Post-Script

When embarking upon a pilgrimage of this nature, all are certain to come back changed, even transformed. On our trip, the one person who was most powerfully transformed by the experience was Shaaron Coulborn. Shaaron, who lives in Ft. Worth, Texas, is a nurse who works in a pediatric psych unit. She hadn't been out of the US since her honeymoon to Montreal many moons ago. Shaaron didn't know exactly what she was getting into on this trip but she took a leap of faith and came along. Her presence was a blessing beyond measure!

Shaaron shows digital pictures (of themselves)

to a group of boys at Shu'fat Refugee Camp.

Shaaron spent much of the time early in the trip saying, "How could I not know this is happening? People need to know what is happening here." Understandably, she was deeply troubled by what she saw of the Occupation in action. At the same, Shaaron did something she does remarkably well - she began making friends. At Qalandia checkpoint, language was no obstacle when a Palestinian Muslim woman showed Shaaron how to put on her scarf in the style of the hijab. She struck up a conversation with a young man on a bus one day and a few days later, when she ran into him on the other side of Jerusalem, it was like old home week! You'd have thought they'd known one another for years!

Shaaron is a bit notorious for her love of shopping. And while in the Holy Land shopping included opportunities to engage in conversation with shopkeepers and crafts people. Watching Shaaron shop was like watching a kid in a candy store!

On our flight back to the States, we stopped in Montreal. Shaaron had been sitting a few rows behind me. When we got up to disembark, I saw Shaaron carrying one of those "in flight" shopping bags. Tongue in cheek I teased her: "Shaaron Coulborn, have you been shopping again?" "No, Pastor Sue," she replied. "I've been gifted." When we were in the holding area, I asked what she had meant.

'Turns out, Shaaron got to talking with the flight attendant and discovered that she was Palestinian. When Shaaron told her what she had seen and learned and how she felt an urgency to share the story of the Occupation with others, the flight attendant was so moved, she gave Shaaron two bottles of wine."

"Doesn't that figure?" I teased, "I coordinate this whole trip and YOU are the one who gets a prize."

"Pastor Sue, don't feel bad. It's white wine and you prefer red."

Then came the quote of the trip, what Shaaron said to the flight attendant:

The eyes have seen. 

The ears have heard. 

And now, the lips must speak.

That is our calling. To speak for those who cannot speak for themselves. We returned home committed to doing our best to fulfill that mission.

May God grant us the grace and courage to speak truth to power until that day comes when all of the people of the Holy Land live in peace.

ps

Friday, February 27th

Sabeel
On a very rainy Friday morning, we made our way to the offices of Sabeel in Jerusalem. Ironically, while we had been invited to visit by Naim Ateek, founder of Sabeel, he was in the Detroit area on a book tour while we were in Jerusalem! However, two long-time volunteers stood in and shared with us the work of the organization, its joys and challenges.

Rain, Rain...
The rain put a bit of a damper on our plans for Friday afternoon but we managed to do a little exploring despite the weather. While we were at lunch, Chelsea noted that Mordechai Vanunu was sitting at a nearby table and wondered whether we might like to meet with him after church on Sunday. Most asked, "Who?"

iPhone ever at the ready, Chelsea called up Mordechai's Wikipedia profile and passed it around the table. Eyebrows were raised. Eyes grew wide. Heads nodded. Yes, yes, we want to hear his story... Chelsea stopped by his table and asked whether he would be willing to visit with this group from U of M. Yes, he said, he'd be happy to meet with us after worship. Our visit with Mordechai would prove to be a most unexpected and remarkable part of our visit.

Thursday, February 26th

A Visit with Bishop Younan

We were able to enjoy a bit of a leisurely morning before checking out of the ICB and transferring to Jerusalem. The highlight of the day was the opportunity to visit with our Bishop in Jerusalem, Munib Younan. Bishop Younan is a remarkable man – insightful, prophetic, good-humored. Our partnership is one of the great blessings of being in ministry in the SEMI Synod.

Yad Vashem

Despite having received imperfect directions from not one but TWO official visitor center staffers at Jaffa Gate, we found our way to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Museum, which is open late on Thursdays. I found myself rather taken by two current exhibits, one on the survivors of the Holocaust who have had a significant impact on life in Israel and one on the art produced by people living in the camps. I found the art from Terezin to be most profound.

Skype Worship!

Check out the article about our Skype Worship in the Ann Arbor News!

Transfiguration Sunday, February 22

In the morning, we packed up and, using our cab drivers from the previous night, headed to the King Hussein Bridge. Within 2 km of the bridge, we had to change taxis to the terminal, where we went through arrival and departure procedures, security, paid our exit tax and then took the JETT bus across the bridge. They took our luggage to send it through security and sent us through. Then, things became interesting.

We approached border control as a group. When asked for its leader, I presented myself to the officer, who cross examined me but good – a story only to be told in person. Then, we had to go through another passport check before we were able to collect our luggage and seek Chelsea and our transportation. Though we seemed to be running late, Chelsea arrived about 5 minutes after we had emerged from the terminal. It was so good to see her!

An interesting point: Chelsea noted that, upon entering Israel, luggage (and the people matching them) is tagged with a number from 1-6 indicating their perceived “security threat.” (Consider it a numeric version of the Homeland Security color chart.) #1 would be assigned to an Israeli, indicating no threat to security, while #6 is the highest threat. We were tagged as #4s.

Al Quds UniversityAl Quds (the Arabic name for Jerusalem) University is located in Abu Dis, in East Jerusalem. Most students are Muslim and a few Christian. We began by visiting Abu-Jihad Center for Political Prisoners' Affairs, a museum that provides a remarkable historic panorama of Palestinians (mostly men) who have been imprisoned through the years. We learned how Palestinian intellectuals managed to set up universities within prisons, holding courses and writing volumes on topics ranging from biology to art and novels. With little bits and pieces gathered from their surroundings, prisoners have created some amazing artwork.

We then sat down with four Al Quds students, who shared with us the challenges they face merely in order to get to the university, to study, to become educated and to prepare to work to build up their society. We learned that, in Jerusalem, a degree from Al Quds is considered invalid; as a result, many Al Quds alumni go abroad for graduate study in order to obtain advanced degrees that “legitimate” their education and open doors to more vocational opportunities.

We will all remember the story told by a young woman of how soldiers surrounded her home and sent her family outside so they could search the house. Her mother, concerned that her 3 year old grandson, who was napping upstairs, would awaken to find soldiers carrying automatic weapons standing over his bed, pleaded with the soldiers not to disturb him. Dismissing her, the soldiers pushed her back so that she fell onto the pavement, suffering a fatal head injury. This took place in front of the young woman and her father and happened just last September. Her pain is still so very raw. And yet, she joined the other students in saying, “We keep going on; we keep having hope. We have no choice.”

There is in Arabic a word, “samood,” which means steadfastness. We see evidence of this all around us, in every person we meet.

Skype Worship

We arrived at the International Center in Bethlehem just in the nick of time to set up for our Skype liturgy with the congregation in Ann Arbor. Chelsea and the ICB’s media specialist made haste to set up our electronic arrangements as well as to provide local bread and wine for the Eucharist. It was a wonderful experience to be one congregation in two locations. We were left with a new understanding of what it means to be one body in Christ.

PS