Hebron
Markie's last letter from Hebron for this stint
January 29th, 2010I've agreed to share my blog with my traveling companion and teammate, Markie Re'em. We're both flying home tomorrow morning. I was glad to get some time in with my friend Ya'alah before leaving. I think I needed a little transition time--and evidently a lot of sleep. I sort of feel like I'm doing my whole jet lag thing prior to my flight.
Church two weeks in a row! Wahoo!
January 24th, 2010Because school is not in session until February 2, three of us were able to go to church again this Sunday. As usual, I got the fisheye from the border police when he read my passport.
Brian McLaren, Shane Claiborne and emergent churchies at our apartment today
January 21st, 2010Fathiyeh and I lugged a propane canister down to our gas refill guy this morning, when we got a phone call from Paulette telling us that a delegation would shortly be at our apartment. A weedy looking guy in the group looked very familiar, and then I realized it was Shane Claiborne, who had spoken at the Mennonite Convention in Columbus this summer. Turned out that this group was largely composed of Christians from the Emergent Church movement. We talked about the work in Hebron and I forget now the question that started me crying, but I essentially said that the happiest
A day at church and the Great Flood
January 19th, 2010On Sunday, since school is out until February 1, everyone on the team was able to get to church--something I really needed a lot. As usual, there's something spiritually powerful about worshipping and sharing communion with people from all over the world, and getting connected as well with the small, stalwart core congregation--mostly composed of relief and development workers. The church offers the wine in two ways, via a common cup and via little cups like the ones we used at the College First Church of God in Findlay when I was growing up. It's interesting that the disi
So much has been destroyed
January 12th, 2010I'm just feeling kind of sad. Drew Herbert has left the team; the agents who wanted to see my novel manuscript before I left the country have politely declined to represent it; I was out visiting friends in the Beqa'a yesterday who are barely making it financially; young kids in our neighborhood keep getting detained and blindfolded as "practice" for the soldiers; and I can't see the situation here ending other any other way than sadly.
Demolitions in Al-Bweireh on New Year's Eve
January 1st, 2010Before I forget, my younger colleagues working in Hebron and At-Tuwani want to start a movement that will call the last decade, "The Singles."
Followup on Al-Bweireh
December 21st, 200921 December 2009
by Ryan Shiffer
School Days and a poem about Apartheid
December 15th, 2009I know it's been a long time since either Markie or I have written, but just when I see a block of time I can write, something comes up. Visitors drop in and today a squad of soldiers appeared on our roof. They had maps and it looked like they were a new squad trying to figure out where things were in the Old City. Markie will have pictures and video up, shortly, I hope. (Our internet is down, so I'm writing this in a word processing document).
LETTER TO ISRAELI POLICE THAT I WILL PROBABLY NEVER SEND, BECAUSE PALESTINIANS HAVE TO PUT UP WITH LOTS WORSE CRAP
December 9th, 2009OR
DUDES! WHAT'S WITH THE ATTITUDES?
Dear Israeli police officers in Hebron,
Dealing with cranky police officers
December 8th, 2009