March 3, 2012

            I’m sitting in the lobby of our hotel in Bethlehem.  Tired from travel to be sure but other than my luggage being left in Paris all went smoothly.  The Alexandar Hotel is located on Manger Street which is a busy little corridor with all kinds of traffic whizzing by, honking horns, and basically chaos.  The hotel owner took us down the street to a friend/relative who has a little restaurant.  Had some amazing falafel sandwiches!  Since we haven’t had a chance to get cash, the restaurant owner told us to just pay a little later in the week!  So I gather things work a little differently in the Middle East than back home!  Pretty cool looking around here; going to be fun exploring for a week!

            Ramping up for this trip, I did a lot of reading on the land and history of Palestine.  Thanks to my friend and fellow pastor Michael Kooy who directed me in the readings. Full disclosure here – I knew almost nothing of the tragic history of this area which in too many ways has come to define its people.  I’m sure more reflection on this will come later.  But for those who may not know, Bethlehem is a Palestinian town kept in check by Israel by means of four military checkpoints which serve as the only entry points into the city.  When we arrived, the hotel owner was pointing out the newest Jewish settlement which has been planted just east of the city.  For nearly a century, Jewish settlers have been moving into Palestine and there are precious few areas left where their presence is not felt.  The hotel owner asked Michael and I to pray for them because tensions continue to escalate!

            I’m afraid to keep writing here because my head is spinning from sleepiness.  I’m looking forward to (hopefully) sleeping tonight and then being able to string a few coherent sentences together for future posts.  Thanks for checking in…ttys.