Bethlehem - The people living in darkness have seen a great light.

Marhaba ! Sala'am and Shalom
Now I understand what Jesus was referring to when he spoke of the eye of the needle, as we visited the Church of the Nativity today. You will find, I hope, my pictures of the itty bitty door leading inside the church.

First of all, a little history. There were two Bethlehem's spoken of in Biblical times, one in Judea and one in Galilee. Genesis speaks of this land, as does Micha and Nehemiah.

Today, Bethlehem is 32% Christian and 68% Muslim. Christians are leaving because they lack support of the Arab countries, while Muslim's fair much better. However, to be Palestinian is not good, as evidenced by yesterday's blog. More to follow on the politics of Israel.

Back to the Church of the Nativity.... It is a church reported to be the place of Jesus' birth in the manger. See pictures here of the church, as well as the Catholic Church, St. Catherine's. The Church is shared from 6:30-9 a.m. between the Greek Orthodox, Catholics and Armenians. They have scheduled usage times, to keep everyone happy.

The floor was excavated in 1934 to show where the Constantine had the floor. It had been changed to a higher floor after him by Justine. The columns of the church date back to the 4th century and the pulpit steps to the 7th century. All the stone is limestone quarried from around Bethlehem.

St. Catherine's is attached to the church of the Nativity. It was built in 1881. This is where Catholics broadcast to the world their Christmas Eve service from. A statue to Jerome is here with a skull at his feet. (Jerome translated the Old Testament from the Hebrew and the New Testament from the Greek. He lived for 34 years in the caves under the Church of the Nativity.) The skull helped him overcome his anxiety disorder. He was severely anxious about translating the Bible and had panic attacks. One day some workers unearthed a skull that rolled down toward Jerome when he was outside, and it landed nearby. He is reported to say that the skull suddenly helped him stop anxiety by reminding him that he'll one day die, but not today. His anxiety diminished and he continued his translations. (Who ever thought a rolling skull could help?) After this incident, he kept the skull near to him at all times as a reminder of life. Jerome said, "ignorance of scripture is ignorance of Christ." Jerome lived from 386-420 BCE

The photo of the star is reported to be the spot of Jesus' birth. The star has 14 points indicating the genealogy of Jesus. The manger is move-able, as it was cut of stone and transported to use as troughs for animals. Joseph, Jesus' human parent, was a stone builder according to the Hebrew language and customs of this area. In 339 BCE a structure was built over the place of Jesus' birth and the manger, to remember his influence and Good News.

About the crisis here. The UN has resolutions 242 and 338, having to do with how to treat the Palestinian conflict. To date the Israeli's are not following the resolutions. The Palestinian people are kept inside the walls of a 7 x7 mile area. UN cars ride all over this West Bank area. We see them. We don't see justice or peace being realized by the government, which is withholding visa's for workers and religious volunteers, students and anyone else associated with peace. Our Methodist worker has finally been able to get a VISA ! Perhaps this was from pressure we exerted a few years ago?

There is no ICU unit in Bethlehem. IF you have an emergency, plan on dying. Ambulances are not allowed to cross into Jerusalem or Israel. No woman in labor may cross over for treatment. Our guide at the Bethlehem Bible College wanted to get a one day VISA to visit his 91 year old father. The Israeli government said no.

At the college tuition is $7000 a year but most students have no money. 90% can't pay anything and 10% give something smaller than $1300. The school raises the money for the people to be educated. Israel doesn't allow for this education nor do they allow Counselors to come over and assist with mental trauma except for 1 month at a time. This high turn over rate adds to the trauma.

"The people living in Darkness have seen a great light."
This is the logo of the Hope secondary school, where girls are allowed to study with boys!
At this school children are given an education they wouldn't otherwise have. Families are given food, utility money and any sort of help to assist them. It can be difficult for teachers to get here because the government imprisons religious workers for "evangelism".

We visited children at school. See pictures of the rooms of smiling faces. There is nothing on the walls. The lights are not on. There are small books. The people have very little, and are very happy to receive education. "I am the light of the world" is their theme.

To see how much land the Israeli's have taken from the Palestinians, please see http://www.almvbadara.org/

"The Wall" will soon separate Sonja from the school, because the Israeli wall is going to be placed beside the school. She will no longer be able to attend school.

Julius wants to be a football star when he grows up.
Stephanie loves Britney Spears and Hanna.
The children at school are like a beehive of activity. They are happy to be safe at school.

Well, there is more to say, but we are sharing time on the computer.

Remind me to tell you about the sheep and the shepherd.

May God forgive the sin of our world for not taking action against the crime of this wall.
May God give us strength to speak out against injustice.
May God continue to strengthen the light the Palestinian people are raising to the world in the midst of severe apathy and apartheid.

These folks, Muslim and Christian together, are doing great work together to be light. Now, let's join in the light making and bring the light into this horrific situation.

Prayer: May the words of my heart and the meditations of our hearts lead to change and world peace - in reality, not in the make believe world of political do nothing-ness. Amen.

PS pictures couldn't load due to size. I will work on this another time - my learning curve in mega pixel reformatting is slow.