Musalaha Newsletter
December 2006

T r a i n i n g  O u r  E y e s
Introduction

When we read the story of the nativity we are struck by the inspiring news of the Messiah’s birth. “Do not be afraid;” say the angels to the shepherds, “for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:10-11). We tell our children about the journey of the magi, who read the good news in the stars of the heavens, and who traveled from the east to worship the infant king. The story altogether is one of wonder, of beauty, and of awe. The Messiah is born; God has come to earth to bring salvation.
Yet alongside all the great things we hear, see, and celebrate, we also read the terrible story of Mary and Joseph’s flight to Egypt. Just imagine the affliction such a journey may have on a woman who has just given birth, now forced to ride a beast of burden for long distances. Imagine her feelings of uncertainty, of fear, and her desperate desire to protect her child. Mary leaves behind her an even crueler scene. By the bidding of Herod, a massacre of young children is carried out that wreaks grief and destruction on the lives of many. In the wake of the most important birth in history, in the aftermath of light coming to earth, darkness still fights to crush.
Often, when we reflect on the birth of Jesus we forget the bad news that came alongside the Good News. By contrast, when we think about our contemporary situation in the Middle East, we do the exact opposite. Images of conflict, hatred, and other terrible happenings are immediately evoked. This past year in particular has made the situation in our region seem quite bleak. And yet, there is other news of hope, of redemption, and of light. Especially in our context, we must train our eyes to see the good that comes before, alongside, and through the bad.
In spite of the recent outpour of bad news from the Land, Musalaha can attest to the good that is taking place. We have come through one of our most diverse and successful years. We have seen the number of our projects triple, experienced unprecedented numbers of new participants engaging in reconciliation, and seen new social initiatives take shape. Not only has Musalaha been able to carry out its annual projects (in the face of war and escalating violence), but it has also been able to put into practice a long-standing vision. The work of reconciliation is now spreading from the believing communities into new segments of society. In our Sport for Life camp, Jewish, Muslim, and Christian girls came together for the first time. Additionally, on our most recent project, leaders from the Muslim and Christian communities joined for a desert encounter in an attempt to begin honest dialogue. We thank God for providing us with these unique opportunities.
Two Thousand years after his birth, history has remembered and centered on the life of the Messiah, while Herod’s persecutions have lost center-stage. We pray that our contemporary history will look much the same in times to come. We hope that one day when we reflect back on our conflict, it too will loose center-stage to what God is doing and has yet to do in our region. The Christmas message needs to sober us up from the fatalistic view we have of the Middle East. The Messiah was born in this Land; his story of salvation and reconciliation in this region is one that is still unfolding.

Salim J. Munayer, PhD, Director

My Responsibility to My Brother
Summary of teachings from our October desert encounter(October 2006)

Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. (Col 3.2-3)

From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view [according to the flesh]; even though we once regarded Christ from a human point of view, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if any one is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. (2 Cor 5.16-18)

What is my responsibility to my brother? Before I can answer that, I need to know who I am and who my brother is.

Who am I?
Before we were born again, we died. Only then could we be born into a new and higher reality. I am now a citizen of heaven along with others "from every tribe and language and people and nation" (Rev 5.9). It is this new reality that now defines who I am.
If each one of us could truly see that we are new creatures, that our national and cultural and political differences are all part of what we were, that we are now fellow citizens with every other believer … if this was the guiding reality in our lives, there would be no need for a ministry like Musalaha trying to get believers to be reconciled. The things that separate us all belong to what we are in the flesh.

Who is my brother?
The answer to this question flows out of the same defining reality. This is not easy for us. It is so natural for us to identify with those who are like us in the flesh, to understand what makes them laugh, to hurt when they hurt. But in the reality that is the kingdom of God, we have to relearn these things.
The early church dealt with a similar difficulty. In the first fourteen chapters of Acts, believers from both Jews and non-Jews are called "disciples," but only Jews (both believers and non-believers) are called "brothers."
In the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15 it was decided that non-Jewish believers were to be accepted into the body of Christ without converting to Judaism. From Acts 15 onward, non-Jewish believers are also referred to as "brothers."

What is my responsibility?
We have many, many responsibilities to each other as brothers and sisters in the family of God, loving each other, speaking the truth to each other in love, building each other up. But before we can do any of these things effectively, our first responsibility is to recognize and honor each other as what we are in the higher reality. A Palestinian and a Jew who are both new creatures in Jesus are more brothers to each other than either one of them is to the people of his or her nation. May God make that more real to all of us.
~ Ray Pritz, desert encounter teacher

Family Conference
Holland, August 12-18
Against the backdrop of high Middle Eastern tensions, a group of twenty Israeli and Palestinian families, 103 individuals, gathered together in the Dutch city of Voorthuizen for Musalaha's biennial family conference hosted by Near East Ministry.  The trip began with some challenges (a customary beginning), but concluded with a renewed understanding of God’s faithfulness to work through all circumstances. The conference was set back by a day and a half when the flight to Holland was cancelled. Dozens of children sat on the floor of Ben Gurion Airport waiting to depart, only to be sent home with their parents and told to return the following day. Once everybody finally arrived in Holland, the remainder of the week was spent studying, exploring, praying, eating, and playing together, with the hope of establishing lasting relationships with new brothers and sisters. We initiated our time together by releasing balloons containing our prayers and wishes for peace and reconciliation.
The most striking feature of the Family Conference was the success of the youth program. According to one of the parents, “the youth were leaps and bounds ahead of us. They immediately made friends, laughed and joked, stayed up late, hung out together at mealtimes, shared in their meeting times deeply, honestly, and served each other the Lord’s Supper with startling openness.”  To us parents, this was encouraging but also surprising, for it is humbling to take the lead from those who are, to our minds, supposed to be learning from us - our children. Yet God has a reputation of using unlikely agents to make his work known. The youth, far from fulfilling the stereotype of disgruntled teens who are mad at being dragged away from their summer holidays, were proactive, initiating, and full of energy.
"I loved the conference; it was so much fun,” told me one of the Israeli youth. “I met a lot of Arabs, and we are good friends now. We’ve kept in touch since then.”  Another teen participant, who had been on a similar trip two years ago, said: “This time it was different; Israelis and Palestinians mixed a lot more. We shared more about our situation, encouraged and prayed for each other.”  The ability to share openly with one another was one of the major points of connection for the youth. “We really got to know each other, and had deep conversations,” recalls another youth; “one of the kids from Gaza told me stories about how they are living, stuff that I had no idea about before.”
While the youth were learning about each other’s lives and enjoying honest communication, the relationships between the parents were advancing at a slower pace. After spending time getting to know each other, we began to explore together why the process of reconciliation can be such a struggle. What is it in us that inhibits us from coming together? We discussed the story of Jacob, who had to struggle with God and with himself before reconciling with his brother. At Musalaha, participants go through a similar cycle of inner struggle. What really helped us parents connect was taking time to understand where we each come from, how our perspectives are formed, and consequently, how we view the conflict. We realized that we use different lenses and have different presuppositions. For example, Israelis tend to interpret the conflict in theological terms, while the Palestinians view it in more historical terms.
The connections formed between our youth had an impact on us parents. “If there was one time where I really saw the connection,” says one parent, “when tears jumped to my eyes and the eyes of the other parents, it was before a trip to the theme park. The youth gathered in a circle to pray for protection. They held hands right in front of us (the parents they were happily avoiding), and I said out loud to the other parents: ‘Look, there is Gaza holding hands with Jerusalem and Beit Shemesh, Nazareth, Haifa, Lod, Netanya, Beit Jalla, Kfar Saba, Bethlehem, Jericho, Ashdod and Maale Adumim.’” In a note of gratitude this parent concludes, “I deeply thank all those young people for showing us their faith and courage in light of extremely difficult circumstances. May we learn from them. It seemed that this was ‘their trip,’ which they earned by their love and actions.”
On the last night, all twenty families gathered around the Lord’s Table, each to serve communion to a family from the other side of the conflict. This is a significant part of Musalaha encounters, since it is a communal act which speaks volumes about God’s reconciliatory work. We are able to eat the bread and drink the wine without condemnation because of the compassion of our Father; through the blood and body of our Lord we have peace with God and are reconciled one to another. While serving each other, the youth once again touched the hearts of their parents. “It brought tears to my eyes,” says one parent, “to see Palestinian and Israeli youth, giving each other the bread and wine, which signifies the broken body and the poured out blood of our Lord. One couldn’t help but think of all the broken bodies and spilled blood as a result of the conflict. We breathed a prayer of hope, daring to dream that these youth will be instrumental in bringing our land into peace, and bring many others to the true and lasting peace we can only find in Jesus.”