PROPHETS OF PEACE

The Desert Fathers

christopher — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 16:10:57 +0000

During the last few weeks, I had the opportunity to spend some time with the Bedouin’s living in the land of Israel. Israel’s Bedouin citizens – a minority within the Arab minority are a fascinating group of nomadic Arab’s that live in tents and other basic housing all throughout Israel and the Middle East. My experience with the Bedouin people was up close and personal and I was treated with gracious hospitality. The Bedouin’s face many challenges in their daily lives. Today they are faced with transitioning from the nomadic lifestyle and traditions they have always known to a more settled existence called urbanization. With urbanization comes increased poverty and crime. Bedouin’s do enjoy a couple of conditions inside of Israel that are not available to other Bedouin’s outside of Israel; namely welfare from the Israeli and global governments and land ownership. The Bedouin population in Israel numbers around 170,000 people, with the majority in the southern deserts of Israel and the remaining in Northern Israel. The Bedouin’s presently engage in two land offenses in Israel which are illegal building and illegal grazing in protected areas. The Bedouins are by and large herders and livestock owners. One can see stark differences between the Bedouin in the Northern and Southern regions. The Northern Bedouin’s are extremely loyal to the state of Israel while the Southern Bedouin’s are ambivalent in their attitude towards the state. A few weeks before I arrived in the southern region close to the Arava Desert a Bedouin took a live missile which had failed to detonate from one of the Israeli shooting ranges with the hopes of selling it to the Palestinians. During transport the missile exploded in the bed of his truck killing him. I learned from the particular group of Bedouin’s he came from that the motivation to do this was based more on the need to make money that any strong feelings he had for or against the Israeli government.

Today the Bedouin people are being asked to change from the nomadic lifestyle they have always known and the culture and way of life that goes with it to a more permanent existence in or around cities. With it, they leave behind the freedom of movement for a way of life which brings much uncertainty. It seems times as well as sand shifts.

Faces of The Old City

christopher — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 15:49:02 +0000

Jerusalem is unlike any city in the world. Walking through this city you are struck immediately by the influence that Judaism, Islam and Christianity had and is having in both the shaping of the city and those that dwell here. One realizes how rare it is that people with such stark distinctions can dwell in moderate peace.

Aaronic Blessing (Western Wall, Jerusalem)

christopher — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 15:35:23 +0000

October 5th, 2009, the Jewish people gathered at the Western Wall in prayer and celebration as the Aaronic Blessing was spoken over all the people that came to take part in the corporate prayer. The time of Sukkot often referred to as the Feast of Tabernacles takes place during the fall feasts. The blessing that is read over the tens of thousands that come to the Western Wall during this time is taken from the Hebraic Scriptures. The source specifically comes from Numbers 6:23-27 where Aaron and his sons bless Israel.

May YHWH bless you and guard you

May YHWH make His face shine on you and show favor to you

May YHWH lift up His face on you and give you peace

East Of The Yarden

christopher — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 15:17:49 +0000

During of my recent trips into the middle east, I got to sit down with an “honor killing” survivor. The top photograph in this section is a woman who a few months earlier was not expected to live through an attempt on her life. She had left her husband and went to her father’s house as her husband had been physically beating and abusing her. When she arrived at her father’s home and explained what was happening in her situation, he dragged her into the street and crushed her skull with a cement block. In this stream of radical Islam it is a disgrace on the father’s name to return to the house once the wife has entered into a marriage, of course this like most marriages in Islam was a forced marriage. So in this specific incident the woman was left in the street and she was there for 14 hours bleeding the entire time onto the street. She was not expected to live, but she was lucky and did survive the experience.

The first photo is of the woman after her recovery. The following photo is of on orphan, and the remaining photos were taken throughout Jordan. The man in the office is the adviser to Kind Abdullah II of Jordan. Following this is Petra.

Crow Reservation

christopher — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 14:47:41 +0000

In the summer of 08, I had the opportunity to spend some time on the Crow reservation with an organization that was involved in setting up a foster home on the reservation. During the experience, I had a chance to see first hand what reservation life is like within the Native American culture. Now contained in smaller sections of Montana the crow reservation has been reduced to a dismal section of land. Along with the physical location being worn down through poverty the culture is struggling to salvage what is left of the Native American identity. Even with the struggles that modern life has brought to the natives, one can still see the pride and culture that remains here.

Haiti

christopher — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 14:05:31 +0000

I have recently just returned from Haiti. It was an extremely difficult place to be. What is most surprising is that the poverty this country is facing is in some ways more intense than many of the places in Africa I have traveled. It is the poorest country in the western hemisphere and what shocks me most is how close to America it is. It is unbelievable to me that aid cannot reach this country in a quicker fashion. Like most 3rd world countries it is struggling with HIV, poverty, illiteracy, crime, food shortages and corrupt government.

Japan

christopher — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:15:45 +0000

The best way to understand Japan is to explore the dichotomy of the ancient and modern.