18 people, 10 days, 5 planes, several bus rides, countless meals of pita and hummus, and bottles of Lemon-mint Juice….. $$$ and Shekels (Palestinian/Israeli currency).
Meeting the Living Stones of Palestine, and walking (sometimes running) where Jesus walked…. Priceless.
I'm sitting here, the day after our whirlwind of a trip, trying to find the "right" words to say to begin to describe what I'm feeling right now, but I honestly can't. I thought that maybe after a good nights sleep I would wake up refreshed and with all the answers to my questions- HA! When my family asked me how my week was, all I could find to say was "It was great!" I guess you could say that the process of processing a trip such as this is a little bit longer than a week.
I want to go back. I want to go back and talk more with the "Living Stones" we encountered and to meet even more. I want to continue to grow in my understanding of this conflict and of the people of Palestine. But more than anything, I want others to feel what I'm feeling; I want them to have a taste like I did, of the injustices and heartbreaking images in Israel and Palestine.
Last summer during my People in Mission internship, Carla Leaf told us that our hearts would be broken apart in our work- but in a good way. She explained that the people we met and the experiences we had would open our eyes and hearts to the injustices in and around Charlotte, and challenged us to fill those new spaces in our hearts with good; such as sharing what we saw, furthering our work, and being more aware of what was around us. I found myself coming back to this image many times this week as we encountered the injustices in Palestine and Israel. My heart was absolutely broken apart just looking at the Separation Wall, bullet holes on homes in the refugee camps, and the outcries of the graffiti art on walls. The Pope ironically visited Palestine the weekend we left the Holy Land, and there is currently an article on his trip to the Separation Wall right outside the Aida Refugee Camp that we visited. When we saw the wall, someone was painting over all the graffiti, and according to the article, it was to hide the words, outcries, and artwork of the Palestinians and to create a more uniform image of the wall for the Pope. I'm glad we were able to see the honest words of the people; it showed the emotions ranging from rage, frustration, and despair, to hope and peace.
As I mentioned last week in my blog post, the rock that I pulled out of the bag at the start of the trip was labeled "Love." "Love your neighbor as yourself." This is one of the commandments God gave us. Going through this week as I thought about the rock I picked, I couldn't help but question how some people don't understand this. To me, love is a way of living. Love is friendship, a community, a smile, a hug. Love doesn't discriminate among race, religion, ethnicity, gender, or geographic location. I felt the love of our team as we gathered for devotions every night trying to make sense of it all and when we laughed so hard we almost cried at whatever witty comment Maggie Whitley had to make. But I also felt the love of Palestinians from the moment we arrived in Bethlehem. As you may have read, we stayed with students our first night, and I wound up in Ramallah which was an hour and thirty minute drive due to checkpoints, and the separation wall; a trip that would only take fifteen minutes without checkpoints and barriers. Immediately, Dustin and I were welcomed into the home of a complete stranger, fed a wonderful meal, and offered a warm bed to sleep in. This hospitality is God's love and God is Love. This Godly love is called "agape," and should be a way of living. Maybe it's foolish to think that we could one day live in a world where everyone loves each other, but I think breaking down walls and barriers is a good start.
We don't have answers. In fact, I think it's safe to say that we all have a lot more questions. What we do have though, is a taste of what's going on and the stories of the Living Stones. So when you see us (the members of the trip) ask us how the trip was, ask us to share a story, ask us about our favorite part, ask us to sit and talk with you. The best thing we can do now is share the stories of the Living Stones in the Holy Land and continue to pray for peace in Palestine and hope for a better future where Palestinians and Israelis can live side by side, hand in hand, without walls, checkpoints, and guns.
Jordan Schriefer
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