Just because we are back in Santa Cruz doesn’t mean we have stopped processing our time in Israel and Palestine. In fact, our time shattered and expanded our worldview is such a way that will force us to continue processing and wrestling through the experiences and stories for along time to come. Our time in Israel concluded with two especially insightful experiences in Samaria and in the West Bank cities of Bethany and Bethlehem.
Samaria has been off limits for most tourist in recent years due to extended unrest. Much of the unrest stems from a region that is isolated politically, religiously and socially from Israel and much of the surrounding region. The Samaritans history of being the “black sheep” goes back all the way to the 8th century B.C. when Assyria captured Israel’s Northern Kingdom and intermarried with some of the existing Samaritan population. 
Israel then viewed Samaritans as “half breeds,” which makes Jesus special attention towards them that much more revolutionary. After standing on Mt. Gerizim (where Samaritans believe God tested Abraham) we were welcomed with a huge smile by one of their current priests. He proceeded to share with us the story of the Samaritans and their role within the Biblical Story. It was fascinating as he spoke with conviction and respect of the varying religious beliefs represented. There are currently around 750 practicing Samaritans worldwide, which is a huge increase after numerous violent attempts to drive them to extinction. While they only hold the Torah (first 5 books of the Bible) as authoritative, he assured us that they are on Facebook…brilliant!
Finally, Jan and I(and a few of our friends from Jerusalem Univ.) were invited to spend the day with our friends Milad and Minar in their home towns of Bethany and Bethlehem in the West Bank. 
They are Arab Palestinian Christians who have chosen to offer the hope of Jesus to their community under the weight of political, social and religious oppression. With the course being focused on the historical and geographical settings of the Bible, I came in expecting to be awed by sites that were/are central to the Biblical Story that I have studied for so long. While there were certainly times when that was the case, the times I was most in awe was in seeing the Biblical Story alive in the people today…It was in the hearts and lives of Milad and Minar that we most clearly experienced the Kingdom of God on earth. 
Whether in singing with 80+ Palestinian kids in the couple’s non-profit(focused on Peace and Reconciliation in Palestine), eating a huge home cooked meal at their parents home in Bethlehem, using their last portion of clean water after 12 days of Israeli withheld rations or watching Milad harassed at “the Wall” (which is twice as tall and exponentially longer than the Berlin Wall) while we waltzed on by, it was an experience that cut to the very fabric of our souls. It was living in the tension of hope and internal(at times external) tears that we stepped into a story that we can’t help but tell over and over and over. 
It is a story I will explore(and be sure to share) more thoroughly in an article that will be published next month on youthspecialties.com.
For now, we are so grateful to all of our new friends who remain in the Middle East and chose to adopted a posture of invitation so that we may be made more whole in our quest to be fully enlivened by the living Mission of God that stretches to all corners of Creation.
Shalom Haverim (companions)