July 7, 2002

A good crowd for our presentation today.

We were invited to First Presbyterian Church of La Grange, in the Western suburbs, to share our stories. Marthame preached and we both took part in worship leadership, a communion service which bound us to those in Zababdeh who celebrated the eucharist earlier this morning. After worship, at fellowship and coffee time, we shared the video and spent some fruitful time in conversation. It was amazing to discover that there were a number of Palestinian Christians in our midst - one who was born in Haifa but soon became a refugee in Lebanon, one who was originally from Jerusalem, and one whose father was born in Zababdeh! Small world. We look forward to seeing where relationship with this congregation might go.

After lunch with friends who had recently moved to the area, we headed back to Hyde Park to begin our ecumenical orientation. There are Lutherans, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, and Reformed folks going to all parts of the globe. Somewhat disheartening was the realization that, among this group, only three people are going to the Middle East (and we are two of them). It is our hope that the mainline churches will discover the need for renewed presence with the Middle Eastern Church.