10-31-07
As we climbed the hills into Jerusalem and into the West Bank, I had a sinking feeling of homesickness and yet found myself mustering up a firm resolve to continue onward in this task before me. I prayed. I honestly don’t look forward to teaching English. I don’t look forward to hearing more and more stories of the intifadas or of the many restrictions which complicate and frustrate the daily lives of Palestinians. Nor do I look forward to more conversations that I can’t partake in because I don’t know the language…
Moving through dusty, rumble-filled streets, we reached our apartment building and finally unpacked. It was nice in Elat to not have much of a schedule, to get a lot of sun, to see beautiful fish underwater, and most of all to visit the Sudanese refugee camp that the OPCY group performed in front of. But the week begins tomorrow as we sleep in, use the internet at the student center, and then perhaps teach English to seventh grade boys (and maybe some girls) at one of the surrounding villages. Three young guys from Norway recently joined Chris and I as volunteers out of the Living Stones, so we are looking forward to their fellowship and their assistance. Perhaps there will be even more laughter from the kids as they meet 3 fellows so different from themselves.
Tonight though, was great. Within the hour that we arrived back at the apartment, Ahmed called and said there was a concert in Ramallah centered around support for Palestine and its people. We packed two taxis with students from the Living Stones Center, walked through Ramallah center, and arrived at a cleared out, dusty parking lot where people gathered to listen to traditional Palestinian music and then some local rap artists. Unfortunately, I could not understand much of the lyrics of the rap songs, but with help from Mary, one of the students, and my limited Arabic, I could gather the song’s purpose, describing the plight of the Palestinians.
11/7/08
We read a book in Advocacy class that really changed my perspective on this – or more like answered some burning, unresolved questions in my mind. When the problems of the world are pressing down, when the issues seem too incredibly complex to unravel, when you don’t know where to begin to “witness,” it is enough to live faithfully to the Lord each day – and trust Him that as you boldly live your life for Christ, even a small change toward anything God-ward in a person you are trusting to impact for Christ is a victory. How comforting. This is not some wacked-out theology professor’s theory, but one that repeats itself quietly over and over again in Scripture. To trust God is to trust His timing and His work with the words you speak and the actions you demonstrate.
I’m hoping to grow deeper in my trust, wiser in my decisions, and more loving in my actions.
After Sana and Renad came over to cook food for us this afternoon, we went to hang out with Sana, Baha, and Ibrahim at a place where you can smoke hagila (hubbly-bubbly). But I just had some Nes-café. I really like Sana. She suggested we play a kind of truth-or-dare game in a get-to-know-you kind of format. We spun a coke bottle on a coffee table – whoever the spout of coke bottle pointed to, they were asked a question (or a dare) by the person seated at the other end of the coke bottle. Some of the greatest questions were, “What do you most like and dislike about yourself?” “Where would you most like to live?” and “What do you want to do most before you die?”
It’s not easy to live in a place of constant tension and uncertainty, but I guess this is the place God has chosen to conform me into His Son. I must rest in that. I love the people. I love the music. And I love that God has fulfilled yet another dream of mine in a way most unexpected and much more stupendous than I ever could have planned – to LIVE in the Holy Land, and not just Israel, but Palestine… What a Planner.
As we climbed the hills into Jerusalem and into the West Bank, I had a sinking feeling of homesickness and yet found myself mustering up a firm resolve to continue onward in this task before me. I prayed. I honestly don’t look forward to teaching English. I don’t look forward to hearing more and more stories of the intifadas or of the many restrictions which complicate and frustrate the daily lives of Palestinians. Nor do I look forward to more conversations that I can’t partake in because I don’t know the language…
Moving through dusty, rumble-filled streets, we reached our apartment building and finally unpacked. It was nice in Elat to not have much of a schedule, to get a lot of sun, to see beautiful fish underwater, and most of all to visit the Sudanese refugee camp that the OPCY group performed in front of. But the week begins tomorrow as we sleep in, use the internet at the student center, and then perhaps teach English to seventh grade boys (and maybe some girls) at one of the surrounding villages. Three young guys from Norway recently joined Chris and I as volunteers out of the Living Stones, so we are looking forward to their fellowship and their assistance. Perhaps there will be even more laughter from the kids as they meet 3 fellows so different from themselves.
Tonight though, was great. Within the hour that we arrived back at the apartment, Ahmed called and said there was a concert in Ramallah centered around support for Palestine and its people. We packed two taxis with students from the Living Stones Center, walked through Ramallah center, and arrived at a cleared out, dusty parking lot where people gathered to listen to traditional Palestinian music and then some local rap artists. Unfortunately, I could not understand much of the lyrics of the rap songs, but with help from Mary, one of the students, and my limited Arabic, I could gather the song’s purpose, describing the plight of the Palestinians.
11/7/08We read a book in Advocacy class that really changed my perspective on this – or more like answered some burning, unresolved questions in my mind. When the problems of the world are pressing down, when the issues seem too incredibly complex to unravel, when you don’t know where to begin to “witness,” it is enough to live faithfully to the Lord each day – and trust Him that as you boldly live your life for Christ, even a small change toward anything God-ward in a person you are trusting to impact for Christ is a victory. How comforting. This is not some wacked-out theology professor’s theory, but one that repeats itself quietly over and over again in Scripture. To trust God is to trust His timing and His work with the words you speak and the actions you demonstrate.
I’m hoping to grow deeper in my trust, wiser in my decisions, and more loving in my actions.
After Sana and Renad came over to cook food for us this afternoon, we went to hang out with Sana, Baha, and Ibrahim at a place where you can smoke hagila (hubbly-bubbly). But I just had some Nes-café. I really like Sana. She suggested we play a kind of truth-or-dare game in a get-to-know-you kind of format. We spun a coke bottle on a coffee table – whoever the spout of coke bottle pointed to, they were asked a question (or a dare) by the person seated at the other end of the coke bottle. Some of the greatest questions were, “What do you most like and dislike about yourself?” “Where would you most like to live?” and “What do you want to do most before you die?”
It’s not easy to live in a place of constant tension and uncertainty, but I guess this is the place God has chosen to conform me into His Son. I must rest in that. I love the people. I love the music. And I love that God has fulfilled yet another dream of mine in a way most unexpected and much more stupendous than I ever could have planned – to LIVE in the Holy Land, and not just Israel, but Palestine… What a Planner.
(Sana and Renad)(Me and Renad)
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