I want to turn on the fire hydrant and hose everyone down.

Every Wednesday, we are telling water stories from the Bible and our own water stories.

The Israelites made it safely through the sea, and we give thanks for Long Island Sound, part of our fair city. (Exodus 14:21-31, plus Miriam’s song)

Isaiah shouts about a gusher in the parched desert, where the acacia, myrtle, and cypress emerge, and we talk about New Haven being the Elm City and remember the 17-year cicadas. (Isaiah 41:17-20)

Tomorrow we will hear about the goofy Jonah singing God’s praise in the guts of a fish, and we will undoubtedly speak about cod, salmon, and trout. (Jonah 2:1-10)

Who knew Lent could be so much fun? Why, when we come to the Vigil of Easter, I can’t wait to splash everybody to tactilely say we are baptized into Christ. Death and life are caught up in this sacrament. Holy water!

Last week, a woman in her twenties joined our prayer time where we gave thanks for water, the Qunnipiac, Lake Whitney, the Gihon, and the Jordan. We sang a musical arrangement of this inscription on a bell in Luck Wisconsin: To the bath and the table, to the prayer and the Word, come every seeking soul. After our water-centered prayer time had ended, this young adult said that this was the first time since she moved to New Haven that she had ever attended Lenten Prayer (full disclosure: she had grown up as a Lutheran in a small town in Minnesota). Wide-eyed and smiling, she gushed “this was the least depressing Lenten prayer service I have ever been to!”

I have to say it: if Lent is anything, it is a time of renewal for the baptismal life. It’s not an extended Passion over forty days. It’s a return to the font, a running to the promised land, a floating on the ark, it’s a time for water stories.

I’m crazy about Baptism this Lent.

“Christian baptism was and is the primal, public, and unrepeatable ensemble of actions and words through which one’ s primal, public, and unrepeatable ensemble of actions and words through which one’s public, personal, communal, and eternal identity is bestowed.”

–Samuel Torvend, in Flowing Water, Uncommon Birth: Christian Baptism in a Post-Christian Culture (Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, ©2011)

So we must love while these moments are still called today
Take part in the pain of this passion play
Stretching our youth as we must, until we are ashes to dust
Until time makes history of us
–Indigo Girls

I believe the year was 2006, and I spent three days at a College of Preachers’ workshop at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC. Staying overnight on campus was a treat. The dark, long wooden table at the refectory and the gothic environs made me feel like a classmate of Harry Potter.

Don and Emily Saliers were touring the country speaking about their collaborative writing of A Song to Live, A Life to Live: Reflections of Music as a Spiritual Practice (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass © 2005). What they were really talking about in a very intimate setting was the intersection of church and culture. As a part of the singer/song writer duo, Emily pondered how her concerts were like liturgies. As a liturgical theologian, Don gleaned his vast encyclopedic brain for poetry and art and music and theology that bring meaning, a prophetic voice, and spirituality all together. Most of the participants were big Indigo Girls fans. I was a big Don Saliers fan, having sat at his feet at conferences over the years.

But I am a convert. Emily and her musical partner Amy make music with an impact, and with beauty. Their advocacy for many social justice issues also present them authentic human beings.

Martin Luther understood the music of the church in a proclamatory role, a vehicle for the Gospel. His own hymns were a kind of combination of pedagogy, doctrine and testimony. Just look at the Christmas hymn From Heaven Above to Earth I Come for example.

For a number of reasons Emily Saliers was estranged from the church community for many years. The book that she wrote with her father found her putting her toes back in the waters of the values of the Christian narrative.

Robert Bertram, passionate teacher of theology, liked to wonder if one could preach a sermon that proclaimed the Gospel without mentioning Christ or the “words” explicitly.

For me, the song History of Us does just that. Along with Create in me a Clean Heart, it is my Ash Wednesday song. Preach it, Emily!

The Galilee

On our last day in theGalileewe enjoyed the Guest House’s breakfast on an outdoor balcony, with eggs made to order.  We boarded our minibus, and headed forNazareth, the site where Gabriel the angel announced Jesus’ birth to Mary.

Nazarethwas just about half an hour from our guest house, and is a city that has a high percentage of Christians.

We first stopped at the Orthodox site called St. Gabriel’s church, which has running water reminiscent of the tradition that the first part of the Annunciation happened as Mary was fetching water from a well.  Many visual depictions of Gospel stories on the walls and ceilings make it an interesting place,

Next, to the Basilica of the Annunciation, the largest church building in theMiddle East.  This was a site planned by Antonio Berluzzi in the 1950’s.  There, artistic renderings of Mary and Jesus line the outdoor gathering area.  Richard read the story of Annunciation, dramatically, or course.

We then went into the Basilica, with hordes of others, and saw a Mass taking place for pilgrims.  We could only see the low lying cave beyond the altar where people come to imagine the news of Jesus’ birth that was given to Mary.  We also saw the upper chapel, which featured a bold figure of Mary resplendent with silver, given by theUnited States.

OntoSt. Joseph’s church, which adjoins the Basilica and was built in 1914.  It contains stained glass renderings of Joseph: as an old man dying, at his wedding to Mary, and receiving the news from the angel in a dream to take Mary as his wife.

Then we hopped on the bus to ascendMountTaborand the site dedicated to the Transfiguration.  To get to the very top, you have to transfer to shuttle buses that go 600 meters on hairpin turns to the summit.  There we read Matthew’s account and saw a great vista of theJezreelValley.

On our way back to Jerusalemwe went the route of the Via Maris, the “way of the sea.”  We stopped at Caesarea Maritima, a Herod site where a Roman town (read: recreation area for Herod) was created, with an amphitheater, hippodrome, baths, and marketplaces were built, in addition to a palace, with a swimming pool included.  All this on theMediterranean.  Like other archaeological sites, various subsequent periods such as Byzantine, Crusader, and Mamluke changed or added to the ruins  This, like some Biblical and Historical Sites in Israel/Palestine, is part of the Israel National Park system.

Back from an exciting excursion North, all of us did laundry to last us our final days until going home.

Richard, Karen, and I have a story of seeking out a take-out eatery.  We were assisted by shopkeepers near Augusta Victoria and a cab driver who drove us free of charge to a popular neighborhood place called Al Baik.  It is located in a narrow street where out of towners like us would rarely frequent or find.  The proprietors were quite helpful and friendly, and someone coming to order food helped us with translation.  We ordered grilled meat, French fries, with salads to take-out and waited for seven orders to be completed.  Young men on motorcycles came and went taking orders for free delivery.  We felt we had happened on a great local joint!

Friday, November 11

City of David/Silwan

After a morning to sleep in and regroup our belongings and our thoughts, we headed to theOldCityon Arab Bus #75 to Damascus Gate.  I took out Knaffe, a sweet pastry that is warm goat cheese, covered in sweet syrup and nuts.  Some of us reloaded with shekels, and then we shared Knaffe together.

We walked through the Jewish Quarter, past the Western Wall, to the Dung Gate, where we waited for our guided tour of City of David/Silwan.  Being the Day of the Sabbath, there were many cars and people to watch going in and out of the Dung Gate.  One side of the road was blocked for a time, and traffic came the opposite way through this road.  We wondered who were the VIP’s?

Our signals must have gotten crossed, as our guide phone twenty minutes after the scheduled meeting time to say that he was at Lion’s Gate.  Yoanni biked to where we were, and the long initiation into a conflicted area just outside theOldCitybegan.  Yoanni is a native Israeli, self-described as a religious Jew born of a Yemeni immigrant father and American immigrant mother.  His aim was to show us an excavation of ruins that is called City ofDavidand to show how it is taking over a Palestinian village called Silwan.  He began with a review of how the State of Israel came to be, and how the land has been increasingly taken over by settlements.  He used placemat-sized maps to demonstrate his narrative.

On Friday afternoon the City ofDavid Parkhas free admission, and it had no other visitors due to the Sabbath.  Throughout the next hours, Yoanni showed us the growth of the Park since the first discovery in the 1990’s, and how certain parts suggest that they could have been part of the place where David establishedJerusalem, while in reality they probably were not of that era.  Meanwhile, the narrative also included an insidious land grab by the one who had the vision for the park, who began a settlement called El Ad by sneaking into a Palestinian home at night and taking over the house.  Others claimed Palestinian homes through an Israeli related to absentee owners.  Someone’s sister may have been part of that home but living in another country, so Israeli’s took over the house.  Meanwhile, infrastructure for the park, such as green space, a paved entry, lighting, and the ongoing excavation makes a swath through the Silwan village.  Villagers have been suing in court and making a case that they should be entitled to remain in their historic residences.  80+ homes are slated for removal, under the pretext that they were built without permission, when in reality the Israeli authorities did not ever intend to give them permission to build or add to their homes.

At 3 pm, we ate lunch at the home of a Silwan family who has to pay a fine each month for an addition that they placed on their house without permission.  It was a delightful hummus and falafel lunch with salads and refreshing drinks.

They we walked to the Silwan community center, and heard the story of attacks on Silwan residents by settlers, including our host who was shot in one leg and the other knee in front of his children.  His shooter was detained by police only to be shortly released back into the community.  Our hosts aim is to create a center for the Silwan community which provides music lessons, community programs, and psychological counseling for traumatized children.  His story, combined with a DVD that demonstrated the conflict, was very compelling and exhausted our group.  Fridays (such as the day we were there) see demonstrations and confrontations between settlers and Palestinians, though usually further down the confluence of three valleys that make up Silwan.  Still, as we were leaving, we saw a flat tire and a police officer by his car taking notes.  The report was that a settler puncture the tire of a Silwan resident’s car.

The City ofDavidis a cooperative venture of the El Ad settlement, theJerusalemmunicipality, and the park system.  It shall surely be a tourist attraction that underscores an Israeli narrative that links archaeology toIsrael’s history, while others’ history (Crusaders, Mamlukes, Romans) are largely ignored.  All the while, the current residents who share their own narrative of more recent past of coexistence with some Israelis are living in crumbling homes, paying the sameJerusalemtax, without the benefits.  And they feel threatened with bodily harm and removal.

This had to be the most challenging day of injustices observed by our group.  We appreciated Yoanni’s accompaniment and explanation, while also introducing us to the residents of Silwan and their persistence to remain.

Dianne was not feeling well, so Richard and Dianne took the bus back to Augusta Victoria while the rest went to eat at the Jerusalem Hotel Restaurant inEast Jerusalem.  There, we were in a lovely atrium setting with Palestinians and internationals.  I demonstrated the smoking pipe called argila (hookah), while we shared light food and adult drinks.  The recommended arugula salad with apples was a hit with Meaghan and me.  Karen enjoyed a Greek salad.  And Ron had lentil soup.  After a emotionally and physically challenging day, we connected with each other through family stories and laughter.

Saturday, November 12

Ramallah

A charter 14 passenger bus picked us up at 8:30 am, and off we went to Ramallah.  Ramallah is the seat of the Palestinian Authority, a lively West Bank city, and the Kalandia checkpoint adjoins the East Jerusalemsection called Beit Hanina.  Long lines of cars were idling on their way out of Ramallah through the checkpoint, presumably for work in Jerusalem.  Our way in was not crowded.  After the driver asked some along the street for better directions and spoke to our contact by phone, we arrived at the LutheranChurchand Schoolof Hope.  We met Georgette, the Education Liaison for the ELCJHL schools.  She greeted us warmly and walked us into the school where we were also received with handshakes and “welcome” by the principal Mikhail and deputy principal Nali.  We were introduced to the Pre-K through 12^th grade school by Nali, then had Q & A with the principal.  It is a private school with 80% Muslim students and 20% Christian students.  The curriculum enables students pass the vigorous Palestinian exam for 12^th graders while also offering a Science or a Liberal Arts track beginning in the 11^th grade.  Graduates often return for work in the school, go on to university, or find work.  The pride was exuded by all the faculty.  We got a thorough experience, including: a faculty party for those celebrating a new car and a master’s degree, recess with soccer, the preschool classroom and curriculum orientation (Meaghan, a preschool teacher, often said her students learn the same things!), a tour of the facilities, and a demonstration of the Arab folk dance Dabke by high schoolers.  Young children flocked to those us of with cameras and who took notice.

After the happy faces and graceful line dancing, we shared lunch with the high schoolers in a large room and broke into small groups.  Eagerly we chatted about everything from their feeling caged in by living in Ramallah, their hopes for meaningful professions, their appreciation for the school, and their curiosity about these Americans who came to visit them.

Our prolonged goodbyes suggested we made a good connection.  They want to dance in theUnited States!

We walked to the building next door and met with Pastor Saliba Rishmawi, who had his toddler daughter Mariam waddling all over the church and charming us all.  Pastor Saliba also charmed us by saying the Lutheran community in Ramallah has its roots in refugees who found their way after 1948 to Ramallah.  His vision is to be a strong community center, while taking pride in the school-church connection.  A new school site has been identified and is waiting for funding to come through the Palestinian Authority (two years, maybe).  Meanwhile, Pastor Saliba is waiting for renovations to take place in the grand stone church while has suffered some water damage and wear and tear over the years.

We said our goodbyes and Pastor Saliba gave our driver directions to Taybeh, a village 40 minutes away where there is a brewery that makes a popular beer, called Taybeh (which means “delicious”).  We found it! And we found it to be delightful.  The tour guide was the daughter of one of the founders, who wanted a business that would contribute to Palestinian identity and commerce in 1994, after the Oslo Accords.  The business is quite a success story, related to the quality of the beer, made in small batches, with ingredients imported fromEurope, and whose flavor is touted in part because it is not pasteurized.  We are waiting to see if it can be imported to the States, and plans are in the works.  We bought some souvenirs, then asked our driver to take us back to Ramallah for dinner.

Arriving around 4:30 pm at the restaurant called Darna, we roamed the neighborhood and frequented a few of the stores for nuts, for Palestinian-made items, for spices, and for a licorice-flavored liquor calledArak.

We then sat down to eat around 5:30 pm for a feast.  Richard had spicy grilled lamb kebobs (Darna kebobs) and Ron not-so-spicy kebobs.  Meghan had boneless chicken.  Karen stuck with a salad.  We all ordered salads of various kinds.  And I had musakhan, a clay-oven baked chicken with spices, onions, and pine nuts served with a flat bread called taboun.  Yummy sit down dinner in an elegant atmosphere.  Clearly, this is a classy Ramallah restaurant.

But wait—on to Bladna for ice cream where we met two college students receiving scholarship monies from the New England Synod, both atBirzeitUniversityin Ramallah: Mays Husary, in an MBA program, and Khalen Muallem, in his final year of undergraduate studies in Business.  They were delightful and glad to make a connection with theirNew Englandfriends.  Khaled’s grandfather, Samih, Vice-President of the ELCHl, also joined us.

We went home happy to make Lutheran connections and to discover the thriving city ofRamallah.

Dianne did not join us on this day, and recovered from her illness, thank God!

Sunday, November 13 Sunday Worship

I took the bus to theOldCityto worship with the Arabic-speaking congregation.  I have a six-year relationship with Pastor Ibrahim Azar and his family, who requested that I spend the morning with them.  I was provided an English bulletin with the recurring parts of the liturgy outlined.  The closing hymn was “O God, our Help, in Ages Past,” and I was glad I brought an ELW with me (ELCA worshipbook) and a Bible.  I brought greetings from our synod, our bishop, and our group, as I have worshipped for the past five years’ worth of visits to the Holy Land.

The rest of our group took a taxi with Abu Isam to the Lutheran Church of Beit Sahour.  Beit Sahour is a town adjoiningBethlehemand is the smallest ELCJHL congregation, now with its first ordained pastor of four years Pastor Imad Haddad.  He warmly greeted the early-arrived group and engaged them in worship.  Two from our group read readings in English out loud while they were also read in Arabic.  The bulletin had English hymns and prayers printed, so the group felt like they could participate.  And Pr. Imad’s comments in English about his sermon were appreciated.  It was like going to church!  It was going to church.

I met the group after worship at a restaurant called the Tent, which suggests a Bedouin kind of indoor-outdoor setting.  We had a feast with mezza (salads) and mixed grill (lamb, beef, chichen kebobs, with French fries, and grilled tomatoes and onions).  Warm conversation accompanied eating, and Pastor Imad’s wife Rula and two Young Adults in Global Mission also joined us—Laren-Whitney andAlma.

We walked to the Shepherd’s Field Franciscan site dedicated to the announcement of Jesus’ birth to the shepherds, with a chapel designed by Berluzzi and caves suggesting dwelling places for shepherds and sheep.  We sang “Angels we have Heard on High” in the chapel to the delight of other visitors.

Pastor Imad and Rula seemed genuinely happy for our company and connection, and we hope to keep the relationship going.  Pr. Imad studied for one year (1997?) as the Southern Lutheran Seminary inColumbia,NC.

By mid-afternoon, Abu Isam picked us up and took us back to our guest house in Jerusalem where we had time to rest and recreate.  Some took naps, some took walks, and in the evening we shared munchies and our Taybeh beer from the brewery tour and saw a short film spoof of the conflict based on West Side Story called “West Bank Story.”

To end our day as we have most days, we shared thanksgivings and concerns, and prayer.

Just one more full day in this land.

Pastor Tim Keyl

We awoke to a beautiful sunrise over the Golan Heights, directly across theSea of Galileefrom our room at the Tiberius YMCA. Golan Heights, a name I’m so accustomed to associate with conflict, now has a serene new face. Although lack of hot water necessitated a (very) quick shower, we had delicious omelets for breakfast!

The day’s pilgrimage took us to key locations associated with Jesus ministry in the north of The Galilee.  This area is Palestine’s ‘bread basket,’ with the lush greens of groves of orange and banana trees a clear contrast to the arid landscape to which we’ve become accustomed. Our first stop was the Mount of the Beatitudes, the traditional location of Jesus’ revolutionary sermon declaring the least would be blessed. Lovely gardens and stately eucalyptus trees surrounded the small octagonal church decorated with panels of Jesus’ entreaties – “blessed are the poor, blessed are the meek” – in Latin.

We wound our way down the Mount during a five-minute drive that took us next to two locations in Tabgha, where Jesus’ miracle of the feeding of the multitudes and the identification of the Apostle Peter’s importance are remembered. It was moving to see the famous fifth-century mosaic of the basket of bread flanked by two fish in the floor in front of the small church’s altar. We gathered in a secluded outdoor “chapel” next to the Sea – reminiscent of worship atCampCalumet! – where we sang and shared bread and wine. Jesus’ appearance and Peter’s primacy are recalled in a beachside chapel that is an unusual combination of old architecture and contemporary stained glass windows and houses the “rock” on which the church was to be built.

Continuing around the Sea, after another brief drive, we came toCapernaum, a central location in Jesus’ ministry. The remnants of what is believed to be Peter’s house are visible underneath a contemporary church, which looks something like a spaceship, suspended above it. In the church we paused to read scripture, and a large yellow cat – one of so many we see everywhere – plopped herself in Pastor’s lap.  Stones of volcanic basalt have replaced the light tan Jerusalem limestone, so prevalent elsewhere in the country, as the local building material, although the synagogue nearby – where Jesus spent some time stirring things up – was restored much later with the use of the familiar limestone.

We had a late lunch of fish and salads at “St. Peter’s Restaurant” [sic] along the shore. Although it was large and geared to accommodate busloads of tourists, the proprietors gave us quick and friendly service, and the food was good. They topped off our meal with a plate of fresh dates. We recognized a few of the Christian groups with which we’d been sharing an itinerary throughout the day.  Happily, sites in The Galilee allowed us the space to not feel so crowded.

Our able tour guide Tareq (Arabic for shooting star) found us spots on a “Jesus Boat” – one of Holyland Sailing, Ltd.’s fleet – for a late afternoon excursion on the Sea. The group we joined was fromMaine, and we all sang the Star Spangled Banner lustily as the crew hoisted Old Glory on the stern’s flagpole. During our short sail, the crew demonstrated early fishing techniques and taught those of us not exhausted to dance the Hora.

It was, once again, an eventful day, although a more leisurely and restorative one. We called out for pizza (not bad!) and beer, although not our preferred Taybeh brand, which is Palestinian and so can’t be sold here, another reminder that this is a divided land. We go to bed early and hope for hot water for our morning showers.

Dianne Witte

7:30 am   After packing, a great  breakfast and settling our bill, we left the Christmas Lutheran Church in Bethlehem on foot, luggage in hand, and rolled down the bumpy cobblestone street, then a right turn and up the hill to meet our 15 passenger coach to take us on our day’s journey. The coach driver Ali started us out ofBethlehemand immediately was confronted by too close a squeeze when a big bus blocked our right-of- way. A little back and forth and we were on the move with a driver who was agitated, continued to drive with jerky maximum acceleration and slamming brakes, making our  winding roads of adventure more like a washing machine wash cycle than a bus ride; this would be his style for our 14 hour day in and out of the coach.

We arrived at the old city inJerusalemto meet our guide, Tareq, at the Dung gate, the closest entrance to the Dome of the Rock. “Closed for Today” a sign read in Arabic. Pastor Tim has now been toJerusalem5 times and is still hoping to get in. Not on this day.  So we adjusted our schedule and Tareq gave us a 30 minute summary of how this specific place became THE holiest place on earth for the Jews and the THIRD MOST holy place for Muslims around the world. The Western wall rests on top of the remains from the temple (built by Solomon, then rebuilt by Herod). It just happens to be under the very spot,  where the Dome of the Rock sits- where (under Muslim belief) Mohammed ascended to Heaven to receive the Koran from Allah, after he had met with Abraham, Moses, and Jesus. Both religions want to keep it holy. As Tareq was describing the history, a Jewish man walk passed and yelled out to us.  “All of This Belongs to the Jews”.

Tareq then led us through the Jewish quarter of the old city. During the war in 1967 much of this quarter of the city received heavy damage; so today the Jewish quarter has practically all of the modern new structures, buildings, shops and walkways in the old city. Unlike the other 3 quarters of the city- Armenian, Christian and Muslim, this is the only quarter where only Jews are allowed to live. Others were expelled after 1967.

The Muslim quarter is reached seamlessly on the same narrow paths coming from the Jewish quarter. There are no doors or gates or check points in old city, yet it is clear when one crosses over into the non-Jewish quarter. You will find the classic souk or bazaar in the Muslim section with shops bursting with textiles, wooden objects, clothing, traditional Middle Eastern foods, spices, jewelry, toys, and innumerable items to sell to the Christian pilgrims. You will also see housing owned by Muslims and Jewish settlers in the old city. Jewish settlers can carry guns with them and receive soldier escorts wherever they go in the old city.

We returned to the Church of the Redeemer where Bishop Younan met with us. He is the bishop of the ELCJHL and the first Palestinian to serve as President of the Lutheran World Federation.  We talked about the work of the church inPalestine, the retreat center soon to be built inJordanon theJordan River, and the political challenges of Jewish Palestinian issues.  His message for us was to report “We are investing in peace by building up the children ofPalestinewith our schools.”

Noon-  Back in our coach we were joined by Jeff, Megan, Lauren and Sarah, part of Young Adults in Global Mission working with the ELCJHL programs in Palestine for at least a year, who would visit Hebron with us,  a West Bank town of 160,000  30 miles south of Jerusalem. We went there to see where Israeli Settlers and Palestinians were living side by side in open hostility and with a strong Israeli Military presence. We were met by Andy Larsen (fromSeattle,WAand Jasmine fromSwitzerland), volunteers with the Ecumenical Accompanier Program inPalestineand Israel (EAAPI). Their role is to monitor the interaction of Jews and Palestinians in this conflicted area to ensure that equal treatment is occurring. They specifically monitor the safety of Palestinian children going to school in this area after passing through the check point. Andy and Jasmine walked us through a military check point to access this neighborhood of Palestinians and Jewish settlers living side by side. These settlements have been condemned as illegal by the UN and all major human rights organizations and this neighborhood has a long history of conflict, violence and killings.  If you are a Palestinian living in this section of Hebron you cannot own or drive a car to your house, must enter your neighborhood exclusively through the armed check points with Israel soldiers checking your bags and pass through metal detection, and be subjected to Zionist Settlers and their harassment, who believe this town was theirs by divine right and all Palestinians should leave.  Settlers on the other hand can own and drive cars freely, do not have to go through any check points or searches, can carry weapons and have military protection 24hours a day.  We witnessed a settler pushing a baby stroller with an automatic weapon over his shoulder. We continued to walk the street and saw many signs on walls supporting “Free Israel” and conversely Palestinian rights to live there.

We exited this street through another check point, walking past a memorial to a Settler couple killed by a suicide bomber a few years ago.   On this very day, a group of three or four settler teenage boys threw rocks at Tareq and a Palestinian shop keeper yards away from the second check point. The soldiers told Tareq and the shop owner to go inside of the shop without immediately stopping the rock throwing.

The most holy mosque and the most holy synagogue inHebronare located in the SAME building side by side just up the street. Why? The sacred burial place for the father of the Arab people and the father of the Jewish people is buried here, at the foundation of this structure.  ABRAHAM is holy to Muslims and Jews. AND Sarah, Isaac, Joseph and Leah are also buried here. In 1994 an Israeli settler came into the mosque and killed or wounded over 150 Muslims. Since then theIsraelarmy has tightened security around the mosque, which we entered through our third check point in less than an hour. The mosque was beautifully decorated with thick, red, multi-pattered oriental rugs covering every inch of the stone floors and wall covering adorning the 30 foot walls, with sculptured stone pillars 20 yards apart supporting the roof of this 120 feet by 100 foot space.  Five times a day prayers would be offered here while just on the other side of a connecting wall, Jewish services were taking place in the synagogue. Leaving the mosque we shopped in the local souk. We’ll show you our niceHebronwares when we return, along with fine glass and pottery products bought at a glass factory as we left town.

We dropped off Sarah, Lauren and Megan inBethlehemand headed toGalilee. Unfortunately there is no direct way to Galilee from Hebron so a return through Jerusalem required 3 more hours of washing machine action- stop and go, twisting and turning, down the 3,000 plus feet to outside of Jericho and then up the Jordan valley to Tiberius in Galilee. A quick stop for dinner at a desert oasis outside of Jericho and then on to the YMCA just north of Tiberius; just 30 yards up the hill from the Sea of Galilee.

Richard Ford

Staying at the International Center at Bethlehem (ICB)

Saturday, November 5

Our favorite cabbie Abu Isam loaded our luggage from Augusta Victoria and brought us to theInternationalCenter’s Abu Jubran Guest House inBethlehem, a part of the complex that includes theChristmasLutheranChurch.

We went around the checkpoint through Beit Jala and into Bethelehem.  On this weekend through Wednesday the Muslim community is celebrating Al-Eid, commemorating Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac.  This is a happy time, with many family gatherings. Bethlehemwas filled with people in the markets and the streets.  Abu Isam greeted each Palestinian Authority police that was standing by limiting traffic, explaining that he was carting our group and our luggage, and we passed slowly to the ICB.

The ICB is a complex of beautifully laid our stone buildings, with a roving art display in the lobby.  The guest rooms are artfully decorated, and the support of the International community along with the creativity of the Palestinians make this a center of cultural programs in theBethlehemregion.

We traveled by taxi to a restaurant owned by Arab Christians.  They are affiliated with and help run thePalestinianConflictResolutionCenter.  Its main spokesman is Zoughbi Zoughbi.  As he was speaking to us a group from various South American countries arrived.  Zoughbi told all of us that the Palestinians as an occupied state have swallowed many indignities.  The Separation Barrier or wall sits directly next to the Center, Israeli Settlement Communities are built on Palestinian land, Palestinians do not receive the same pay as Israelis for the same job, water is taken from Palestinian land and sold back to them for a price two or three times higher than what the Israelis pay.  The Center runs a camp for children in the summer. It is also a place where men and women who have handmade craft items may sell them at the center.  Palestinian women are known for their delicate cross stitch that might be on a scarf or a dress.

In the late afternoon we went toManger Squareto the church of the Nativity where the site of Jesus’ birth is covered with a huge cathedral of many chapels.  We were informed this is the oldest continuously operating church in the world, dating from the year 328.

Fifth Full Day:  Sunday, November 6^th

Bethlehem

On our way to the Church of the Redeemer inJerusalemfromBethlehemwe were stopped at the checkpoint with several other Palestinians. We were walking through to get to our bus on the other side. The young soldiers laughed and made fun of the Palestinians and said Happy Holiday (Eid) and then sang Happy Birthday.  We were only delayed for 15 minutes but it felt like an hour.  We were very grateful for a joyful service with Pastor Fred and Gloria Strickert.  The church was filled with Pilgrims and the acoustics made our 125 voices sound like heavenly angels.

In the afternoon our guide, Sa’id, took us to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, some of the Stations of the Cross, and the Pools of Bethesda where our three fromBethesdaLutheranChurchinNew Havenhad their pictures taken to honor their namesake.  These pools were pools of healing.   When the paralytic man asked to be helped Jesus told him to pick up his mat and walk.  He was healed immediately.  This is also the site ofSaint Ann’ church, which is where tradition says the Virgin Mary was born.

Before dinner we met with Pastor Jadallah Shihadeh ofBeitJalaLutheranChurchwhich sponsors a program called Abraham’s Tent.  This project gives suffering children a meal, schooling and mental health counseling.

Dinner was take-out barbecue chicken at Pastor’s Jeff VonWald and Julie Rosate’s home.  The Strickerts were there as well as the 6 women who are Young Adults in Global Mission.

Full days!

Karen Danielson with Pastor Tim Keyl

So many full days means our entries are forthcoming.  People from our group are writing, but we have not had much time to post them.

This is our last night in Bethlehem, where for dinner we had really good shawerma. Shawera is meat on a spit, carved and stuffed into bread, accompanied by any manner of veggies.  Abu Ali’s uses thin tortillas as the bread, and I had beef.  Our group was impressed by the family atmosphere and the food.

The big news related to our itinerary is that Israeli National Parks workers were on strike today, so we could not go to Masada orQumran.  Instead our guide Sa’id took us to sites on the Mount of Olives: the Ascension Mosque, the Pater Noster (featured tile versions of the Lord’s Prayer in 100+ languages), Dominus Flevit (dedicated to the story of when Jesus wept overJerusalem), theGardenofGethsemaneand theChurchofAll Nations.  We then drove through the Judean desert to the oldest city that has been inhabited,Jericho.  We had lunch outdoors on a sunny comfortable day.

Then on to theDead Seato float and relax, and slather mud on.

We have enjoyed our guide, and the company of Young Adults in Global Ministry (YAGM’s) who have the days off while the Muslim community finishes celebrating the festival Al-Eid, commemorating Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac

Tomorrow we leaveBethlehemto tour the Muslim Quarter and the Dome of the Rock, meet with Bishop Younan, go toHebron, then drive north to theGalileefor a few days.

We are energized by the good people who have cared for us, Palestinians and ELCA staff who are engaged in making this a place that will bring meaningful like and coexistence between peoples.

More news as we have time.

Salaam! Shalom! Peace!

Tim Keyl

November 4^th saw quite a gloomy start.  We ate breakfast and finished our devotions to a light rain falling outside.  A rain that all were grateful for due to the drought like conditions the region has been experiencing.  After devotions, we headed out to the olive groves for another day of picking.  As we began raking the leaves out of the trees, the rain began to come down a bit harder, until we had no other option but to take a break or be soaked through.  The six of us, along with LWF workers and a team fromAugustaVictoriaHospital all took shelter against the LWF building.  We chatted and made some connections until the rain finally passed over.  It wasn’t long before we were back out in the grove, orange-colored rakes in hand, well on our way to completing a team goal of 3 trees by lunch.  We were able to reach our goal and at noon, under sunnier skies, decided to retire our rakes and call it a morning.

After a quick lunch in the hospital’s staff cafeteria, we headed back to the guest house for some down time before heading out to Congregation Kol HaNeshama, a Reform Congregation, for Shabbat services.  Abu Isam picked us up at the guest house and we began our journey intoWest Jerusalem.  We found the street, and after a short sidestep into the wrong synagogue, we soon found ourselves in a bright seemingly vibrant religious community.  The service was completely in Hebrew, but also almost completely in song.  Some of us tried to sing along, while others of us attempted to meditate and feel a spiritual presence through the music.  We welcomed in the Sabbath, thanked God for our week, and prayed for peace.  We immersed ourselves in a different culture.  It was an excellent experience.

For dinner, we took a taxi over to the Seven Arches Hotel and Restaurant.  We were excited to be greeted with a buffet style dinner.  The restaurant with its wall of seven arched windows offered us a wonderful view of theOldCityfrom our vantage point on theMount of Olives.  We chatted about our day and enjoyed fellowship with each other while we ate.  After dinner we walked back to Augusta Victoria, exchanged goodnights, and prepared to rest ourselves for our travels toBethlehemin the morning.

–Meaghan Byrne

Weather – mostly cloudy, windy, 57 – 67 degrees
7:30 Our day began with breakfast (coffee, pita bread, yogurt, tomatoes, cheese) and devotion (song and a prayer) followed by a guided tour of the Augusta Victoria Hospital (AVH). This hospital, run by the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), has a long and fascinating history. The building was built at the start of the 20th century by Germans, became the British government headquarters from 1917 – 1948, and finally the major hospital to serve Palestinian refugees at the establishment of Israel as a nation. For more than 60 years the Augusta Victorian hospital has served the needs of Palestinians by providing essential health care. It now continues to be the center for cancer care for all of the West Bank and Gaza. Mark Brown, regional director for LWF Jerusalem, led our tour and explained the history of care along with the newly installed state of the art cancer detection and treatment machine, funds provided primarily by the USAID.

10:00 am We proceeded across the street to the LWF offices and the Mt. of Olives olive groves for the harvest. Each of us with plastic rakes in hand, or by hand, picked olives off the branches onto tarps, then and into burlap sacks to be sent to the processing plant to press into olive oil. Proceeds of oil sales support the work of the LWF

Noon Lunch was served at the German café on the AVH grounds of delicious split pea soup.

1:45 pm We then took a taxi to West Jerusalem to visit Yad Vashem, the Jewish Holocaust Museum and Memorial. This comprehensive history of the Holocaust in Europe from 1933 – 1945 included mountains of material – films, artifacts, thousands of photographs, books, clothing, furniture, personal video interviews with survivors, and millions of names written of the lost, including a special commemoration of the 1.5 million children. A few thousand visitors filled the 200 yard length memorial. These included many tour groups with English, Spanish, German, Russian and Hebrew languages spoken by the tour guides. There were also a few hundred Israeli young men and women soldiers completing their 3 months of basic training with a tour of the Yad Vashem. Never forget, as a theme, will stay with us.

5:30 pm Our taxi returned us to the guest house of the LWF. The driver was Pastor Tim’s good friend Abu Isam, who has four sons all in his taxi business.(all his sons are handsome (-:)

6:40 pm A quick dinner of falafel, stuffed pita bread

7:00 pm We met for the next two hours with Moira and Rami, both members of the bereaved parents group. Moira’s husband, an Arab and Muslim, was killed when shot by Israel soldiers as he was in the wrong place at the wrong time as his car was caught in the middle of a protesting crowd in 2009. Rami’s daughter of 14, was killed by a suicide bomb almost 20 years ago. They share their stories of pain and suffering together along with other bereaved parents to schools and community meetings across all of Israel and the West Bank. The message of hope is to use the power of pain and suffering to teach the need for dialogue and peace as a way through to justice. Each of their stories would take several pages to tell more fully. Needless to say, we felt the power of their stories to move us to a greater understanding for the need for peace and justice.

9:30 pm The day concluded, just as it began, with song and prayer.

–Richard Ford

We couldn’t have asked for a smoother trip.  Though the flight was slightly delayed, the Continental Flight to Tel Aviv went without a hitch and Ben Gurion Airport was amazingly quiet.  So through passport control to the baggage claim, then meeting ELCA staffer Julie Rossate who took us to Jerusalem in the ELCHL Van named “Bruno” (a VW van).

We arrived to sunny and mild conditions on the Mount of Olives at Augusta Victoria Guest House at the Lutheran World Federation Compound.

After lunch, we took the 75 Arab bus to the terminal by Damascus Gate, the busy thoroughfare into the Old City.

We walked past pungent-smelling and colorfully decorated souks to the Church of the Redeemer, on property given to Kaiser Wilhelm.  We sang “Beautiful Savior” in perfect acoustics and read Psalm 133.

We climbed the Redeemer Tower which holds spectacular 360 degree views of the Old City, with clear sights of the Dome of the Rock, the Western Wall, and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.  We could also see the Tower of the Lutheran Ascension Church which is right near our Guest House.

We then walked to Jaffa Gate, changed dollars into shekels, then meandered through the Armenian Quarter to Zion Gate and Dormition Abbey.  Dormition Abbey is another sight which is on land gifted by the Sultan to Kaiser Wilhelm.  It houses a German Benedictine Monastery dedicated to the final resting place of Mary.  While buses there unloaded large groups, we mostly relaxed in the café.

We walked back through Jaffa Gate to Damascus Gate, reversing our direction, and boarded a 75 bus back up the Mount of Olives as sun was setting.

We will soon cross the street for the weekly potluck and volleyball game at the home of LWF Jerusalem Mark Brown and his wife, Suzanne.

What a wonderful start to a meaningful companion trip.

Pastor Tim Keyl