Tent of the Nations

Today we visited The Tent of Nations. Situated on the only hilltop in the West Bank not occupied by Israeli settlers, it is run by the Nassar family who are Palestinian Christians. 

For 26 years the Israelis have been trying to claim their land to build on, but through legal and peaceful means the family have resisted and remain on the land. 

Their story is amazing, inspiring and very challenging, especially when I consider their attitude to life and then compare it to my paltry efforts. 

Here are a few sound bites of their perspective and story: 

'We refuse to be enemies' 

'Peace is not just the absence of conflicts. It's the art of experiencing inner peace, in the midst of conflict'

'our land is like our mother. We care for her. We won't sell her. We will never leave her alone' 

'we follow the fourth way with regard to how to respond to the Palestinian situation - not violence, not passive inactivity, not giving up, but active non-violent resistance'.

'We want to use our frustrations and disappointments constructively; to transform this into energy we need to do things positively, rather than becoming a seed-bed for anger and bitterness'. 

'We don't need outsiders who come and tell us what to do. We need friends who come and join us in our struggle and vision. 

They help us keep the hope alive'. 

Harvesting olives, in solidarity...

Today we picked olives with Bashir. 

Bashir is a Palestinian Christian whose family has lived and farmed the land for many generations. There are olive trees, a vineyard, apple trees and pear trees; passed down from father to son time after time 

Bashir lives just outside Bethlehem, in a beautiful valley. His house is one side of the road that runs up to Jerusalem; his fields the other. 

Along the side of the road runs The Wall, allegedly built to define boundaries and provide protection from 'the Other', whoever the other may be

What the wall actually does with regard to Bashir is make it incredibly hard for him to reach his fields, and increase the chances of him getting stuck the wrong side of the wall. If he can't get to his fields regularly, the Israeli occupying authorities will declare the land unoccupied and hand it over to Israeli settlers. And that will be the end for Bashir and his life on the land 

So picking olives with him today was incredibly special. 

It wasn't just a chance to be out in the country doing something simple and practical. 

It was also a chance to show Bashir, and farmers like him, that we care about their future

And about their past, and all that has happened. 

And about their today's and what they have to endure. 

And it was a chance to be visible as international supporters; and to the authorities here, who watch everything, that is good for them to see. 

So much more to say, but that can wait for another day. 

For now I raise a bottle of olive oil to Bashir, and all his fellow olive farmers, and I pray that they will be able to live on the land for generations to come. 

Balfour - 100 years on

An interesting day to be in Bethlehem today, on the 100th anniversary of the Balfour Agreement that essentially said the British government supported the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Israel

Today has been spent with some Palestinians: in particular 2 Christians and 1 Muslim.  One of the Christians was our tour guide, a fascinating guy who ended the tour by saying the Lords Prayer in Aramaic ie the language Jesus would have said it in, whilst looking at the Segregation Wall and the refugee camp beyond. The words of Jesus were so powerful in that moment. The other two guys are each the founder of a local NGO. Both organisations use non-violent means to speak into the situation and work to engage their user groups in positive ways of achieving a better future. 

I'll blog more about each of them at another time, but it has been interesting to hear the personal stories woven into the narratives. 

And also to walk through one of the refugee camps in Bethlehem, to meet people from the camp, which has been in existence since 1948, and to get up close and personal to The Wall. 

Nothing can prepare you for the impact of that oppressive and divisive structure. And I have to admit that today I don't feel that I can go along with Teresa May's sentiment that the Balfour Agrreemrnt is something to be celebrated

Jerusalem - 'and Jesus wept'

Have spent the day in Jerusalem today with team. A self guided walking tour, trying to get my head round the mass of conflicting thoughts and emotions that have been swirling round and round in my mind. 

Jerusalem - a place of so much religious focus for three of the biggest faith groups  in the world. Christians, Jews, Muslims - each claiming their portion of the city and its historical significance. 

And therefore Jerusalem - a place of such tension, awareness of other, conflict and prejudice

But at the same time Jerusalem - the place where Jesus came, as a boy with his parents, and then as a man, to be betrayed, crucified and buried. And from where He rose from the dead. 

And day by day, Jerusalem - a city where people live, work, get educated, grow up, have families, just do all the normal things in life

Jerusalem - a place of so many contrasts, so much hope and so much passion. 

And a place where it felt like sometimes all the hope of this city gets sidelined amidst the present day conflicts and arguments. 

As I looked over Jerusalem this morning, I couldn't help but remember how Jesus had looked over it in a similar way - and wept

I wonder how much He looks down on it now and weeps. It feels like a city of such potential for hope and peace, but how much is that potential lost amidst the

politics. 

It's Enough to make you weep

Introducing the next week

Today I’m going on an Olive Harvesting trip to Bethlehem, along with 6 others, and will be doing a mixture of bits alongside the olive harvesting.

The goals of the programme are:

- To deepen our understanding of the situation in Israel-Palestine and the issues that affect people’s lives there

- To build friendships with people of another culture and faith, and by doing so to challenge our own stereotypes and prejudices

- To give practical support to farmers as they harvest their olives

- To be an international presence during the Olive Harvest

- To deepen our understanding, appreciation and respect for the culture, language, history and religious beliefs of others

And the itinerary is

- Tues 31st: fly to Tel Aviv, overnight in Jerusalem

- Wed 1st: tour of Jerusalem, travel to Bethlehem. Accomodation in Bethlehem for rest of trip

- Thurs 2nd: orientation and tour of Bethlehem

- Fri 3rd: olive harvesting

- Sat 4th: olive harvesting and visit to Tent of Nations

- Sun 5th: Olive harvesting and visit Hebron

- Mon 6th: Olive harvesting

- Tues 7th: visit Yad Vashem Museum in Jerusalem, fly home

Prayers please if you have time, for safety and security, for wisdom and sensitivity, for ability to build friendships across the language barriers, for all those we meet – both Palestinian and Jews, and for the rest of the team.

I'm hoping to blog as we go but have no idea about Internet. So if you don't hear from me assume it's due to lack of Internet access, or too busy picking olives, rather than anything else and I'll do some reflective updates when back

TTFN!!

H

So many broken people in the world

So many broken people in the world
Who have been told lies about their identity
- you're stupid
- you're worthless
- you're not wanted
- you'll never achieve anything
- you're a waste of space
- you're unloved
Etc etc

Told these lies so often that they start to believe them, 
To live them
To construct their lives around them

And they end up with identities that harm,
That damage
That break
That destruct
That lead to people living out broken, damaged, dysfunctional, negative lives
Full of bad life choices,
Made because they don't believe they have any other choice

We need to put into practice a theology that preaches an identity that heals.
That tells people how loved they are
How special they are
How perfect they are
How they are a child of God
And how God wants the absolute best for them

We need to be showing that theology in how we are with others
In the welcomes that we give
In the unconditional acceptance that we show
In the non-judgmental approach that we bring
In the 'just coming alongside and being there for them' 

We need to help start that healing process
Through what we say
What we do
What we think
And through introducing others to our living loving Lord Jesus Christ

But we also need to start living it out ourselves
We need to believe it for ourselves
We need to allow God's love to heal our broken identities

So that from that place of ongoing healing, 
We can reach out to others

Whether it be the woman working on the streets
Or the student who has given up on school, and been told they will never achieve anything
Or the mother struggling to make ends meet for herself and her children
Or the carer consumed with looking after an elderly relative
Or the child who has additional needs and finds it hard to relate to people
Or the businessman who feels trapped in a relentless rat race of work
Or the person who feels as though they are circling the edge of a big black hole of despair

Whoever they are,
Wherever they are
Whatever their circumstances 

When we come into the same space as them, 
We need to be 'preaching' 
(In the gentlest and most non-preachy way possible)
A theology of identity that heals

And by preaching I don't mean standing in a pulpit and just saying it
I mean living it
Showing it
Getting our hands dirty with it
Hugging it
Listening it
Holding someone's hand with it
Letting the tears come in a safe space

Doing it in the myriad of practical ways that we have available to us, 
if we just stop and look around

To show it through serving
And through allowing others to serve us
That some of their healing will come as they find new ways to live
And to be rebuilt through getting the chance to serve

We need a theology of identity that heals
In our own lives
In the lives of our communities
In our nations
In the world

And we need to be the people who are bringing that theology to bear
Not letting others do it
But taking it forward ourselves

Lord open my eyes and my ears
Open my heart and my mind

To see the world as you see it
To see how you would have me live out this theology
In ways that bring healing
That bring true identities
That bring hope for a better tomorrow 
To people today.

The power of a home-made welsh cake

I made some welsh cakes last weekend - about 240 of them in all. It took me most of an afternoon to get them all made, and I have to say I'm not hankering to repeat the process soon, but I'm glad I did it.

I made the welsh cakes for the staff at our local secondary school, and I made that number because I wanted to ensure that there were enough for every one of the 219 members of staff to be able to have one. Teachers, admin staff, learning support, grounds and maintenance staff - I wanted them all to be able to have a welsh cake - hence the massive bake.

The thought came about when I was chatting to a friend who works at the school and who mentioned that the staff were all so very tired - as is the case in most staff rooms across the land due to the impact of cost cutting and curriculum-based changes being imposed year after year. There's not a lot I can do about stopping the cost-cutting, or the requirements of curriculum changes, but what I could do was make welsh-cakes, and write a card with encouraging words.

So I did!

They went in on Monday, and I didn't think anything more about it. Life moved on to other items on the to-do list. But what I hadn't anticipated was the response to the welsh-cakes.

E-mails from staff I don't know, as well as staff I do know, saying thank you, and commenting how special it was to them that someone from outside school was thinking about them. And texts and other messages from friends within the school commenting on the conversations that have come about as a result of the appearance of the welsh cakes.

Apparently, the fact that I had gone to the effort to make the cakes, and not just buy them, made a big impact. And some staff members who don't know me at all were particularly impressed that it was the mayor who had gone to all that trouble! I have also been told that there have even been conversations off the back of the welsh-cakes about faith, and some staff who are of no faith linking my actions to the fact that I am a Christian, in a very positive way.

It hadn't occurred to me to blog about the welsh-cakes, because for me, making cakes to bless people is just what I do. But this past week, the response has been such that I felt it was worth sharing. Not to big me up, but to put the idea out there as a simple example of how we can bless others.

I'm not suggesting everyone needs to start making hundreds of welsh-cakes. But is there a staff room in a school / doctors surgery / hospital near you where you know there are lots of hard-working, beleaguered, 'hanging in there' staff, and who could benefit from knowing that they are remembered, and loved and thanked. Cakes (especially if they are home-made) can go a long way in saying all those things.

Just putting it out there!!!