Slowly life becomes normal here. Slowly the heaviness in the air sinks in deeper and deeper until you don't realize its weight anymore-anymore that is until it is momentarily removed. On Sunday I was able to go the church for the first time since being here. I attended two different services in Jerusalem (and got a double dose of communion). For a brief period of time the weight was lifted and I was refreshed by the joy and peace of Christ. I realized then at that moment how crucial Christ is for people in such dire straights. Without the light of Christ it is all darkness and despair. With Christ's light there is not only hope, but direction and life. I was further encouraged to work in the Church in the Middle East, to give Christ's light to those in dire need of it.
I don't mean to sound overly dramatic. I am actually doing quite well and am really enjoying my time here. My Arabic is progressing as are my relationships with both the people that I work with and those I live with. I truly desire to build on these relationships during my time here.
I struggle to find words in which to condense the multitude of my experiences here. I want so bad to help you really see what life is like here for Palestinians and what the situation is like. I know I will come very short though. (See also my photo album at http://picasaweb.google.com/independenceonhim/Palestine).
One small snippet of life resulting from Israeli occupation I will try to describe is the families that have someone in prison. Here in the camp maybe 1 in 5 males is or has been in prison. This last week alone 2 men from the camp (of 2000 people) got out of prison. Palestinian prisoners are sent to prison in Israel proper and are often d. It is difficult for family members to visit them and often they can't for years at a time. Yesterday, at the house of one of the people I teach english to, I heard the story of how their brother was arrested three years ago. Israel said that he had killed 23 Israeli's and had bombs in his house. They never found any bombs though, and he had never killed anyone. He was only about 19 at the time. His brother has only been able to see him once in the last three years.
Thank you for your support and prayers. I appreciate all of you!
1 comment:
Second language is difficult :). Keep up the work, cause it'll pay off. Remember, listening first, speaking second, reading, then writing. If you're understanding what's going on around you, then you'll pick up the speaking in time. Some theorists propose a 'silent period' where people just need to listen, soak up the language like a Bounty paper towel. When they're full of language, they squeeze the towel and out comes all kinds of language. I'd also encourage you to remember the benefit of making mistakes with language. This is how one learns a language, by using it, which by definition means messing it up :). I'm so happy to keep up with you. I'll be posting soon an update about our life.
much love...
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