Saleh

Dear family,

I didnt get a chance to get near internet yesterday, as it was chock full of activities and getting to know the other members of my team. As busy as my day was, it was so amazing. I have preached about the Dead Sea, and i have seen pictures. I know that you can float in it, because the salt levels are so high that you simply float. But yesterday i swam in it. And to lie in that amazing water, floating as if suspended on a swing, i had to reflect on the magnitude of where i was.

I was in the Dead Sea, where the Jordan River stops. All around me was evidence of God's story and the history of God's people. Just north of the Sea lies Jericho, where Joshua blew a horn. I could see Jericho from the store at the Sea. South of the Sea lies Massada, which i did not see, but it was where Jewish Zealots hid out, trying to ward off the Romans, around 70 A.D, until finally most of the Jewish people committed suicide, realizing they were not able to fight off the Romans for good. The Qumran community, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found, one of the most significant findings in the last hundred years, it was only a few kilometers from our beach. And most moving, for me, just north of Jericho, in a little town called Bethlehem, reminded me of why i was there.

Reflecting on this reality, makes me excited. I am here to honor God and Jesus. I am here to listen to God's still voice and to be a voice of change, of hope, and of love. And i am here to walk in the steps of Jesus, but more than that, i am here to create, with Jesus' help, new steps for Jesus to tread. How do i know this is my call? Because when the three of us who took the day trip to the Dead Sea returned to our hotel and met the rest of the team, we heard a story that brought me back to reality.

In America we do not hear the whole story. I am guilty of harboring ignorances and prejudices about the Palestinian people, all of which, after hearing my good friend, Saleh's story, changed all of that. Saleh is a father and a husband and a hard worker and a devoted man of God. More than that, he is open to hearing the stories of all people, and he dreams of a place where Jew/ Muslim live together, in peace. And yet, his story illumines the evils of a system that make him out to be less than and dependent on a government that does not recognize Saleh's humanity.

Saleh married a woman, whose family lives outside of Jerusalem. Saleh and his wife may never visit them. Their children may never know their grand children. More than that, if those beautiful children were to get sick, Saleh might have to wait weeks to get permission to take that child to the hospital, some thing all of us parents take for granted. The Israeli government drags its feet, when it comes to the plight of the Palestinian people, and it brought back so many images of the struggle the United States went through during the Civil Rights Era.

And Saleh's story is the norm, not the exception. But as long as we are here, the church, Saleh has hope, as do all the others who face the randomness of the racism and hatred that flows from the Iraeli government. However, i also learned, today, that many Jews are fighting for the rights of the Palestinians, so there is hope, as there always must be. God has not abandoned anyone. But God has called everyone to step and be a voice of change. I wish i could go into such detail of all that i am learning and experiencing, but there is simply no room.

Today we saw the city. Tomorrow we visit Bethlehem. I am already excited and anxious. I miss you all. May God's face shine upon you and bless you and keep you...Amen.