In no way do I claim or pretend to be a Biblical scholar, a historian or a political activist. I am writing this as an ordinary person, admittedly ignorant of much of what has gone on in the “Holy Land” save the things I have heard in sermons or statements made by Evangelical Christians. I am so thankful for the opportunity to travel with people who have studied so many of the important aspects. Being with our Pastor who read the scripture to us at each Biblical site really made the old stones come alive for me. Having Todd with the group shined a light on the living stones and the struggle they experience every day living in this most diverse place.

Visiting the Biblical sites was amazing. Walking the shores of the Sea of Galilee was my personal favorite. To see the area where Jesus lived and ministered was inspiring. We sat on the Mount of Beatitudes overlooking the sea as Pastor read to us, “Blessed are the peacemakers…” Who could ask for anything more. We walked through the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus prayed and his disciples fell asleep. We stood on the Mount of Olives overlooking Jerusalem and again heard scripture. We looked over the city and imagined the crowds of people (easy to imagine as we ourselves were caught in a “sea” of people in the Old City) sacrificing animals and the smoke from these sacrifices rising to the heavens, visible from the cross where Jesus, the Lamb of God was crucified, our sacrifice.

I must admit that I approached this trip with fear, however trying to keep an open mind as to what we would see and hear. What I saw was both inspiring and disheartening.

Someone said that it is like looking at the time of Jesus when the land was “occupied,” there was “persecution” and there were those who needed to “control the masses.” The Jewish leaders crucified Jesus because they were afraid the people would follow Him, thus they would loose control.

I could see many parallels on this trip. Setting aside the feeling that so many people say, “Biblically, this land belongs to the Jews,” the land of Israel is definitely under occupation. The Palestinians are experiencing terrible persecution and radical Muslims are warring to control the people.

Everywhere we went we saw guns. When I have heard about “Holy Land Tours” I heard about the Western Wall. I never heard about the wall that is snaking through the land, enclosing Palestinians into what a Christian student from Bethlehem Bible College called “a cage.” We stayed in Bethlehem. Everyday we encountered “the wall,” the gun towers and the check points. These Christian students and even the President of the College cannot go to Jerusalem without special permission, which is seldom given. We were given statistics of how many mothers and babies die at a check point, giving birth on the street because the soldiers won’t allow them to cross to go to a hospital. A refugee camp is located across from the college where people live in difficult conditions. And yet in this place we met many Christian Palestinians and heard their stories. Five students of the college spent two nights with us. One night we were joined by a Palestinian Pastor, his wife and two beautiful daughters. They have fled from Gaza because of death threats by Hamas (the need to control the masses). A graduate of the Bible College working with them in Gaza (a young husband and father) was kidnapped and executed because of his faith in God. With tears streaming Pastor Hanna told us his story. A thriving Church of 150 - 200 with many ministries reaching out to the community is now down to 35 attending believers afraid for the lives. Many others had fled out of fear. This was an evening none of the team will forget. These are the “living stones.”

Lest you think we heard only “one side” of the issue, let me tell you we had many lectures. A Muslim man came and talked about his beliefs. A Jewish man came and talked to us about “the problem” in Israel among the people. We heard much about radical Islam. We listened to “the theology of the land” from a Palestinian Christian educated at Oxford. One quickly got the sense that these people were not just spouting opinions, but talking from life experience and extensive study.

We were told, and I believe that there are many Jewish Israelis who are opposed to what is happening. A group of Jewish women have formed a group to oppose the handling of women at the check points and the unnecessary number of births and deaths. We met with Angela, an Israeli Jew who works against the demolition of Palestinian homes, shops and schools by the Israeli army. There is a group of Israeli soldiers who have laid their weapons down and refused to fight the Palestinians.

I believe that just as the “average” American does not know what all goes on in our political arena, it is true of many Israeli Jews. If my daily life is not directly affected by what goes on around me, chances are, I don’t take notice. The same is true in Israel. The same is true by the millions of tourists to “The Holy Land.” From the “tourist places,” you don’t see the wall.

We spent some time with Salim, the Director of Musalaha (which means reconciliation). I think for the team this was the place that we could see some hope in this conflict. Without going into a lot of detail (you can Google Musalaha on the web and read about them), basically what they do is bring Jews and Palestinians together. They do this by taking them into places where everyone is equal and getting them to listen to each other—to talk about their differences and find common ground in Christ. The stories we heard were incredible. Pray for them! This conflict is not going to be won by guns and bombs.

We visited Hebron with Art, an incredible Mennonite Christian from the states who lives in a tiny village of stone houses and caves with 150 residents. The Israelis have demolished homes there and are protecting “Jewish settlers” just outside this ancient village. The CPT (Christian Peacekeeper Team) is there to protect the children who are often attracted going to and from school by these “settlers.” They also document the destruction of houses, the mosque and the only road going to the village. The school there which services several villages has just recently been given a “demolition notice” by Jewish authorities.

In Hebron we walked through the old city market. Right in the middle of it a “settlement” has been built. The wall runs right down the middle of town, shutting off many shops that Palestinians ran for years. They are now closed and over our heads in the market place there is wire mesh that is full of rocks, stones and bottles thrown from the “settlement” on the heads of the shopkeepers and shoppers. To leave the market we had to go through a very intimidating checkpoint. Crowded into a very small space we waited to pass through a metal turnstile which was locked on and off for no apparent reason. Mary, one of our team members was locked inside for some minutes. Up ahead the soldiers were shouting at us. We walked past many of them on our way through. At the end we had to go through a metal detector and have our bags searched. We were warned not to walk too close to the settlement because there was a good chance we would be attacked. It was an eye-opening experience. Everywhere we went there were teams of soldiers with automatic weapons. When you looked up there were gun towers. We went up on the roof of the CPT headquarters and there were soldiers everywhere on the rooftops. The purpose of these many soldiers is to protect the settlers.

We had lunch at CPT headquarters and listened to Art’s amazing story and what this organization does. They are totally non-violent. They are a presence which most times is successful in defusing violent situations. Art has been beaten and threatened. When asked about fear he said, “Of course we are afraid, but when I came to Christ I died to self. If I have already died, what can they do to me?” Art’s wife’s story also amazed us. He said when the talk of war in Iraq began, she said, “I have to go.” These people live their Christianity. Many times they put themselves in between the guns and those being threatened.

We met with Sami Awad, the Director of Holy Land Trust. He is the son of Bushara Awad, President of Bethlehem Bible College. He has a degree in Conflict Resolution from the US. Along with weekly non-violent demonstrations against the building of “the wall,” he has held many teaching retreats. He told of one with many of the leaders of Hamas. This young husband and father has been beaten many times for his non-violent stand on the conflict.

So where do we go from here?

I honestly do not know yet. The difficulty in understanding, the grief in one’s spirit in seeing such injustice, not to mention the physical and mental exhaustion adds to the dilemma.

Some quotes from our friends in Israel, Palestinian and Jewish:

“Don’t forget us!”

“Palestinians are not against people in the US, it is the policy they are against.”

“They need to stop fighting amongst themselves before they can get along with Israelis.”

“Money we don’t want—we want justice—an end to the occupation.”

“Our land is rich—we can live and survive—we need freedom.”

“We do not hope in your policies, but in you.”

“We must stay because it is our land, even if we are refugees.”

“The only way we can succeed is to embrace or enemy.”

So I ask you to pray. Pray for Israel. Pray for the Palestinians. Pray for the innocents. Pray for Salim, Sami, Bushara, Angela, Art… just a few of the living stones among thousands of living stones in the Holy Land.

Thank you for following our trip and allowing me to speak.

In His service,
Darla