HOLY LAND - Love breaks down walls
04/05/05 - Christ's ministry of reconciliation is bringing Jewish and Palestinian Christians together
Amidst the aggression and conflict that characterise so much of the Holy Land, the love of God is changing situations that no peace plan could ever impact.
As I stood on the Mount of Olives, overlooking Jerusalem, I realised that never had Jesus had so much cause to weep. The Old City is divided into four quarters: Muslim, Jewish, Armenian and Christian. In many ways, nothing has changed from the days when Jesus walked its streets: hatred, division, self-promotion and hypocrisy are displayed in abundance by religious extremists from all quarters.
Military might is out in force as soldiers guard the streets, and simmering anger, oppression and injustice jostle for supremacy.
However, the love story between Alon and Rajaa epitomises what God is doing in the Holy Land against all the odds. Alon is a handsome young German with blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. His fiancée Rajaa is a beautiful young woman with the broadest and warmest of smiles.
However, all is not as straightforward as it seems. Alon is running a training ministry called Lech L’cha ('Go forth'), teaching Jewish Christians about their Biblical and historical roots ; and Rajaa is a Christian Arab, also living in Israel, whose family reaches out in Christian love to prisoners, including Arab political prisoners.
Their ministry, ‘House of Light’, also provides a counselling service for women, including many who have been traumatised and displaced through the Jewish settlement of Israel.
This cooperation between a German Christian, Messianic Jews and Israeli Arabs is a real-life visual of the peace and harmony that are God's will for the Holy Land.
The difficulties in seeing this vision become reality probably cannot be overstated; yet, here in Rajaa’s family home, we experienced a wonderful 'taster'. Alon was visiting with a group of Jewish young men and women who were entering or leaving the Israeli army.
Joined by Arab believers, we praised the Lord in Arabic, Hebrew and English, brought together as one in Jesus our Lord. And, the 'anointing oil that flows where brothers dwell in unity' was evident in abundance.
However, the dividing walls of hostility cannot be ignored or pushed to one side.
Having visited Yad Vashem – the Holocaust museum – on my recent trip to Israel, I began to realise just how hurt and rejected Jewish people feel about the conspiracy of silence that allowed so much suffering to befall their people before and during the Second World War, when millions of Jews were pushed out of their family homes, jobs and livelihood and six million were exterminated.
In speaking to Israeli Arabs and Palestinians, I began to appreciate just how difficult it is for them to view Jews as anything other than oppressors. They have endured displacement, homelessness and poverty to make way for the establishment of the Jewish state. Rajaa’s mother was one of them.
In Jerusalem, Salim Munayer, founder of ‘Musalaha’ (Arabic for 'reconciliation'), organises 'desert encounters' where young Christian Israelis and Palestinians can trek, talk ,eat, worship and pray together. Dependent on each other for survival in harsh and unfamiliar terrain, the dividing walls between them quickly come crashing down.
Salim explains: “We started going to the desert out of desperation to find a neutral meeting place. In the desert the imbalance of power is gone. Everyone is on the same level.
"Also, the desert becomes a place where we overcome de-humanisation. As we ride camels and hike together, we start to talk to each other, we share the same experiences - we even start smelling the same! Soon we see each other as human beings."
Musalaha also organises women’s meetings where Jewish and Arab Christians can share the day-to-day challenges with each other of bringing up children in this harsh environment. As they begin to see each other as living, feeling human beings, many barriers are broken down.
Musalaha youth camps, often carried out outside the country to provide a neutral meeting point, attract many young people. One young person commented following a recent camp, “When we discuss the Bible together, it feels like you’re sitting with your family in Christ.
"I learned from the people I met, that on every side there are people ready to hear the other side… just give them a chance…. The other side is not an evil side.”
Another explained, “Love breaks down walls. The walls in this case are big and strong, and each day there is another row of bricks added to them. But it is possible to break them down.”
As Salim says, “Musalaha's work of reconciliation can be difficult because we deal with hurting people on both sides of the ongoing conflict in this land. It is a great challenge to listen to the hurts and fears of those on the opposing side and to learn to forgive and love each other.
"Please pray as we continue the work of reconciliation between Messianic Israelis and Palestinian Arab Christians. Through the presence and love of God, 'impossible' situations are being transformed.”
For more information or to be part of this work of reconciliation in the Holy Land, call Open Doors on 01993 885400, email info@opendoorsuk.org or go to the UK website at www.opendoorsuk.org.
Open Doors’ founder, Brother Andrew has written a new book called Lightforce. Based on his experiences during regular visits to the region over the past 30 years, it is available from Open Doors' website for just £8.99 including P&P or from Christian bookshops