It’s great to be home from our Holy Land pilgrimage. Thanks for your prayers.
We called it the “Stones and Living Stones Pilgrimage,” because our intention was to encounter not only the archaeological “stones” of the biblical era, but also the “living stones” of the land – i.e., our Christian sisters and brothers (see 1 Peter 2). When I went to the Holy Land for the first time in 1995, I met only the stones, and determined that it was a shame to miss the very living stones who abide in the land that originated such living stones in the first place. And now, having been several times, the stones are familiar, but the living stones continue to fascinate.
The Holy Land is a tough place to be a Christian. Life is hard there for all Palestinians, but in addition to being on the downside of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Palestinian Christians also suffer at the hands of the majority Muslim population, many leaders of which are increasingly militant. Thus the Christian population is shrinking dramatically, particularly as young Palestinians go abroad to study (their university opportunities at home are severely limited), discover how good life can be abroad, and stay. I hear that Messianic Jews also find life hard there, but I’ve not yet gotten to know any of them.
Here are some of the living stones we met (without names or exact descriptions, lest this internet posting inadvertently make life even harder). The first Christian we met is a young man who runs a school for Christian, Muslim, Druze, and Jewish children. These kids actually grow to like each other, giving promise of a rising generation that will be less divided. But we found the young man himself to be so full of bitterness at how the Palestinians are treated that he gives a mixed message – idealism paired with seething anger. The mixed message that arises from his mixed heart makes me wonder about the overall effect on the children, and about the future of his ministry.
We also met a 70ish couple in a mid-sized town. He is the pastor of the church where we worshiped, and she plainly has an important part of the ministry there. We asked them how life is for them there. She told us that it is very hard, for the reasons stated above. Indeed, their own children have moved to the U.S., but they feel called to stay and minister there. They glowed with the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, and with the joy that comes with being where one is called to be – even if it is a hard place.
There were others, but that gives you an idea of the sorts of living stones we met. Just like the living stones here, some are saintly, some are struggling, and all are worthy of our prayer support. With Psalm 122’s direction, we will “pray for the peace of Jerusalem,” and especially for those living stones whom God is using there.
Bless ‘em Lord!
Keith
