Hope...

Today we visited the various projects of the Christmas Lutheran Church. We saw the International Center, the college, the Dar Al-Kalima school, and the Health and Wellness Center. The International Center has a beautiful theater used for performing arts programs, showing movies once a week, and for hosting conferences. The theater is equipped with technology to provide simultaneous interpretation for multilingual conferences. The college is housed in the same building, but they are in the process of constructing a separate campus. The college has programs for tourism, the arts-jewelry-making, glass blowing and stained glass, and ceramic work- and documentary film making- programs not available elsewhere and that allow people to use creative expression to work through the stresses of their reality.

The school was really impressive. The mission statement, the teaching methods, classes available (like swimming), as well as extracurricular programming were wonderful. The school and all the other services of Christmas Lutheran are available to all people and they serve more Muslims than Christians (60%). I asked how the school, as a Lutheran school, dealt with teaching faith and addressing spiritual needs of Muslims. The principal (our guide at the school) said that Muslims an Christians, who are together all day, except when they go to separate classes for religion, so they are learning about their own faith. Each month the groups come together to highlight the commonalities between the two faiths. Both Christian and Muslim holidays are celebrated at the school. I also asked if there were opportunities to dialogue with Israeli students (as teaching peace is also part of the mission). Older students have come together with Israeli students in the past, but the principal was clear that it is not possible right now with the situation in Gaza. She also felt that part of the problem is that Israelis are not teaching peace in their school, but having gotten together in the past, perhaps it will happen agai in the future.

The Health and Wellness Center also provides many services, such as places for women to come exercise, an audiology clinic, and physical and mental health programs. Our guide at that Center told us that people here will not go to private therapy sessions because they think doing so means they are mentally ill. Therefore, the Center tries to use group settings to help people deal with some of their problems and stresses without the stigma of personal therapy. Of course, they are also working to make people realize the benefits of therapy.

All of the programs of Christmas Lutheran focus on empowering women. They work on various aspects of advocacy and women have chances in Christmas Lutheran that they don't have anywhere else. For example, the college has the first woman dean in the country. Also, one of our guides was among the first women to be able to preach in this country.

Seeing all of these things give me hope. It also leads me (and many others in our group) to think about all of the people who don't have access to such services. It makes me think about the people who aren't willing or ready to work with one another. How do I deal with that fact? It makes me think of my own responsibility to act on what I am learning here.

Anytime I go on a trip like this, I wonder after I return if I am doing enough. I generally convince myself that I am not. Am I a faithful witness to what I have seen? I hope that I am. I hope that the fact that my students are reading some of what I read while I am gone and are also required to check this blog and respond to what they have read helps me to share the stories I hear. I hope that, while some of my students may not be affected, some will... Some will be inspired to learn more about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict or will begin to question what the word "justice" really means.

For about a year, I have reflected on the idea of planting seeds. In my reflections, it occurred to me that being in these places, I am allowing others to plant seeds in me. By carrying stories back to others, I am planting seeds. It is likely that I will never see the fruit of seeds I have planted. However, I have hope that some seeds will bear fruit.

I have hope that even if I don't create schools and wellness centers and amazing projects like those I see here, I am still doing something good. I am a witness. It can be an easy, an inspiring, a frustrating, or an uncomfortable thing to do. Sometimes it feels like being a witness is not enough. But it is a step. And my hope is that my step will lead me to take another step and another, that it will lead me to act on what I've seen in a more tangible way...and maybe as I take these steps, I'll even find someone else who experiences my witness and decides to take some steps with me or maybe even steps farther than I know how to go...This is my hope.

That's all for this evening.

Peace,

Cory