It feels strange to drink sweet tea and eat falafel at the same time. However, that’s what I feel like doing after a strange and somewhat emotional day.
After my first Catholic mass at the Catholic church in town with the English archbishop (the service was in both English and Arabic), Chris and I decided maybe we should take a walk around town. It was a beautiful day – clear sky, bright sunshine. We realized, before we left our apartment however, that our phone was locked and we didn’t understand the Arabic instructions to unlock it. A friend we met lives next door with his family, so we decided to ask him. They invited us in for some coffee. Pretty soon, Ahmad called and said he needed to talk with us.
That’s when we heard the news. Yesterday, a Bible society worker in Gaza was killed. He was 26, had two children, and a child on the way. Chris and I both looked at each other. “Don’t worry, don’t worry…” This is usual. This is life. Birzeit is safe they kept saying. The West Bank situation is definitely different. However, we were warned to be careful.
Again and again I am stuck by the “usual” courage of these Christians. They risk their life for the Gospel, and they can’t even speak the name of Christ but they could receive threats... Our situation as outsiders though is a little different… It reminds me strikingly of Paul’s exhortation and example to the Philippians – “for me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” Never before my eyes have I seen this so clearly portrayed.
So instead of our walk, Imad (one of the directors of Living Stones, where we work) and his wife, took Chris and I and his 1 year old son to Ramallah, where we walked around many of the city center’s streets, bought fruit, and tasted falafel. That was today.
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