Faith In The Midst of Terror

I received the following plea from my friend, Paul on January 28th. Paul lives in the heart of Bethlehem Palestine. He is 22 and the youngest of five children. He was a member of our Salt and Light ministry team when we served as missionaries in Bethlehem and he is YWAM trained in discipleship. Paul is a young Palestinian Christian and has a ministry of music – working to create the first Christian praise band in all of Palestine. He and his brothers have developed the first Palestinian Christian outreach to young people -- right in the center of a Muslim community.

Having visited in his home often, we know Paul and his Christian family very well. Here is the account of Paul’s ordeal and his faith in action.

January 28, 2008 6:17 AM: I was going home from the Bible College and there were Israeli soldiers and lots of jeeps that prevented me to go in the way of my home. One person asked me to stay there for a while, until this attack finish so I am here now for almost 2 hours hearing shooting and bombs all over. I was trying to call home and there was no answer! Later, my mom called me and told me that many Israeli armed solders entered our home and they put all my family in one room and they took the whole house until they could destroy a house next to ours. At this moment one or more family will have no home in this very cold weather and we don't know when this thing going to finish. Please pray now and send this email to people you know to pray for this. I love you all. Let’s trust God for a miracle. Blessing, Paul

January 29, 2008 4:24 PM. Thank you all for your prayers. There is good and bad news too but thanks God for it all: The Israeli soldiers left after 7 hours of the attack from 2:00 PM to 9:00 PM. few cars were damaged on the roads. One person was killed, 3 families became homeless in this very cold weather, many believers were unified through praying together for the same thing, God heard all our prayers and did what is best, my family all safe but there was some damages in the house . God can use it all for His Glory. I will be sending you another full update about it all but please send this out too for the people who prayed with us, and please keep praying for comfort to the family of the guy that was killed. Bless You All. Paul

There are so many thoughts that race through my mind as I think back on these times. I can only catch a few of those thoughts right now, but maybe that’s a good thing. This missive would be too long otherwise.

We tried not to get involved in the political issues, but it was difficult not to have a personal opinion at least. We visited many Christians in many Palestinian cities who expressed an eagerness for peace, and listened as they spoke of forgiveness and healing. We listened to several Israeli soldiers and felt compassion as they shared their desire to be at peace with the Palestinians. Many of them didn’t want to serve in the army, but the choice was not theirs to make. All of them: Israelis and Palestinians, said that peace could happen one day, but they didn’t know how that would be accomplished.

While crossing the checkpoint into Bethlehem one evening, one of the soldiers expressed his wish to visit Bethlehem some day. There were tears of sadness in his eyes and a longing in his voice for an end to the violence. We will never forget that.

The economy in Palestine was so severe that many were out of work. I very vividly remember a young Muslim man, about 19 years old, who had been out of work for two years. He was asking for money to pay his bills, to buy food for his family, and to pay for a doctor’s visit. His eyes were firey red and painful looking. It was disturbing to look at them. He had an infection in his eyes and was desperately in need medical attention. Without medical attention, he would lose his vision in both eyes. He wept as he told me this. My heart broke.

I painfully remember when our Christian friend, a graduate student from the Bible College, was detained at a check point and verbally abused by an Israeli soldier who had control issues. Our friend had done nothing wrong. He was just there to escort his new wife back to their flat. We watched helplessly and our hearts broke as our friend stood silently in the midst of that terrible barrage of insults. After it was over, our friend said to his tormentor: "I forgive you."

Anguish griped my heart with a stranglehold that nearly took my breath away the first time I stood in front of the towering concrete separation wall that was being constructed around Bethlehem and the entire West Bank. I looked around and saw people standing silently with shoulders slumped in grief before this great wall. They knew they were seeing their prison walls. Faces bore the strain of hope long vanished as despair crept into their eyes and took up residence in their souls.

On the other side of the fence, whenever we’d journey into Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and other cities in Israel, we witnessed another kind of imprisonment as armed security guards blocked the entrance to every business establishment. Some of the stores had metal fences surrounding the establishment with a security guard at the gate of the fence checking everyone with a metal detector and examining handbags. Memorials with flowers marked the charred places where suicide bombings had occurred.

Many innocent people on both sides are caught in a conflict they neither started nor wanted. It stirs up feelings of sadness and anger toward the injustice that continues there. However, God has not abandoned that place. Look again at at the forgiving heargt of my friend Paul and the efforts he makes to continue the work of Jesus Christ. There are many Palestinian Christians just like Paul whose faith-in-action are having a mighty impact for God’s Kingdom in a land that is thought to be forsaken. We only hear of the battle that continues to rage there, and we are subjected to images of the horrible violence in that land. Rarely, are we given information of the efforts for peace by Palestinian Christians who are living there. They have found opportunity for God's Kingdom purpose and have equipped themselves with love, mercy, and forgiveness in the midst of chaos and persecution. These are the heroe of our time in God's mighty army, clothed in His Armor.