October 11, 2002 — Mudeif Productions

We left early this morning with Deacon Firas, hiring a taxi to go from Zababdeh through the tractor trails to the Green Line. After forty minutes, we met our next taxi in the village of Jalame, on the Palestinian side of the border. In addition to the Melkites in Zababdeh, Deacon Firas will have responsibility for the Christian community (historically Melkite) in this town. They number about 150, and in good times would travel to Jenin for worship. Those are days are in the past. His plan is to rent a house in the village and to prepare a small chapel there in order to provide a worship space for the community. That is how the Melkite Church in Zababdeh began more than one hundred years ago.

From Jalame, we crossed the border and went to Nazareth (after a brief visit with the soldiers at the checkpoint, bewildered and bemused by our presence). In Nazareth, we paid a visit to the Greek Orthodox church of Mary's Well, believed to be site of the annunciation of Gabriel to Mary (The Roman Catholic Church holds to the tradition that Gabriel approached Mary at home, and nearby is their massive Church of the Annuciation). The grotto's walls, around a gurgling well, date from the time of Constantine, and the rest of the church from about 250 years ago. Deacon Firas offered Byzantine prayers at the site. Particularly in the absence of the tourists, such chants are hauntingly moving.

At the Greek Catholic Synagogue Church in Nazareth's Old City (memorializing where Jesus read from the scroll of Isaiah - Luke 4), we visited with the newly-ordained deacon there before grabbing the bus to Shefa'amer and finally a taxi to Ibillin and Mar Elias College. Fr. Elias Chacour, the school's founder, welcomed his unexpected guests with lunch.

*Fr. Elias Chacour, holding court in Ibillin, Israel.*

The reason for all of this travel was to rendevous with the delegation of the Presbyterian Church (USA) traveling with its Moderator Rev. Dr. Fahed Abu-Akel. For two weeks, they are in the area visiting PCUSA projects and partners and meeting with various community leaders. This afternoon, Fr. Elias hosted them and shared his story, his vision, and his challenge for these American brothers and sisters in Christ who, because of nationality, wield inordinate global political power. He and Dr. Abu-Akel have a long friendship, so it was particularly moving to see them together.

Work is continuing on the Mar Elias Department of Divinity, where Marthame expects to be teaching next semester. The new structure looms over the rest of the campus, seeming more of a cathedral than a Divinity School. We arrived back in Nazareth in the evening for dinner at St. Margaret's, an Anglican hostel with a spectacular view overlooking the city. A long day for us pilgrims.