Home Away From Home

We spent the first half of Friday finishing up our training for the PAIDIA staff. Can I just say again how wonderful these people are. There are two nationals in particular that have stole our hearts! Saleem and Faadia are going to do an amazing job pouring into these kids lives. And really its all a continuation of what they have already been doing here. Austin and I have been so blessed by them as well as Brady, the canadian volunteer, and have learned a great deal about how to serve our kids in the states even better.

Friday afternoon, we went to the Catholic Shepherd's field; just a walk down the street from where the Otto's have been living. It was like nothing I imagined. There were caves everywhere. We even found a tunnel connecting two of them. It was an adventure to say the least. As we left, a group of Palestinian believers came to sing in the tiny cathedral built there to signify its holy significance. It was beautiful.

Friday evening, we went to church inside Old City Jerusalem. AMAZING. We sang christmas carols and afterwards we went on the roof to eat brownies and drink cider. From the roof was the view of my lifetime. To my left was the Church of the Holy Sepluchre. To my right, the Mount of Olives. Straight ahead, the Temple Mount. And off in the horizon, lights from the Jordan border. The conversation was sweet too. The church is made up of christians volunteering from all over the world; Denmark, Ireland, Norway, UK, Canada and the States. I have had so many previews of heaven! So cool.

Saturday we walked into Bethlehem. It was a decent walk. Mostly uphill, but totally worth it! We walked around Old Bethlehem where the streets are still crowded with merchants, much like Old City Jerusalem. As we sat in Manger Square, outside the the Church of the Nativity, a palestinian man came to us, offering fresh tea with mint. Austin and I indulged and it was fantastic. The people here are deeply loving and friendly. Our day was filled with new friends and open doors. The first was on our way home. A merchant asked where we were from and invited us in for Arabian coffee. We sat for 45 minutes sharing stories in broken english. The Arabian coffee just might have burned a whole in my stomach but the insider view of this culture continues to make every bump in the road seem like a gift. Later, we met a student from Tanzania, studying to be a priest.

Saturday night, we went to the Beit Sahour tree lighting service. Hundreds of Palestinian christians gathered to hear the Prime Minister share words of hope and anticipation of peace in Palestine. It was beautiful. Drew ended up on their website sporting a palestinian scarf at the festivities. He's famous. Hahaha.

Today, we took a taxi to the Bethlehem checkpoint. Since Palestinians aren't allowed into Jerusalem without citizenship, we had to get a separate taxi from the checkpoint to our final destination, the Israel Museum. To be honest, I had never heard of it but I was blown away. It started with the Shrine of the Book, which is where the Dead Sea Scrolls are displayed.

Next, was a model of the Old City Jerusalem as of 66 A.D., just before the Romans destroyed it all. The rest of the museum was somewhat of a blur, but I do know it took over 4 hours and we were exhausted!!! Our taxi ride home was a highlight. Osama, a palestinian from Bethlehem, drove us home. He is a friend of Drew and Char's and absolutely loves america and Obama. He gave us our ride for free and spent the entire ride singing to us, shouting how much he loved americans from his window and bragging about his knowledge of America. He got out to take pictures with Char and Drew. One of many reminder that Char and Drew are about to say goodbye to their home away from home.

This is one of the sculptures at the museum. It is made up of Hebrew letters set against the skies of Jerusalem. In one direction it reads Father God. And in another direction it reads Love.