Today was a day in which the present and past walked together. The morning

and afternoon were spent familiarizing the team with Bethlehem and visiting various sites. We began by visiting the Herodium to see the ancient Roman ruins and the

place where Herod the Great was buried (the discovery of the grave was only made in May of 2007). After the Herodium we visited Sheppard’s Field, the Church of the

Nativity, Solomon’s Pools then finally we drove through the Dheisheh refugee camp.

While we visited the sites of the past for most of the day, the

present was ever near. From the Herodium we saw Israeli settlements and settler outposts in the West Bank. We also saw a little of Dheisheh and had the opportunity

to “talk politics” with local Palestinians. So, as we walked through the past during the day, the present was always at the periphery.

In the evening,

we visited the home of the director from one of the centers we will be delivering gifts to. Here is when the present took over completely. You see, his wife’s

sister died two days ago in Gaza and his other sister-in-law flew in from Greece to be with his wife. Both longed to visit Gaza, but neither could attend their

sister’s funeral.

Even with the grief, they still took the time to cook a generous meal for our team. They opened their home to us, shared their best

food, and rejoiced because of our presence. It reminded me of last year when a Christian was killed in Gaza and a Christmas concert/memorial service was held for him

in Beit Jala. That is the spirit of the people here: joy and sadness together. We encouraged our hosts and they blessed us… That was our day.

Please

know it is difficult to send live feed updates from the West Bank. We can only use our iPhone when we are connected to Israeli towers (i.e. Orange or Cellcom). In

the Palestinian areas, using the phone would be cost-prohibitive. We’ll try to use computers to update the feed when we can in the upcoming

days.

Tomorrow, we will be in Jerusalem so we’ll updating the feed as we go along. Please continue to pray for us and for the people here.