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Words of hope from Palestine |
| Learning hope from Christians in the West Bank
A letter from Marthame and Elizabeth Sanders, Presbyterian
mission co-workers in Palestine
[12-23-04]
You can read this letter, complete with photos,
on the PC(USA) website
December 21, 2004
Grace and Peace from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
As we write this to you, we are still in Advent, a period of waiting and
hoping and preparing, a time of expectation. Our years living in the West
Bank have made Advent a season that resonates deeply with us. People there
know waiting: waiting at the checkpoint, waiting for military closures to
lift, waiting for peace. They know preparing: stocking up for curfew,
anticipating loss, fearing for the worst. They also know hoping: hoping to
arrive at their destination, hoping to survive, hoping for the future of
their children.
It is the hope that constantly amazes us. Our friends in the West Bank have
told us how hopeful they are for their upcoming elections, how optimistic
they are that a new strong leader will be elected who will guide the
Palestinian people to a just and lasting peace with Israel. For people
living in this hopeless situation, such optimism astounds us. But it
shouldn't. As Paul reminds us, hope lies at the center of faith itself.
Faith is "the conviction of things unseen." Though peace remains invisible
in Palestine and Israel, they do not stop hoping for it. And their faith is
strengthened and rooted in that hope.
Zababdeh is a good example. The context is not much different from when we
left one year ago -- that is, fearful, desperate, overwhelming. As a small
rural town far from Israeli settlements and the Separation Wall/Fence,
Zababdeh has not seen the frequent Israeli military incursions, the civilian
deaths, the home demolitions, or the land confiscation that many other parts
of the West Bank have seen. It has not seen the Palestinian attacks on
civilians that many communities in Israel have seen. However, checkpoints
still riddle the West Bank, making the trip from Zababdeh to nearby Jenin
arduous but (at least for now) usually possible. The journey from Zababdeh
to most other places in the West Bank remains forbidden or prohibitively
expensive and dangerous. Unemployment continues to grind down families' life
savings and their ability to provide for their children. The
unpredictability of Israeli army activity -- through periodic operations,
nighttime house searches, arrests, and detentions -- weighs heavily on the
people.
In spite of this, we hear the word of hope continuing to spring forth from
our brothers and sisters in Zababdeh. They are hopeful for new leadership
for their people. They are hopeful that this bitter and entrenched conflict
can end. And they live into that hope, in their lives and the life of their
community. Fr. Aktham, the Roman Catholic priest, informed us that Misilye
Road -- the worst, muddiest, most potholed (and most traveled) road in town
-- was paved this Fall (we remember being literally unable to pass sections
of it because of the small lakes that developed in the rainy winter). At the
Latin school, where we taught, a new generator keeps electricity going
during increasingly frequent power outages. A new program provides meals and
health tests for one hundred and seventy children in the nursery, preschool,
kindergarten, and first grades. Generous donations have made possible the
addition of a language lab, strengthening the English and French programs.
The school is also now connected to the internet, networking students and
teachers to online resources and opportunities. A Family Center, a safe
public space to relax, is being built, and will continue pending further
funding.
The Anglican Church, without pastoral leadership for most of our time there,
now has a pastor, Fr. Fadi, who tells us that the flock has been gathering,
thankful to be able to worship in their tradition again. Fr. Firas, the
Melkite priest, has completed much of the work on the Melkite Church, which
had been closed for seventeen years. His flock is also re-gathering in the
re-opened worship space, and he and his family have moved into the church
manse where his grandfather lived as priest. Fr. Firas and his wife Doris
celebrated the birth of a new son, Elias (Fr. Hosam, Anglican priest in
Nablus, and his wife Rafa' have also welcomed baby Wadi' into their home).
Fr. Toma of the Orthodox Church is learning how to use his new computer,
which he hopes can keep him connected with supporting churches and with
those whom he met during his visit to the States.
Indeed, the word from Zababdeh is not one of resignation or surrender.
Despite the exhaustion, the fear, the uncertainty, the word from Zababdeh is
Hope. And from this hope springs faith anew, reborn this Christmas season.
May we all share in that hope.
Salaam al-Masiih (Peace of Christ),
Marthame and Elizabeth
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Some blogs worth visiting |
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PVJ's
Facebook page
Mitch Trigger, PVJ's
Secretary/Communicator, has created a Facebook page where
Witherspoon members and others can gather to exchange news and
views. Mitch and a few others have posted bits of news, both
personal and organizational. But there’s room for more!
You can post your own news and views,
or initiate a conversation about a topic of interest to you. |
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Voices of Sophia blog
Heather Reichgott, who has created
this new blog for Voices of Sophia, introduces it:
After fifteen years of scholarship
and activism, Voices of Sophia presents a blog. Here, we present the
voices of feminist theologians of all stripes: scholars, clergy,
students, exiles, missionaries, workers, thinkers, artists, lovers
and devotees, from many parts of the world, all children of the God
in whose image women are made. .... This blog seeks to glorify God
through prayer, work, art, and intellectual reflection. Through
articles and ensuing discussion we hope to become an active and
thoughtful community. |
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John Harris’ Summit to
Shore blogspot
Theological and philosophical
reflections on everything between summit to shore, including
kayaking, climbing, religion, spirituality, philosophy, theology,
politics, culture, travel, The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), New
York City and the Queens neighborhood of Ridgewood by a progressive
New York City Presbyterian Pastor. John is a former member of the
Witherspoon board, and is designated pastor of North Presbyterian
Church in Flushing, NY. |
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John Shuck’s Shuck and Jive
A Presbyterian minister, currently
serving as pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Elizabethton,
Tenn., blogs about spirituality, culture, religion (both organized
and disorganized), life, evolution, literature, Jesus, and
lightening up. |
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Got more blogs to recommend?
Please
send a note, and we'll see what we can do! |
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Plan now for our 2010 Ghost Ranch
Seminar!
GHOST RANCH SEMINAR
July 26-August 1, 2010
WE’RE ALL IN
THIS TOGETHER
CONFRONTING THE STRUCTURES OF INJUSTICE |
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