Saturated

Saturated.  I feel complete immersed into culture here, which is exactly what I was hoping for.  I'm speaking broken Arabic with locals, eating delicious Palestinian meals in a home, building relationships, and getting dust all over my feet.  And amidst all this I'm feeling the sorrow and pain of these people as much as I'm able. 

A typical day here involves Arabic class at 8 followed by lectures which range from Palestinian literature, to history, to Isalm.  We've also taken several fields trips this week to the cities of Hebron, Nablus, and East Jerusalem.  We visited refugee camps, Herodium, and some local universities. We even took a whole day to hike the Wadi Qelt valley to Jericho.  But everywhere we go I'm reminded of the reality of these people.  Checkpoints, road blocks, walls, Israeli soldiers demanding ID...  These people try to live their lives as normal as possible but from what I've witnessed, it seems near impossible.  Things we never give a second thought to are huge obstacles to daily life.  Will we have water this month?  Will they stop importing food or health supplies without reason?  Will we hit a checkpoint that may hold us for hours?  All these are valid questions asked everyday.

 

Graffiti on the wall in Bethlehem

Our trip to Hebron was eye opening and devastating.  Hebron is the largest Palestinian city in the West Bank.  Although it is very much within the green line dividing Israel and Palestine, Israeli military has taken over the heart of the city.  Settlers (many of which come from America) will perch themselves on top of a home and slowly take over.  A place where half a million Palestinians live appeared to be a ghost town.  Hebron is known for placing curfews on the Palestinians.  Not a curfew as in be home by 12, or even off the streets by 10, but a 24 hour curfew requiring everyone to stay in their homes at all times.  No working, no schooling, no shopping for basic needs. A man named Hashim was gracious enough to let us enter his home and hear his story.  Hashim's house has been attacked several times, yet the only form of resistance that he uses is to stay put.  He refuses to leave his home and rightfully so.  For this reason Hashim has experienced violent retaliation in ways I cannot fathom.  Just a few years ago it came time for his pregnant wife to give birth.  Because of the destruction surrounding his house he is forced to snake through beaten pathways to enter or leave his home.  He carried his wife down to the street where he was approached by a soldier.  "Why the hell are you outside?" the soldier demanded.  Hashim explained that he was taking his wife to the hospital because she was in labor.  "Stop messing with me, you Palestinians are always lying."  He begged and pleaded with the soldier to let him pass to which he responded, "go home, and let your wife die there."  Hashim's wife miscarried their child, this is the second child she's lost, the first she lost when she was beaten by local settlers.


In light of my time here, I would rate this story low on shock value.  Many of the things I have heard and seen are too raw and painful to even put into words.  All of us on this trip are finding it hard to know what our role is as young Americans.  And in many ways all we are asked to do is tell the truth.  Let people know the things we are seeing and hearing.  Let people know that there are educated, beautiful people living in this land.  People that laugh, joke, cry, people with skin, with beliefs and thoughts.  I passed a wall the other day where a settler had written, "Gas the Arabs."  I didn't know if I should cry, yell, or get sick.

I understand that I am very much immersed in one side of the conflict.  And please understand that I am in no way generalizing the Jewish or Israeli population.  These attacks on Palestinians are coming mainly from a much smaller minority of extreme Zionist.  I will have a long time to talk and hear about the Israeli stance while I spend the next month outside of Palestine.  But what we need here is a call for humanity.  On a more personal note, I've been challenged to ask myself if I see all people with untainted eyes.  As equals, as brothers and sisters.  Disregarding ethnicity, ability or disability, class, personality.  I think we judge and react irrationally a lot more often than we'd like to believe.  All people deserve to love and to be loved.

On a lighter note... we planted 200 olive trees the other day.  And it was awesome.

Beit Sahour - "House of Shepherds"

Silent anticipation built as we left Jordan and entered Israel. We curved and climbed and went through a tunnel and then there it was, the old city of Jerusalem. We stopped near the Mt. of Olives and overlooked the land. Olive trees, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the Dome of the Rock, palm trees, sheep, the garden of Gethsemane, and in the distance beyond Bethlehem was Beit Sahour. This would be our home for the next few weeks. We loaded the bus again to travel the 4 miles from Jerusalem into Palestine. As we crested a hill our eyes met the wall. A 26 ft high, grey, concrete wall separating states, religions, and cultures. We had a rather effortless entry due to a push for international tourism. But we watched on as the adjacent checkpoint was lined with Palestinians attempting to enter back to their homes by foot.
We arrived and were met with open arms into our host families. I am living in Beit Sahour with a wonderful family that gives a whole new meaning to hospitality. They have 5 girls - quite a difference for someone with 3 brothers! Life goes on here as usual: homework, sports, laughter, whining, sibling rivalry, meals, bedtimes... I feel so privileged to get a glimpse into something Americans often hold so private. These people would open their house to all of EMU if we could fit.

It's been less than a week since we've arrived, and Beit Sahour has quickly become to me a place of paradox. This land is full of questions and answers, pain and joy, belief and struggle.
Among lectures and Arabic lessons we made a trip to the Church of the Nativity, the traditional site of Jesus' birth. Speaking of paradox; the creator of the world came to us as a baby! My view on the character of Christ continues to expand. There is something special about this land and there are no easy answers to the conflict that saturates it. The more we learn the more complicated it seems. But I'm reminded of Isaiah 55:8 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. My trust is in the Lord and His ability to reconcile all things.
 

Overlooking an Israeli settlement in Bethlehem.

Playing in a Sandbox

Hello Everyone!

It's been a while since my last update because I have been in the desert!  And the desert is a desolate, dry, beautiful place.  After visitng Luxor, Egypt we crossed from Africa into Asia and headed toward the Sinai wilderness.  We arrived early afternoon and geared up to climb Mt. Sinai.  This needs to be said; Moses was a stud.  I naively thought that my sherpa and backpacking days would have prepared me well for a day hike, but it was hard.  And to imagine Moses didn't have a well laden path to follow.  One thing is for sure, our God is a God of adventure.  Climbing to the top was a dangerous, captivitating adventure.  If God had chose He could have handed Moses the ten commandments while he was safely on the ground, but no, He called him to the very top of a rugged mountain. 

After singing at the top and watching the sunset we came down the moutain and spent the night near Saint Catherines monastery (the oldest in the world).  The following day we crossed the Red Sea (by ferry, not foot) into Jordan.  We spent a day in Petra and then went into the Wadi Rum desert.  And when I say into I mean literally into the middle of the desert.  We stayed at a Bedouin camp, sleeping under the stars in Bedouin tents.  This was definitely one of the highlights of our trip I was most looking forward to.  Our first day there we took an off roading jeep ride through the desert making a few stops to climb rocks, run over sand dunes, and explore caves.  We ate delicious Bedouin lamb cooked by burying it with coals and allowing the sand to conduct its heat.  Yesterday we rode camels nearly the whole day.  My inner thighs can attest to it.  I have a whole new outlook on the Israelities!  Although I didn't complain, after a week of camel riding, hot sun, and limited water, you can bet I'd be tempted to whine.  To think that the Israelites spent 40 years in this desert...

Lotus!

When we got to Egypt we hit the ground running and haven't stopped.  The days are filled with visiting sites and stuffing our brains full of knowledge and insight.  This clearly is the most touristy portion of our time in the middle east.  I'm reminded of that everytime we pull up to an ancient excavation and Samir our tour guide exclaims, "LOTUS, shall we go now?"  (Lotus being our affectionate signature name he uses to rally the group).  Don't get me wrong, I love following our guide who permanately holds up a small Egyptian flag to lead the way as we push our way through crowds of Chinese women in visors... but as our time in Egypt winds down I'm deifnitely looking forward to settling in with a host family in Palestine where I can be treated more like a human. 

After visitng ancient catacombs (underground tombs) and a Roman theatre in Alexandria we headed back south for Anaphora.  With what I had already seen I anticipated another city bustling with people and incessant horns.  Much to my surprise Linford anounced we're here as we pulled up to a secluded dirt road with a gate reading "Anaphora."  The gate opened and we followed the dusty road past beautiful flowers, olive trees, orange groves, and rounded tan buildings.  Oh, aparently Anaphora is a monastery and a piece of heaven on earth.  Instantly when we stepped off the bus a sense of peace enveloped us.  We spent the next 48 hours drinking gallons of tea, watching sunrises and sunsets, listening to Bishop Thomas share, and eating delicious organic food.  Not too shabby.

Our two days in the coptic orthodox haven was exactly what we needed before we took a sleeper train to Luxor.  Our group is beginning to feel the wear of so much travel but we're also starting to rely on each other as a support system and meshing really well.  Thanks for the prayers. 
Sarah Dem

Walk like an Egyptian

Hello Friends and Family!

We've safely arrived in Cairo, Egypt.  And you'll be happy to know I passed my first exam, which was crossing the 6-lane street.  Life is wild here! It's similar to NYC except it's been around since 3200 BC. 

Yesterday we visited the ancient pyramids and sphix.  I'm so strong I could hold it up with one hand.  The desert here is beautiful, miles and miles of sand.  Egypt has 95% of it's population living on 5% of the land, it's amazing how bold the difference is between the green near the nile (where everyone lives) to the sand of the desert 

Today we went to Coptic Orthodox (ancient Egyptian Christian) part of Egypt.  We visited several chuches and even saw the place where Mary, Jospeh, and Jesus fled for a while after they left Bethlehem (Matthew 2).  After that we went to the Egyptian History Museum.  Egyptian civilization is only 5000 some years old, so they didn't have too much to tell us.  haha.  yeah right the museum was FILLED with huge stone statues that were from 2700 BC and on.  We learned all about the Pharohs of the old, middle, and new kingdoms.  The most impressive part of the museum was the room of the mummies.  I saw a dozen or so of ancient Pharoh mummies including Ramses II and Merenptah both of which Moses likely encountered.  Their hair, eyelashes, and fingernails were still intact.  Super creepy... and absolutely incredible. 

We're headed to Alexandria tomorrow and then down to Luxor. Thank you so much for all your prayers.  The Lord is already teaching me wonderful things about Himself. 

Love,
Sarah Dem

Follow M.E.

In 8 days I'll be boarding a plane to take me halfway across the world.  I'm studying abroad with 30 others students from EMU all around the Middle East.  The first stop is Cairo, Egypt where we'll explore the pyramids, Islamic & Orthodox Cairo, the Nile, and Mt. Sinai to name a few.  It's still a little unreal that this trip is happening, especially after having been so blessed to visit Israel this last May.  When you got to this site you may have asked yourself, what is Sarah doing in the doorway of that stone building?  You probably didn't ask that, but I'll tell you anyway... that pic was taken at the Garden Tomb which is a claimed site of Jesus' burial.   It's been slightly renovated since Christ's time, but inside you can see the place where Jesus' body would have lay and as you exit a sign that says, "He is not here - For He is risen."  

If there is one thing I learned from my 2 week stint in Israel it was that Jesus does not reside in buildings and monuments but is just as real right HERE as He is there.  Although, my knowledge of the Lord has changed and I'm sure will be rocked again on this trip.  My hope is that you who decide to jump on some or all of the journey with me will be blessed as well.  We'll be traveling a lot, so I won't know until I'm there how frequent I'll be able to post, but if you'd like to stay in the loop my Dad will be sending an email out whenever I update.  To be added to that list just email psdemaree@gmail.com. 


Love y'all so much!  Thanks for your support.