Checkpoints, Children, and Coffee

Even though my wife would be seven months pregnant by the time of our return, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to study at Jerusalem University College this past summer.  As a guy who is captivated by the ways in which context and story are central to the Biblical narrative, our time was an incredibly academic and historically insightful experience.  More than anything, we were captivated by the way God’s Story is still being told today through the lives of his people, specifically the Palestinian Christians in the West Bank.  Walking alongside both Israeli’s and Palestinians opened our eyes to the brutal tensions on each side of the tragic Separation Wall and instilled in me a deep conviction to tell the story of those who are often forgotten by those of us in the West.  One such story is found in the lives of a revolutionary Palestinian couple in the West Bank.

Milad and Manar are Palestinians who love Jesus and live and work for peace in the West Bank.  It was  hearing their story and heart for reconciliation amid an often hostile social/political climate that our worldview and eyes for God’s Kingdom expanded to new levels.  There are endless stories and conversations I could share, but instead, please follow me in the daily footsteps of two revolutionary Palestinians.

Milad was a waiter at the hotel we were staying at in Jerusalem.  We connected right away and after numerous conversations filled with both laughter and tears atop the hotel roof, it wasn’t long before we gained each other’s trust and friendship.  He lives on the other side of the Mt. of Olives in the West Bank, about 10 minutes from Jerusalem.  Because of the Separation Wall (built between Israel and West Bank – over twice as tall as the Berlin Wall) and the checkpoints, his commute to work sometimes takes 3 hours and his wife is only allowed into Jerusalem twice a year for Christmas and Easter.  It was with a small group of fellow classmates that Milad invited us to spend the day in the West Bank towns of Bethany and Bethlehem.

Traveling on the public Arab bus out of Old City Jerusalem we met our friend Milad in his home town of Bethany.  After seeing the tomb of Lazarus, we couldn’t help but notice the haunting Separation Wall that butts up against the towns’ main walkway.  We began to see the deep connection Milad had to this town as, everywhere we walked, children would run up to him and give a high five or an excited wave.

Just off the dusty main road in Bethany, we approached Milad’s childhood, and now family, home.   His back yard, once full of trees and grass, is now up against an Israeli protected property that is surrounded by barbed wire, bars and is considered a military area.  Our friend told us childhood stories with great nostalgia, but was quickly brought back to his present reality as we read the sign in his backyard, “Any person who passes or damages the fence ENDANGERS HIS LIFE.”

Walking from his family home, we went to the Vision Association for Culture and Arts, which he and his wife started and currently run.  While Milad waits tables full-time in Jerusalem to support his family and the Vision Center, he spends his “free time” with the 70+ kids involved in the center which promotes peace and reconciliation through the arts.  We walked into the main room where all the kids were singing in Arabic at the top of their lungs.  The smiles were contagious and they beamed from ear to ear when we walked in the door.  The songs were led by Milad, his two brothers and their father while Manar took photos.  Two women (one from Germany, the other from France) were also taking part in the joyous festivities.  The woman from France has lived in the West Bank for 40 years and is now 85 years old.  She embodied my mental picture of Mother Teresa.

Everyday these kids see and experience violence, hatred and fear.  As they sang and danced, they were able to set aside their daily reality for a hope that transcends even the darkest of situations.  They were given a place to dream and hope for a future free from the pain they had always known.

Sitting in front of these precious kids as they sang and danced was an experience of heaven crashing into earth.  Of all the incredible sites and experiences during our time in Israel, it was in this run down community center that the Kingdom of God was most evident.  While they are not a “Christian” organization, the Spirit of God was alive through the message of peace and reconciliation that is promoted by its leadership.  Breaking through stereotypes and presuppositions, the heart of Jesus overflowed from Milad and Manar onto these kids.

Still overwhelmed at our experience in the Vision Center, we sat in Milad and Manar’s office as they gave us orange juice and Coke, while sharing the vision of the organization.  They hope to create a place where the youth of Palestine can feel at home, learn practical life skills, while finding value and an identity outside of their broken social structures.  Palestinians are oppressed and oppression leads to desperation.  It is such desperation that often leads to violence as a way to bring attention to their situation.  Milad and Manar hope to instill a different narrative in these youth.  A narrative where peace and reconciliation is not only an alternative, but the norm. This vision could not separate itself from the stories of the children as they naturally flowed from Milad:

• One girl’s father killed  an Israeli soldier and she will never see him again
• Many of the parents didn’t have money to raise their kids, so Milad and Manar would find them homes and give them scholarships (often out of their own pocket) to participate in the program.
• Many of the girls have been sexually abused and are seeking healing

The Vision Center is a place where hurting kids can find healing amidst their painful life reality.

Although Milad and Manar seemed a bit discouraged and saddened at how difficult it is to sustain a non-profit like this (it is almost impossible for them to gain funding as they struggle to get their story outside of the walls of Palestine), they remain focused on the vision as they know this is the time and place they have been called to embody Jesus among an oppressed people.

While sharing a cup of Arabic coffee back at their home between Bethany and Bethlehem, we were able to hear more of their story and share our own.  Both pregnant, Manar and my wife shared that certain glow, which transcends any geographical, political or social boundaries.  Leaving their home, we drove along the “Separation Wall” between Israel and the West Bank on the way to Bethlehem, the hometown of Manar and the birth place of a 1^st century Revolutionary.  Although Jerusalem was directly on the other side of the wall, we might as well have been worlds apart.  Graffiti art covered the towering structure and conveyed powerful stories of social commentary including; “Trapped,” “Give us our daily water,” and “I am not a terrorist.”

When we arrived, Manar’s mother, whose home is in refugee camp in Bethlehem, had prepared us a feast that I will never forget.  So much time and selfless hospitality went into the meal that had taken two days to prepare.  On top of that, she hadn’t had fresh water for 12 days as Israel rations the water into the West Bank.  During these times of extreme ration, they occasionally tap into a small holding tank of clean water.  Without hesitation, they opened the tank so we could use the bathroom and wash our hands.  Hospitality has never felt so heartbreaking, selfless and generous than it did in that moment.

Finally, Milad ushered us to the checkpoints which lead through the Separation Wall and back into Jerusalem.   Those of us with American passports and fair skin strolled through without issue, even though we set off the alarm.  In contrast, Milad was forced to go through security about 5 times while condescending comments were being thrown at him like stones…It broke our hearts to watch.  As he reassembled his clothes, belongings and pride, he looked up at me and said, “They are stupid, but I forgive them.”   This act of humiliation and forgiveness is Milad’s daily reality.

We left with hugs and wet eyes.  Milad broke down and cried as we left his world and he walked back through the wall to the family and kids that he promised never to leave.  Milad said he wanted to be a hero when he was a little kid.  In our eyes, and in the eyes of the youth he has chosen to show Jesus, he has fulfilled his dream.

While the story of these two revolutionaries may seem hopeless under such a blanket of oppression, neither Milad or Manar tell their story to receive pity.  No, they shared their story with us because it is lined with the hope of Jesus.  It was in the eyes of the often forgotten children in the West Bank that we could see the mystery of God saturated in all His beautiful Creation.  In the lives of those that are often labeled “terrorists,” we saw the life of Jesus being made real.  While Milad and Manar hope the world will listen and educate themselves on the tensions they live among, their primary vision is the future of the youth they serve.  For them, if peace is to come to the tension between Israel and Palestine, it will come through lives of the next generation.  It is this generation that these revolutionaries strive to offer creativity, hope and peace in exchange for the fear and anxiety of the past.

We are so grateful to our new friends who remain in the Middle East and who chose to adopt a posture of invitation so that we were made more whole in our quest to be fully enlivened by the living Mission of God that stretches to all corners of Creation.

Jesus, thank you for Milad and Manar.  Thank you for Kingdom servants all over the world that offer their lives and invite the often forgotten into your Story.  May those of us that have so much listen, tell and participate in the stories of those that have little. In the name of the Revolutionary born in Bethlehem, amen.

Note:  To learn more, set up a visit or support the Vision Association for Culture and Arts, please contact me through http://jonhuckins.net/

Jon Huckins is a veteran youth pastor and public school teacher who is now on staff with NieuCommunities, a collective of missional church communities who foster leadership and community development. After much international travel and study in the Middle East, Jon focuses much of his writing and graduate studies at Fuller Seminary on ethics and social advocacy. Further, Jon writes for Youth Specialties and loves to tell and live out new stories with teenagers. His book Teaching Through the Art of Storytelling released in December ’10.  He lives in San Diego with his wife Jan, daughter Ruby and three legged dog named Harry.  Blog: http://jonhuckins.net/