March 20, 4p.m. (9am CST)

We are staying at a wonderful Greek Melkite guest house in Beit Sahour - the Shepherds'Field (supposedly where the angels announced Jesus'birth to the shepherds), outside of Bethlehem. We spent last night in Deheisha refugee camp, and have learned a lot about what life is like for the Palestinian people there, as well as in Bethlehem and the surrounding area. (Bethlehem is surrounded by 22 illegal Israeli settlements). I love Bethlehem, it is beautiful in addition to being so historic. And I love all the people we have met so far! (Especially the precious little children!)

Today we participated in a march to protest the "security"wall (according to Israelis - but all the Palestinians refer to it as the apartheid wall). There are protests every Friday, but this one was organized especially by and for women - Palestinians celebrate Mothers Day tomorrow. As one man explained to us, "The woman is the first to suffer under the Occupation: The woman is the wife of the martyr; she is the mother of the man in the Israeli prison; she is the mother of everyone [who suffers]."
I had the opportunity to speak with a man and his family - he is a neurosurgeon, studying in France to become a psychiatrist, because of the great need for psychiatric healing: so many of the people, especially children, are suffering because of the many traumas they experience here.
This was our first "action"component so far, and at first we were a little nervous. As we walked up to the site of the protest, I looked up and saw a couple IDF (Israeli) soldiers on the hill above us, keeping watch; honestly, it was kind of scary to feel their presence and see their guns. However, by the time we left, they were looking tired and bored, and I felt totally relaxed in their presence. Some of our CPT group (and a couple other internationals who were there) talked to some of the soldiers. Mostly they seemed annoyed, and even a little mocking - one asked us our names and where we were from, but wouldn't tell us his name or where he was from (he was obviously from the States); however, after a while of talking with us, it occurred to me that his interest in conversing (while some of the others were like, "Everything is over, just leave") might indicate that he is actually homesick. He was speaking with some folks from Colorado about snowboarding in the Rockies. Now, yesterday at the refugee camp there were a few moments that brought me near tears, but I had not allowed myself to cry yet. But as we walked away from this young soldier - no older than myself I'm sure, thinking of him made me cry. As Char reminded us this morning - all Israelis must serve in the IDF for 3 years (2 for women - and there was one female soldier at the protest today), and many of them are unhappy with the work they are forced to do. They are trained to think that the Palestinian people are sub-human and always out to kill them. Char thinks that, like many of our soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, "they've been duped."

Tomorrow morning we head to Hebron, and I honestly don't remember much more about our schedule (which is constantly subject to change) - but we will be spending a couple of days in At-Tuwani, where we will have another action opportunity.

Please continue to pray for our team (I love our team, by the way!), that we will be open for everything that we are experiencing, able to process it, and available to do whatever we can to help the dear people living and struggling to live in this holy land.