July 14, 2002 — Mudeif Productions

*A “Prayer Gram” from Park Ridge to Palestine.*

We went to Park Ridge Presbyterian Church this morning, a community we had been part of for two years while we were living here. At the time, the church was in turmoil, a turmoil which grew in the time we were there. We left as the congregation continued to struggle with conflict. This was four years ago. Since then, we have reconnected with folks in the congregation and have gotten to know the new pastoral staff through emails. The church has also generously supported our ministry in Zababdeh, for which we have been most grateful. It was good to come back, a chance to reconnect with a place and some dear people with whom we had disconnected. Marthame preached, and we both led worship, before sharing in a time of lecturing and conversation. The Sunday School children had drawn a mural for us, which we hope to share with our friends back in Zababdeh.

In the evening, we took a bunch of our fellow orientees out to taste the magnificent Gertie's ice cream, a Chicago South-Side legend with extra butter fat (just in case you weren't geting enough). One of our number decided it wasn't enough and decided to go for the "tummy buster" soda, 32 oz. of rootbeer with seven scoops of ice cream, topped with whipped cream. Marthame had done this a few years ago - watching someone else demonstrate their hubris simply brought back bad memories.