Because of the ongoing fighting the last three weeks, we had been unable to get any children out for heart surgery. The other day a couple of our volunteers went down in the hopes of getting 5 children out for heart surgeries and assessments. After about 8 hours of waiting we were only able to get one child and mother out, due to a Hamas attack on the border which caused all Gaza crossings to be immediately closed. The attack happened shortly after these two were able to get across, and we hope to get the rest out soon. This one child that has made it across, Abdullah, is unique in that he is family of one of the highest ranking officials of Hamas, the Minister of the Interior, who was assassinated during this most recent operation in Gaza. The story has already been picked up by some media. This child will allow us an even greater opportunity to demonstrate to this child, his family, and the world, the radical teaching of Jesus to "love thy enemy" in the midst of this ongoing war, and indeed our very proximity to it. You can follow this child's story here.
If you are at all skeptical about the possibility of someone changes their ways,even people in Hamas, I encourage you to watch this series (6 parts).
Showing posts with label Gaza. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gaza. Show all posts
Friday, January 30, 2009
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Dinner in the West Bank with a former Palestinian insurgent and his family
My new friend Haled is the largest Palestinian you will ever see, I’d defy someone to produce a bigger one in the West Bank. He is solid muscle, smokes like a chimney, has a voice deeper than Andre the Giant, and is also very kind and loves to joke around. The Shevet Achim building is at least 120 years old and Haled has been one of the primary fellows involved in restoring the property. After a few days of talking now and then he invited me out of the blue to his house for dinner; he lives in a suburb of Bethlehem in the West Bank. I had eaten a tremendous lunch but I couldn’t pass up this offer. After we got through the checkpoint we took some long windy roads to Haled’s house which he had built himself. The building wasn’t much but they seemed to be doing ok, they had a fairly new computer and cable TV. Their home was adorned head to toe with Christmas nic naks and decorations including a tree (Bethlehem is very proud of Christmas). I met his wife and two children then Haled, Jonathan (the founder of Shevet Achim who I needed to get back over the border) and myself ate dinner shortly thereafter.
His wife comes from Bagdad, so we had a large selection of fine Iraqi cuisine much of which I can’t remember the name off (or pronounce for that matter). The main course is difficult to describe, but it had the texture of pureed scalloped potatoes, and a milder potato taste. With that we had humus, schnitzel, vegetables, pita bread to dip in everything, and some sweet wine. We sat on the couch for a dessert of Iraqi tea and some home baked confections, and then Arabic coffee to top everything off. After having such a large lunch and now this early dinner I had eaten nearly to the point of being sick to avoid being rude. The dinner conversation was perhaps more normal than you would expect, as seems to be the tendency I’ve noticed in the West Bank. We talked about how he and his wife met, about how their kids were doing in school, about how he and his family became believers, all while their boys played Harry Potter on the computer. The only difference is rather than becoming a Christian and no longer doing drugs or being in a gang as in America, Haled gave up violent means of opposition to what is going on in Palestine. Haled talked about how he could no longer watch the news because it kept him awake at night knowing what was happening to people in Gaza in the same way any of us would if we knew friends or relatives in a warzone. The Palestinian people are the same as us, but their circumstances are much different.
Without taking sides myself I think a lot fewer American Christians would side so unilaterally with Israel if they realized how many Christians like Haled and his family there are in the West Bank and just how like them they are.
His wife comes from Bagdad, so we had a large selection of fine Iraqi cuisine much of which I can’t remember the name off (or pronounce for that matter). The main course is difficult to describe, but it had the texture of pureed scalloped potatoes, and a milder potato taste. With that we had humus, schnitzel, vegetables, pita bread to dip in everything, and some sweet wine. We sat on the couch for a dessert of Iraqi tea and some home baked confections, and then Arabic coffee to top everything off. After having such a large lunch and now this early dinner I had eaten nearly to the point of being sick to avoid being rude. The dinner conversation was perhaps more normal than you would expect, as seems to be the tendency I’ve noticed in the West Bank. We talked about how he and his wife met, about how their kids were doing in school, about how he and his family became believers, all while their boys played Harry Potter on the computer. The only difference is rather than becoming a Christian and no longer doing drugs or being in a gang as in America, Haled gave up violent means of opposition to what is going on in Palestine. Haled talked about how he could no longer watch the news because it kept him awake at night knowing what was happening to people in Gaza in the same way any of us would if we knew friends or relatives in a warzone. The Palestinian people are the same as us, but their circumstances are much different.
Without taking sides myself I think a lot fewer American Christians would side so unilaterally with Israel if they realized how many Christians like Haled and his family there are in the West Bank and just how like them they are.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Quick update before I go about the war
Some of you have asked if I will be leaving on schedule with the war going on presently in Gaza and I wanted to let you know that as of this moment everything is on schedule and I don't anticipate this changing. I will not be in any real danger in Jerusalem.
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