Hebron

Family,

It is twelve thirty in the morning, and i am staying up late, so i can send you a quick note. And it will be quick.

We arrived in Hebron, safely, and i am excited over the next six days. The CPT apartment is really neat actually, and i have more understanding of what "roughing it" really is. I also am amazed at how much i take for granted. We have not hot water. No running toilet. And our neighbor, seriously, is an Israeli army base. How about that for a little irony? A Christian Peacemaking Team, on a mission in Hebron, for the purpose of confronting the occupation and the human rights violations of the Israeli government is neighbors with the very people we want to hold accountable.

And it is this government that needs to be held accountable. Again, today, i heard more and more stories of how the Israeli government does thing that are absolutely heinous. We ate dinner with a worldclass photographer, and his stories exemplify just what happens when a government seems to fear or choose to oppress a people, simply because of their race. This man took us in. Fed us so much. Invited us to stay. He is going to show us around. He welcomes us, as well as his entire family, as sisters and brothers. These people, these people who face M-16 and tanks have shaken the very foundation of my soul.

I have long held serious predjudices, which i am not proud of, about Arab people. I, like many, im sure, saw terrorist around so many corners, and yet, i could not have been more wrong. I have met nothing but the love of Jesus, yes JESUS, in these people. They are simply the warmest and most gracious and loving people i have ever met, and several have invited me to come back and stay with them, so i could hear more of their stories. We, as the people with the power, need to not only hear their stories, but we need to tell them and stand up for them.

Tomorrow more meetings with great people and then we have some exciting things planned. I will tell you all about it. But i must say this, in the last two days i have met two people from Kansas. Yes. Kansas. One of the brilliant men that shared with us went to Kansas University and today i met a guy, at the worship service at the Lutheran Church from Hutchinson. That's only 20 miles from McPherson. Why bring this up? Because it proves our world is small and we are all more connected than we realize. And that's a great thing. I miss you and hope to blog more later..peace.

jerry