Today was extraordinary

The day began with wind, more rain, and a cancelled visit to Mt.
Arbel, but quickly our circumstances improved. We journeyed an hour or
so in time, but a world away from where most of us live each day. In
the small Arab city of Ibillin, not long ago just a village unknown to
the world, our visit began in a beautiful church dedicated just a few
years ago to the glory of God and in service to the children and
families of the Ibillin community. When Elias Chacour began his
ministry here in 1965, there was only a small, run down, one room
church and a parish house so small that he slept for much of his first
year on the backseat of a VW beetle that had been donated to him by a
kind German couple. Today, a magnificent sanctuary stands tall on the
hillside before a whole complex of buildings dedicated to the
education of the area's children and the pursuit of peace between
Muslim, Jews, Christians, and Druze.

Our great fortune was to spend an hour and a half with the man whose
faithfulness to Jesus Christ and dogged persistence on behalf of Arab
people in need has resulted in a true phenomenon of God's grace in the
midst of a complex country where race, tribe, and religion have long
divided and at times torn apart the people's homes and hearts. If you
have not read Chacour's book, Blood Brothers, our group of pastors
highly recommends that you do. The story gives insight to the
travails of modern Israel and the longings of the people for a lasting
peace. We were blessed today, after visiting many holy sites and
appreciating what happened upon the stones of those places, to dwell
for a couple of hours among the living stones of Palestine, where
God's work through Jesus Christ continues through "another man from
Galilee".
Today, over 4000 students from dozens of local villages and a
diversity of faith backgrounds are educated here in a loving Christian
environment, where the message of the Beatitudes, a message at the
core of Chacour's own spiritual journey, is ever present. This
ministry is supported in a significant way by persons all over the
world who have heard Chacour's testimony to the difficult, but
necessary way of peace, for they realize that the seeds of justice and
integrity being sown here among the children will undoubtedly bear
meaningful fruit for generations to come.
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