August 19, 2001

The first Sunday for Abuna Aktham, and he was received quite well by the congregation. Everyone seems intent on commenting on how young he is (he's 32, but looks younger), a real sea change for this village. Marthame stood with him at the table and helped to distribute the elements as he had with Abuna Louis. It's encouraging to see continuity with good ecumenical relations.

The Episcopal church of Zababdeh has been closed far too often lately.

We also got a chance to see the Episcopal Priest, Qassis Hossam. It was his first Sunday in Zababdeh in a few weeks - the last three he had been unable to travel here from Nablus, and so there had been no church.

In the evening, we went to visit Abuna To'mie, the Orthodox priest. He had just returned from a visit of Palestinian clergy to Turkey. There were Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant pastors all traveling together to see some of the sites there. Particularly impressive were the ruins of Ephesus. He showed us his pictures, including one of him in his clergy robe (which he wears everywhere he goes) and a floppy tourist hat - Gilligan-style. That's gotta be a first.