Hopes and dreams – January 2014
January 2014It was the penultimate day before Near Years’ Eve and people had already started posting their greetings and comments on Facebook: “Happy new year!” “A few hours till 2014” and “What a terrible year this has been!” someone moaned. Others were posting advertisements encouraging people to listen to a radio programme hosting an astrologer. Presumably he would try to answer […]
Christmas prayer – December 2013
December 2013Grace will write her next blog for January, but sent us some quick emails (and a photograph!) which we thought we’d share with you: 9/12: Bethlehem is seeing lots and lots of visitors! Unbelievable! Great atmosphere! Most visitors are from abroad, things are quiet at the moment so more and more people are visiting which is really good! May the […]
Lesson from the olive harvest – November 2013
November 2013Thousands of years ago David made this striking assertion: “But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God: I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever.” (Psalm 52: 8) The tabernacle (“house of God”) might seem a strange place to plant a tree, but David’s point is the source of his vigour and energy. […]
Joy in a dry season – August 2013
August 2013I’ve known him since I was 5 years old. I’ve always been struck by his love for Jesus, simple as it is. Over and over, he would joyfully sing, the Arabic words to the fast-beat song: “Be victorious! Be victorious! Through Jesus’ precious blood, we will overcome!” He sang it like no one else ever does: clapping his hands, closing […]
Surf’s up in Jaffa – May 2013
May 2013The sun was setting beautifully on the shore, bringing a perfect ending to the 12 May 2013. There’s nothing special about this date, except that it was the last day for Palestinian Christians in my area to travel outside Bethlehem. The temporary door to freedom was about to be closed. I was on a church trip to the beautiful city […]
Looking towards Jerusalem – March 2013
March 2013I can just imagine and almost hear the hint of agony in Jesus’ voice addressing the magnificent city. “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing” (Matthew 23:37). Rejection is […]
The House of Bread – February 2013
February 2013As a child, I loved passing by the bakery shops in the narrow streets of my town. The wafting smell of freshly-baked bread always gave my grumbling stomach a sense of satisfaction. In fact, everything here revolves around the necessity of bread, for we are in no other place than the House of Bread (both the literal and spiritual meaning […]
Gazing on Bethlehem – December 2012
December 2012Bethlehem: for the past 21 centuries the eyes of the world have been fixed on this little town! It is Christ’s presence and nothing else that gives this town its unique position. This is the place where Christ chose to dwell in His physical form more than two thousand years ago. Jesus talked and walked in this land, He preached […]