I'm going to have to double check my hymnal when getting home. Do the lyrics that follow "...how still we see thee lie" mention roosters at 3 am? dogs barking? horns honking? imams calling for prayer? So much for a Silent Night...
Welcome to Bethlehem, home to thousands of Palestinian Muslims and Christians housed in apartments precariously perched on steep hillsides linked by labrynths of winding lanes. We're staying in a building owned by Joseph the innkeeper (and yes, we did find room at the inn upon arriving. Quite spacious rooms, in fact). As we marveled at the cars and tour busses jostling for space on the road in front of the hotel, Joseph commented, "They say they will build bridges and tunnels for traffic. Where? This town was built for donkeys!" After finding our way to the Church of the Nativity this afternoon, we agreed with him.
Life in the Palestinian areas of Israel is not easy. We saw an example of that on our way here from Tel Aviv last night. The bus driver said normally the drive is 40 minutes, but because the checkpoint into Bethlehem (which is in the West Bank) "was closed since 3 days," we had to drive a good 20-30 minutes out of our way to enter Bethlehem via one of its suburbs, Beit Jala. Very frustrating for the driver, who couldn't explain any logic to closing a checkpoint if one can get into the city by another route anyway.
The bulk of our time here will be spent helping with various chores at Bethlehem Bible College. BBC brings a beacon of hope to this community. Directly across the street from the college is a refugee camp, crammed with Palestinians who've lost their homes, some having lived there since Israelis took their land in 1948. A book that the team read this fall is Light Force by Brother Andrew. I highly, highly recommend it to give an understanding of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from a viewpoint that CNN will never give you - that of the Palestinian Christian. Today we met Bishara Awad, a Palestinian Christian and founder of the college, and tomorrow we will start painting gates and classrooms, cleaning windows, helping in the library, and working in the garden.
Recently finished the book "Son of Hamas". It's the real-life story of a Palestinian Muslim terrorist turned Christian, who secretly spied for Israel. I highly recommend it. I'm sure it would be even more fascinating to read having seen the West Bank, Gaza, etc.
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Cindy Fenton