O Little Town of Bethlehem

We arrived in Bethlehem last yesterday evening. We were welcomed by Issa Zoughbi and his wife Diana. Issa is a Palestinain Baptist pastor and operates a Christian Hostel entitled "The House of Bread." They served us a wonderful dinner last night and breakfast this morning. This morning we visited with BADIL - Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights and Wi'am - Palestinian Reconciliation Center. At Wi'am they served a wonderful lunch and after learning that the couple on the delegation - John & Peggy Holm - were celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary today, baked a special anniversary cake for dessert.

This afternoon we had a little time for sightseeing and several of us visited the Church of the Nativity, which is actually many different churches in one, believed to be the place of Christ's birth. As with many of the other sights here in the Holy Land, whether it is the exact place or not, to think I am standing somewhere close to Jesus' birthplace, gives one the sense of awe. And yet there is much sadness in Bethlehem as well as it is the most police presence we have experienced yet, vendors harassing you trying to capatilize on the significance of the location and the many tourists, and the presence of the large wall that is being built around the city to seperate the Jewish Israelites from the Palestinians and the presence of a Palestinian Refugee Camp, Aida Camp, within sight distance.

We spent the late afternoon and this evening at the refugee camp. Our guide was a young woman named Kholoud whose grandparents came to the refugee camp more than 60 years ago after being forced from their home in 1948. Kholoud's mother and Kholoud were both born in the refugee camp. Since 2004 the camp is now being surrounded by "the wall," with its armed guard towers and security cameras. And yet "hope" seems to be what many of the Palestinian's that we met today seem to still have. That one day they will be able to live together in peace with the Israelites. The other continued common thread has been their hospitality - providing us with a wonderful dinner.

Tomorrow we will be meeting with a couple more human rights groups working here in Bethlehem and then on to our third, longest and final part of the journey in the West Bank.

Sharing the Love of Christ, in our community and around the world,
Dick

Tuesday, 7/26, 10:15 p.m.