Today, we worshiped at the Alliance church with Pastor Jack Sara in East

Jerusalem. I only have the opportunity to worship in Arabic when I am in the Holy Land and I very much enjoy it. I can’t say why, perhaps I feel like the

“Arab” part of me becomes fully integrated with my faith or perhaps vice-versa.

During the service, we heard the Muslim call to prayer. It was a

reminder of how close in proximity Arabs, Jews, and Muslims are in Jerusalem. One can never escape the reality of the situation here. It is

ever-present.

After church, we spent some time walking in the Old City, visiting the temple mount, and having discussions with people we met on the

streets. We had an interesting discussion with a Christian and Muslim Palestinian about politics, non-violence, Hamas and Hezbollah. I also engaged an American Jew

supportive of the settler movement about land, conflict, history and politics. Our discussion got a little heated for, as you may know, the settler movement is on

the far right wing of the Israeli political landscape.

In the evening we sat down with Messianic and Arab believers. It was a thought provoking evening

for the team as we got to hear their criticisms of us. There was some tension at a couple of points in the conversation, but we all learned much. This is the most

difficult part of the day to enunciate. But let me try.

What I tried to do during the evening was to play moderator and make sure there were no

uncomfortable silences.

It was interesting to hear how Messianic and Arab believers struggle with their identities. Who are they? Is an Israeli believer

less of a Jew? Their Jewish friends tell them they are no longer Jewish, that they are traitors.

At the same time, Israeli-Arab believers don’t feel

fully Israeli because Israel is defined as a Jewish and they will always be on the outside. They, by definition, cannot be equals. Yet, among Arabs, they at times

feel more Israeli because they have grown up among Israelis and understand their concerns and perspectives. So, they at times feel less Arab.

They asked

us to remember that the conflict is not about just about issues, it is about people- real people with jobs, children, responsibilities, hopes, dreams and fears-

people who are caught up between worlds and in a situation most often beyond their control. They strive for unity in Christ, but they are often torn by their

cultures of whom they are a part and of whom they are often apart.

Tomorrow, we’re off to see Bethlehem and Tuesday we’ll start the first round of

gift delivery. For now, I am off to bed. It is almost midnight here. The team has all turned in.

Please continue to pray for us. By thew way, if you

missed yesterday's blog entry about our first day, you can read it

href="http://bethlehemchristmasproject.info/index.php?option=com_jd-wp&Itemid=38&p=111">here. We had some trouble emailing updates yesterday but we think all has

been resolved now.