could see our destination. We re-entered the main road again, one hundred yards south of where we had left it.
Read MoreOn Thursday, January 11, fourth grader Annas al-Ahmad died on the playground of the Latin Patriarchate College of Zababdeh. Annas, who was born with a hole in his heart, was playing soccer with friends before school. When the ball hit him squarely in the chest, he immediately collapsed and began gasping for breath.
Read MoreIt was a powerful service, a true moment of Pentecostal worship, where new words had been written for a familiar hymn: “O little town of Bethlehem, the organs still do play of Jesus in a manger and angels on the way; our music and our singing is louder than a gun, and church bells in their ringing remind us we have won.”
Read MoreIt is our hope that, during the hustle and bustle of Christmas in the West, as lights are strung from tree to tree, and the ubiquitous sound of carols fills the air, that fellow Christians realize that the land where it all began will be silent and dark.
Read MoreSome trees have been here since the Romans controlled these lands, nearly 2000 years ago. These grand patriarchs carry meaning for the Christian minority here. Like the Christian community, these trees have witnessed the oppression of Roman, Ottoman, and Israeli occupations. And, like the Believers, the trees persevere, and continue to grow and bear good fruit.
Read MoreFriends, we are weary. To live here is exhausting - emotionally and physically. The West Bank is under closure, there are Israeli blockades between population areas, and every day is a constant reminder of occupation: planes fly low overhead, sonic booms rattle the entire building, power is cut off to nearby villages, work is drying up.
Read MoreLast night, after church, we spoke with a woman who told us that she felt abandoned and betrayed by America. “We are not asking for money or help from America,” she said. “We just want them to speak the truth.”
Read MoreFor a couple of days, the news from Serbia has removed the Middle East from the front page. Here in Palestine, it sat on the TV as a striking counterpoint to the escalating violence in this region.
Read MoreNo doubt you have seen at least some of the coverage of the last five days of bloody clashes between Israelis and Palestinians. The death toll is around forty, mostly Palestinians, while the injured totals hover around 1000.
Read More