May All Who Come Behind Us Find Us Faithful

Today was another busy day! If you have not gotten the theme yet, Ben and Stacie keep us busy from our 6am wake-up calls to our 7pm (most of the time) dinners. We started off the day donned in our skirts/pants and long sleeve shirts and walked from our hotel to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. It was a wonderful experience to be able to walk around the place where at one-time, God’s presence dwelled. We were able to take in the beauty of the Dome of the Rock, which is a holy place for Muslims.

From there, we boarded the bus and headed for the West Bank to Herodium, near Bethlehem. We hiked up and heard about the birth of Christ, the Magi coming from the East and how Daniel plays a much bigger role in the Christmas story than we ever knew. We hopped back on the bus and got out of the heat for some sweet relief and headed over to meet some Palestinian Christians at the Tent of Nations. We hiked the half mile up (everything here is up!) to their farm and they had a wonderful lunch waiting for us. After lunch, our friend David discussed the Israeli occupation from a Palestinian’s perspective and he brought a side we almost never hear in the US. In short, they are choosing faith, hope and love but more on that in a minute. We ended our day’s travels in Old Jerusalem. Ben and Stacie gave each family group 20 shekels (roughly about 5 American Dollars) so we could go into the shops and talk to the people. We shopped in the Christian Quarter of the city and were able to meet some of the people of this Holy Land.

After 5 days in Israel, we have already had so many wonderful experiences and a TON of information; it’s hard to believe we are going to have room for more. Today I was struck by the theme of faithfulness. Stacie told us the familiar story of Daniel. Daniel refused to worship other gods or pray to any other god than the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He could have been killed but instead he was put in charge of all the Magi in the kingdom. Daniel remained faithful to God under extreme opposition and because of his faithfulness, the whole land of Babylon was ordered by the King to worship Daniel’s God. Around 500 years later, Magi from the East came to worship the Christ child who was lying in a manger. Daniel passed his story on. He passed his belief in God on to an entire nation. We can’t know for sure, but we can conjecture that the Magi that came to worship the baby in the manger did so because they knew the Hebrew bible because of Daniel. In the book of Numbers, it is prophesized that a star would show the way to the new King. They were still talking about it 500 years after Daniel and we are still talking about it over 2,500 years later! Daniel was faithful. What an opportunity we have to share our story, which is a part of God’s story, with the world. What kind of legacy do I want to leave? How we live matters. How we share our stories matter. Later that day I met David, a Palestine Christian living in Bethlehem. He is living on a family farm that is about to celebrate it’s 100th year. They have all the correct paperwork showing that they own the land but the Israeli State wants to take it from him. Instead of being angry and turning to violence, he is choosing understanding. To believe that ALL people are created in the image of God. To act differently based on Christian principles and to believe in justice and that the Son of Justice will rise again. He believes that peace starts like an olive tree, from the ground up. He is choosing to be faithful in the face of extreme opposition. He is choosing faith, hope and love. We can change the world we these beliefs. May all you come behind us find us faithful!

Carrie Rodgers