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I’m finally back in Nazareth for a little while after a busy summer in and out of the area working with various groups.

While I was gone, an article about the Jesus Trail went out through the Associated Press, which resulted in extensive coverage announcing the creation of the trail, including articles in CNN, MSN, and Yahoo. We’ve been getting a lot of attention via emails and others working with tourism since, and anticipate many people coming to hiking in the spring of 2009. We’ve also completed a printable databook with the help of our volunteers Nate and Matt which provides turn by turn directions and maps, including all facilities and points of interest along the route. More information on all of this is available at http://jesustrail.com. Make sure to check out the video and multimedia presentations made by AP.

I’ll let the photo albums tell the story of the past three months, showing the most recent first. Click on the thumbnails or titles to view the entire album of photos.

Nazareth Youth Venture 2008
I co-led a three week service learning trip with Hinke Loewen-Rudgers for young adults through MMN, splitting our time between Nazareth, Bethlehem and Jerusalem.

Check out the groups blog with journals and photos at http://nazarethyouthventure.wordpress.com/

Turkey

My time in Turkey was spent scouting a section of the St. Paul Trail for use with an EMU Cross cultural in Turkey and the Greek Islands for May 2009 with Linford Stutzman. My sister and brother-in-law, Jesse and Maria Rodriguez, joined Linford and I for some sailing and hiking, and then the three of us traveled together in Turkey for another week.

View the route of our hike below:

View Larger Map

Morocco

I assisted in leading a three week trip through Franconia Conference to Spain and Morocco, focusing most of my work on a week’s hike on the Camino Fisterra portion of the Camino Santiago in northwest Spain.

Below is the route of the Camino Fisterra hike:

View Larger Map

Spain

Barcelona

Sheldon and I traveled to Barcelona together and enjoyed a few days visiting the city’s sites, especially the Gaudi architecture. We were also able to connect with a friend living in Barcelona that I had met in Jerusalem with my parents in the spring, and she was happy to show us around the city.

London
Connecting with Sheldon Good at the Mennonite Centre, we spent a few days exploring the city and hanging out with folks at the center, including Sharon Kniss, a friend from EMU.

Since these trips have all finished, I’ve spent some time with Michael Blunk and Evan Parks who are with the EPIC Pedal Project, documenting stories of people they meet in Israel and Palestine as they travel through by bicycle. Check out there websites at http://epicpedal.org and http://epicpedal.blogspot.com/

And now I’m back in Nazareth, settling into a new room at the Fauzi Azar Inn and catching up on various projects from the summer. I’m trying to work more at learning Arabic these days and am looking forward to staying in one place for a little while and resting up.

photos: Snow in Bethlehem

It only snows in the area once every few years, so it’s always a big deal when there’s even a dusting. All the shops were closed for most of the day and buses stopped running on the steep and icy streets. My sister Kristina and I went out to take a few photos in the morning and walked right into the entire town having a snowball fight, and no one could remain a bystander. Thankfully we emerged without getting too soaked or our cameras full of snow. Today most of the snow has already melted…

This weekend I will go to Hebron and Wadi Qilt with the group of 30 students in the Middle East this semester from Eastern Mennonite University.

George Bush has received all sorts of media coverage from his three day visit to Israel and the West Bank. There has been mixed responses from both sides, mostly skepticism from the Palestinians about Bush’s ability to bring about real change in the region based on his unhelpful influence during the first seven years in office. Conservative Israelis are mostly nervous about his comments to create a Palestinian state and halt settlement expansion.

However, some of the changes that Bush is asking for are historic, such as calling Israel’s presence on Palestinian land as an “occupation” and saying “The agreement must establish Palestine as a homeland for the Palestinian people, just as Israel is a homeland for the Jewish people.

No speech by Bush would be complete without at least one linguistic slip-up or bad joke, the most memorable occurring in his meeting with Palestinian President Abbas where he noted that his motorcade didn’t have any trouble passing through the checkpoint, while Palestinians suffer daily with this hardship (Watch the video below).

The following articles and video clips offer a variety of commentaries surrounding his visit. Only time will tell what realistically could happen, and it will be interesting to be here while it all plays out.

BBC: Bush uses strong language in Mid-East: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7182363.stm

New York Times: Many Palestinians Offer a Bleak Opinion of Bush: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/11/world/middleeast/11jericho.html?ref=middleeast

Video: Al Jazeera analyses Bush’s checkpoint gaffe - 10 Jan 08 AlJazeeraEnglish

Video: Gaza resident reflects on Bush’s visit - 10 Jan 08 AlJazeeraEnglish

Jerusalem Post: Palestine can’t be swiss cheese - http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1199964895518&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Bush prays in Bethlehem amid sea of barricades - http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5i725x-kcFW0tmiDrWiqq0VuOX1iw

CNN: eporter offers Bush a Gaza, West Bank misery tour: http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/01/09/btsc.wedeman.bush/index.html

American Jews living in Israel protest Bush’s visit on the day prior to his arrival.
Photo by Steve Dintaman

My friends Danny and Tara volunteer at Nazareth Village, and we spent some time together in Bethlehem over Christmas. They have been doing a good job of bringing the Christmas experiences to life on video. Each clip shows a different part of the few days we spent together in Bethlehem, from the sincere message on Christmas Eve to the parties in Manger Square to the celebration on Christmas morning. The reality of the separation wall surrounding the city was known to the record number of Christmas visitors in the last ten years.

IHT: Crowds begin returning to Bethlehem to celebrate Christmas
CNN: Priests brawl at Jesus’ birthplace

If these videos are not visible in the email, you can click here to view them on my website.

Christmas Eve Service Message - from Beit Sahour YMCA

Christmas Eve in Manger Square

The Wall in Bethlehem

Christmas Day at the Church of the Nativity

View Danny and Tara’s Blog at http://kreideryoder.com/
View more of their YouTube videos at http://www.youtube.com/pdyoder

photos: Christmas in Bethlehem

On Christmas Eve, I will make the trek from Nazareth to Bethlehem, retracing the familiar route of Mary and Joseph on the first Christmas. In Bethlehem a service of celebration is held in the Church of the Nativity, the traditional site of the birth of Jesus. Beneath the church lies a small grotto with a 14-point star on the ground surrounded by candles and pilgrims waiting for their turn to bow down and kiss the sacred spot. Christians from all over the world travel to Bethlehem on Christmas Eve for the celebration, joined by a community of Palestinian Christians from Bethlehem.

When I was in Bethlehem last week visiting the Church of the Nativity, I ran into Samer, an old friend that I have known since I studied in the Middle East with EMU in 2002. He and his daughters were visiting the grotto to light candles and prepare to celebrate Christ’s birth. Samer had invited me to his house for dinner three years ago, and we spent an evening squeezing lemons and making fried spinach pirogies. When we met last week, he remembered our meal years ago and invited me back again. We had a wonderful evening catching up on the past years and talking about the upcoming Christmas celebration in Bethlehem.

Samer’s family’s optimistic presence has been an ongoing reminder to me of the hope of the Palestinian Christians. They experience daily the irony of living in a place where the purpose of Jesus’ birth was to bring ‘peace on earth and goodwill to men.’ Their ability to share this peace through hospitality has helped many find hope while waiting for Christ’s coming peace in the midst of despair and conflict.

Thank you for your continued prayer as I serve in the Middle East. I am currently living in Nazareth and volunteering at a guest house, providing many opportunities to interact and share with travelers from all over the world. The last two months have been full of diverse experiences and learning opportunities, and I feel blessed to be able to be here with your support. Much of my time has been spent getting to know my neighborhood as well as the Mennonites working in the region. I am enjoying studying Arabic, and I will continue lessons with increased discipline throughout the winter months.

This fall I have spent a lot of time working on the Jesus Trail, a hiking route connecting the places of Jesus’ ministry in the Galilee. I have been exploring the best walking paths using Hebrew hiking maps and Google Earth and compiling them on http://jesustrail.com. I believe this will be a creative
and authentic way for travelers to experience the adventure of Jesus’ life and ministry.

This Christmas, remember to pray for:
- All the people living here who have been affected by the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli conflict
- Energy and strength as I work with a variety of internet development projects and spend much of the cold and rainy winter months inside on the computer
- Continued progress learning Arabic and Hebrew
- The Eastern Mennonite University cross cultural group studying here this spring semester
- The various Mennonites serving in the region including Nazareth Village and MCC work in Bethlehem and Jerusalem

Thank you for the Christmas cards and emails you have sent. It’s always wonderful to receive kind
words of encouragement from friends at home. I will think of you all on Christmas Eve in Bethlehem.

The following links are posted on my website, http://dplandis.com

View photos from December 2007

Two new positions with Mennonite Central Committee’s SALT program have opened, one in Bethlehem and one in Jerusalem. SALT assignments are 1 year long and require participants to raise $4300.

- Bethlehem: School Volunteer in Hope Flowers School
- Jerusalem: Archival and Research Office Assistant in Sabeel

For a complete listing of SALT positions, visit the website here.

The December 2007 issue of Franconia Conference’s Intersections magazines has a variety of stories related to peacemaking in the Middle East and Christian/Muslim interactions.

View the entire issue online at http://franconiaconference.org/blog/category/publications/intersections.

Read the articles online:

• A sunset in Bethlehem: Discovering hope in the midst of rubble- Ben Davies
• An advent of peace: Continuing the witness and waiting for God- Stephen Kriss
• Since God is great: Opportunities for peace in the Holy Land- David Landis
• An unpredictable journey: Following the call to bilingual pastoring by Marta Castillo- Marta Castillo
• Living out our committment to peace: Three congregations offer love and hospitality to refugee families- Jessica Walter
• Calling all volunteers: Peaceful Living collaborates with Salford Mennonite Church to meet a growing need- Joe Landis
• Getting out of our comfort zones: This is my story, this is my song- Nate Clemmer
• Telling my story: Sharing hope and a reason to live- Wanda Lindsay
• Philadelphia Praise Center hosts Ramadan feast- Lora Steiner

There’s a YES team in Bethlehem, living at Bethlehem Bible College. Check out their group blog at http://www.yesbethlehem.blogspot.com/

Photo Gallery - View Photos

Audio (click titles to download WMA files)

Monks and Nuns singing in the grotto at the Church of the Nativity

Conversation with Palestinian taxi driver in Manger Square about art on the wall and the painting of the hand with religions as fingers

Kid’s orchestra

Video - View videos