Sacred Spaces

I find it hard to believe that I have been in Bethlehem for almost six weeks.  My time here is about half over and there is so much work still to be done and so many people I would like to meet. My heart is full of stories to tell but I have been overwhelmed with how to really share them – there is so much to say!  

So, here’s one that started a couple of weeks ago.Two dear Atlanta friends, Barbara and Fran Exley, were in Bethlehem for 5 days as part of a Israel/Palestine witness trip. They kindly allowed me to tag along to some of their visits and meetings (more about those in a later post).  One incredible opportunity presented itself as this group secured an invitation to visit Al Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock.  Visitors are regularly allowed on the Temple Mount but very rarely are allowed inside these two Muslim shrines.  As a big history nerd, no way was I gonna pass this up!  Not only are these two of the holiest sites in Islam but they are incredibly beautiful historic sites. 

Dome of the Rock

Al Aqsa Mosque

Our guide was Muhammad (of course!) and both sites were as majestic as I expected. The Dome of the Rock (most recognizable as the one with the gold dome) was built in 691 and is one of oldest buildings in Islam and Jerusalem. It is built over the Foundation Stone, where Muslims believe Abraham was asked to sacrifice Ishmael (or Isaac, as Christians and Jews believe).  It is also believed to have been built on site of Second Temple that was destroyed by the Romans in 70AD.  Jews think the Holy of Holies was possibly located here so, in general, Jewish religious authorities have forbidden Jewish people from coming near it or even onto Temple Mount to avoid stepping foot on what might be the Holy of Holies. It is their holiest site and they pray to it from the Western Wall, as close as they can get without being on the Temple Mount.  The interior is stunning – every square inch is covered with richly colored tile and mosaics, much of it decorated with Arabic calligraphy.  Muhammad the guide was very enthusiastic about showing us every last detail.  One word kept going through my head…wow.

Interior of Dome of the Rock

Exterior of Dome of the Rock

Interior of Al Asqa Mosque

Al Aqsa Mosque was rebuilt in 1035 for third time after being destroyed by earthquakes and is the third holiest site in Islam. Unlike the Dome of the Rock which has twelve sides, Al Aqsa is more square and feels like a big church with no seating as rugs cover every square inch of the floor.  But, also it was very grand and beautiful.  As an American, I find it hard to grasp the concept of buildings being 1000+ years old.

Sadly, Al Aqsa Mosque is now the site of growing controversy and tension.  For decades the status quo has been that the Temple Mount is primarily for Muslims; others can visit, just not pray here.  In recent months, extremists from the Jewish community have been demanding, and receiving, increased access to Al Asqa Mosque for prayers.  This has provoked a backlash of protests from Muslims, naturally fearing that Israel has plans to change this status quo.  Protests have then led Israeli authorities to restrict access to the Temple Mount to women and men over 50 and last week they even closed the Temple Mount entirely for a day for the first time since 1967.  The Temple Mount should be a place of beauty and sacredness to so many, but more often is a battleground used to provoke and inflame.   

So what does all this mean for me as a Christian living here for this short season?  The holy sites are fascinating places to visit and remind me of the foundations of my faith, but Christ lives in me and not in the "dead stones" of these old places.  It is tragic to me that others don't see it the same way, that their faith relies so much on a place for expression.  But more importantly, I am witnessing injustice on a scale that makes me burn with anger at times and breaks my heart at others. But since I have prayed for my heart to be broken by the things that break the heart of God, I suppose I am getting an answer to my prayers.  Figuring out what to do with this is the hard thing.   That is a work in progress.

The Olive Harvest

          This is olive harvest season.  You’ve probably never given much thought to where olives come from but here, they are an essential part of the Palestinian culture. Olives have been grown and harvested here for thousands of years; some trees date back 4,000 years.  Because olive trees grow and produce fruit for thousands of years, are drought resistant, and grow in poor soil conditions, they have become symbolic of Palestinian continuity on the land as well as Palestinian resilience.  Some families have trees that have been passed down for centuries and they tend them with great care.  So, the olive harvest is often a family affair that recalls generations of forefathers and mothers who’ve harvested olives from the very same trees.  Olives account for 70% of fruit production in Palestine and around 80,000 families rely on the harvest as a main source of income.  Knowing I would be here during the olive harvest, I hoped that I would get to participate.

Olive tree in the Garden of Gethsemane that is over 2000 years old.
The inside is hollow but note the smaller branches growing out of the old trunk.

As it turns out, one of my colleagues at Bethlehem Bible College has a handful of

Bucket #1 of my harvest

olives trees in her family garden (along with fig, apple, apricot, plum, and citrus trees).  Jihan is typical of a Palestinian family.  She shares a beautiful home with her husband, her son and her husband’s parents, and they provide a wonderful network of support for each other.  Jihan invited me over one Saturday to help with the olive harvest.  It took us most of the day to pick, pull, shake and collect olives from their three tress.  It was the most fun I have ever had doing anything that involves gardening!  In total, we harvested over 200 pounds of olives, about 45 pounds of which were mine.  Some will be pressed into oil and the rest will be pickled, all for use by the family.   

Maklouba

And, of course, this being Palestine, I was fed and fed!  Jihan’s mother-in-law made a traditional Palestinian dish called maklouba, literally “upside down”, which has rice, fried cauliflower, chicken and a variety of spices.  When finished, it is flipped over onto a plate and served with yogurt.  Of course, it was delicious and it took three cups of strong Arabic coffee for me to recover enough from my food coma to finish olive picking.  I was so touched by how this family just took me into their midst – I will be so sad to leave Jihan in a few short weeks but am grateful to have a family here to call my own.

But, many Palestinians do not find it so easy to harvest their olives. Since 1967, Israeli authorities have uprooted an estimated 2.5 million olive trees in the West Bank.  Trees are removed to build settlements, to build bypass highways to connect these settlements to Israel proper and to build the separation wall. This massive barrier winds in and out of the West Bank, intentionally separating Palestinians from their farmland and

Uprooted trees, Oct 10th

water sources.  Radical settlers have poisoned and uprooted Palestinian olive trees and attacked farmers, often with impunity. In fact, there have been at least four attacks by Jewish settlers on olive farmers, their trees and their harvests in just the last week.  What should be a joyous season of harvest, festivals and celebrations becomes instead a time of fear and hardship. Yet, many Palestinians find their strength in the land and in a shared sense of family and community that has endured for centuries.  They harvest their olives as best they can, as they have always done.  Just like their olive trees, they endure, hoping for a future free of occupation. To be able to share a small part of life here is an incredible privilege for me.

Tears and Celebration

     Last week started out with very sad news at Bethlehem Bible College.  One of their recent Media Program graduates passed away after battling cancer for the past year.  Based on the outpouring of grief, Ghaith Shomaly was obviously a beloved member of this community.  Of course, it is always tragic to lose someone who is so young and just beginning to live into their potential.  What makes this loss so poignant, at least to me, is that the Palestinian Christian community here already loses so many of its young people to emigration.  The Christian community in the Holy Land has shrunk from being 9% of the population in 1931 to less than 2% today. Bethlehem Bible College's mission is to prepare Christian leaders to serve Arab churches and society, with the hope that they will choose to stay here.

     But then the week ended on a high note. BBC had already scheduled an "Open Day" for Thursday (what I would call a "Fun Day") with classes cancelled and activities planned for students, staff and faculty. In spite of the sadness, they went ahead with Open Day which was planned around the theme "Where are we headed?" and focused on addressing the students' sense of hopelessness and despair. The day started by honoring Ghaith in Chapel, followed by sessions that discussed  how to set goals and overcome obstacles in order to reach your potential, how to keep Christ at the center of your life as well more light-hearted activities like building towers out of spaghetti noodles and marshmallows ...tallest tower wins!  (see mine below).   The day ended with a big celebration lunch and a much lighter mood.

The winning tower!

     A day of celebration continued into the evening with an invitation to an engagement party for the daughter of a BBC staff member.  Well...engagement party hardly scratches the surface.  To call it fantastic is an understatement. This "party" had about 300 guests, and the bride was fully decked out in a ball gown.  The bride and groom entered the party to such a fanfare that I thought I had perhaps stumbled into an Olympic medal ceremony.  Then came the blessings from the priests...five of them from the Orthodox church.  This was followed by their "first dance"...complete with what could only be called fiery cannons of sparklers lighting up the whole dance floor.  We were served candies in fancy wrappers, then cake, then champagne.  Then much like a wedding reception at home, once the cake and champagne was served, everyone lined up to greet the engaged couple and head home. Apparently, engagement parties such as this are quite common here, though I understand this one was grander than most.  The Palestinians are a people who love to celebrate good news and an engagement is good news, indeed.  I can only imagine what a wedding reception looks like!

Chocolate favors

The happy couple

Bethlehem

"I am living in Bethlehem, I am living in Bethlehem"...I keep repeating that  over and over because it hardly seems real.  I am living in the town where our Lord was born, the home of many Palestinian Christian friends I've met on previous visits, serving at Bethlehem Bible College (BBC), one of Peachtree's ministry partners.  What could be more perfect? I will be here until December, helping with fundraising and special projects.  BBC is the only evangelical college in the West Bank and is training the next generation of leaders for the church in Palestine and Israel.

 

Many of you no doubt think now might not be the best time to travel to this part of the world, and there is certainly some truth to that.  However, God does not call us to serve him only when it is convenient or safe or easy.  The Christians of Palestine live in difficult circumstances all the time...struggling under occupation as more and more members of their community chose to leave for an easier life elsewhere.  However, there is joy to be found here in the many opportunities to show God's love and make His name known. I can't imagine being anywhere else at the moment.

 

I am already treasuring my time here as the pace is slower. Time spent building relationships and savoring friendships is an important part of this culture which translates into many cups of delicious Arabic coffee! Please pray for the Christian community in Palestine, as well as throughout the Middle East.  While the persecution we see in Syria and Iraq is not present here, life is difficult for Christians in other ways. Please pray for my time here to be spent in a way that honors and glorifies God as well as hopefully contributes to this community.  God has blessed me so with this opportunity - I am to savoring every minute of it!