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Solidarity of Eyes, Ears, Hands and Feet with the People of Christmas Lutheran Church in Bethlehem
By Susan Balzer
Bethlehem, May 27, 2002
We came in solidarity of eyes, ears, hands and feet with the people of Christmas
Lutheran Church in Bethlehem. So far, we are showing our solidarity by sharing
the curfew imposed on Bethlehem early this morning, (May 27, 2002).
I woke up shortly before the Moslem call to prayer at 4 a.m. Roosters began to
crow. Then seven loud shots reverberated around the hills – warning shots, I
learned later, that a new day of curfew is imposed on this city. All the dogs of
the city started barking and a child wailed. A car drove slowly past the
Bethlehem Star Hotel.
I looked out our third floor window, curious, but afraid. I wondered about the
wisdom of my coming here now.
What about my family? And the congregations that supported our coming?
I remembered the anointing I received my first night in Jerusalem (Was that only
three days ago?) and the commissioning David Osborne and I received at Hesston
(Kansas) Mennonite Church just one week ago.
The refrain of a song our group sang together kept going through my mind:
“No storm can shake my inmost calm, while to the Rock I’m clinging. Since love
is Lord of heaven and earth, how can I keep from singing?” (from “My Life Flows
On” by Robert Lowry)
I didn’t actually sing it last night, but once again I turned my trust over to
God to keep me as long as I am meant to be here.
Ten of us have come from America to Bethlehem to listen to our suffering
Christian brothers and sisters; to witness the destruction in the town where
Jesus was born; and to lend our hands and feet to help in a physical way.
Now with a curfew on only our second full day here, we don’t know what will
happen next.
Before we came, Ghassan Andoni from the Rapprochement Center in Beit Sahour told
us that our mission would be worthwhile even if we were turned back upon our
arrival at the Tel Aviv airport.
Knowing we will take home much more than we brought here inspires us to keep
using our eyes and ears and pondering these things in our hearts.
Our group is a collection of Mennonite and Church of the Brethren Christians who
answered a call to come here to show Christian solidarity.
Dr. Dorothy Jean Weaver, a New Testament professor at Eastern Mennonite
University, Harrisonburg, Virginia, called the group together.
She had been planning with Kevin Clark, Pastor of Big Spring Mennonite Church,
Luray, Virginia, to lead a tour of the Holy Land at this time, but had to cancel
it April 10 because of the siege at the Church of the Nativity.
Having established a loving relationship with the people of Christmas Lutheran
Church, Dorothy Jean was overwhelmed when she received an e mail from Rev. Mitri
Raheb shortly after the invasion of Bethlehem with the poignant message: “This
is coming to let you know that we are still alive.”
As the siege persisted well into April, Dorothy Jean called upon people who had
a variety of skills and a common passion for peace in the city where the Prince
of Peace was born. In addition to Dorothy Jean and Kevin, two men who were
originally planning to be a part of the student tour joined the solidarity group
-- Tim Peebles, Chicago, a graduate student in theology at University of Chicago
and Daryl Ritchi, Hinton, Virginia, an Eastern Mennonite Seminary student.
Other members of the group are:
Ryan Beiler, Washington DC, WEB site manager for Sojourners magazine
Kenton and Shirley Yoder Brubacher, Harrisonburg, Virginia, retired biology
professor and pastor
Brenda Holliday, Waynesboro, Virginia, retired middle school teacher
David Kreider, Harrisonburg, Virginia, artist, and
Susan Balzer, Hesston, Kansas, journalist.
David Osborne, director of international students at Hesston (Kansas) College
plans to join the group on Tuesday.
Another thing the individuals of the group had in common was their ability to
travel at short notice.
May 23-June 3 was the third 12-day period on the tentative schedule that was to
be implemented as soon as Rev. Mitri considered conditions safe enough for our
travel. When the 42-day siege finally ended and curfew stopped, Dorothy Jean
made quick work of confirming the group members’ decisions to participate and
making Air Canada reservations for direct flights from Toronto to Tel Aviv.
Meanwhile, we had searched our souls, questioned our family members and gathered
support from church and peace friends. Many of us have received generous support
for our travel expenses as well as donations, which we brought with us for
Christmas Lutheran Church and International Center.
We are heartened by our safe travels, eventless entry into Israel, and quick
passage through the walk-through checkpoint into Bethlehem.
The gunfire and tank activity that kept many of us awake on Saturday night was
the first ominous warning of things yet to come. But as we learned early Sunday
morning that church services would take place as scheduled, we took heart.
The joy of coming together to worship our Lord and Savior with our Arabic
Christian kin was the highlight of our stay to date.
All afternoon we waited to see if we could use our hands and feet as well as our
eyes and ears.
Rev. Mitri called us to say that a truckload of new furniture for the
International Center was coming into the port today and he would like our help
to unload it later. After many phone calls and literally hours of waiting, our
group, carrying our cameras and a makeshift white flag, walked the two blocks
from the hotel to the church. Rev. Mitri patiently, but firmly, negotiated with
the Israeli soldiers at the site they had hemmed in with three tanks. Another
hour elapsed until they finally said we could go ahead and unload, but were not
allowed to move the truck any closer to the church.
The unloading took only a small fraction of the time that the waiting had taken.
It felt good after a day of sitting in the hotel to do something physical.
The 8 p.m. call to prayer has just sounded. The curfew has not been lifted. We
have to trust that the soldiers will let us return to our hotel for the night.
We pray for more opportunities to be in solidarity tomorrow and throughout the
week. As Rev. Mitri said as we carried a box of furniture, “This is experiential
tourism.”
Our Palestinian friends say they don’t know what normal life is. We are learning
what it is to share in their suffering.