wfn.org | Ancient world sheds light on today's issues for visitors

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

Feb. 26, 1999        Contact: Tim Tanton*(615)742-5470*Nashville, Tenn.
10-71BP{106}

NOTE: This story is a sidebar to UMNS #105 and is accompanied by a
photograph.

By Shanta M. Bryant*

BETHLEHEM, West Bank (UMNS) - Retracing the steps of Jesus and visiting
ancient sites helped a group of Christians pilgrims envision the world in
which Christ walked and gain insights into issues facing the Holy Land
today.

"Learning about the ancient world will help us learn about the present and
vice versa," said Peter J. Miano, a United Methodist clergyman and executive
director of the Society for Biblical Studies. The society is a nonprofit
organization dedicated to biblical education, mission experience and
spiritual renewal.

Miano led the group of 27 people, which included United Methodists and four
members of other denominations. The pilgrimage was cosponsored by the United
Methodist Board of Church and Society's United Methodist Seminars on
National and International Affairs and the Society for Biblical Studies. It
included visits to archeological sites, study sessions on conflict
resolution, and meetings with local people, particularly Palestinian
Christians.

The program consisted of two segments. The first, Feb. 2-12, involved a
biblical and conflict resolution studies program of contemporary and
historical issues in Jordan, Israel "proper," and Palestinian-controlled
areas. The second segment, Feb. 12-14, included a mission project option, in
which participants brought their own tools and fixed up a United
Methodist-supported school. 

Beginning in Amman, Jordan, the pilgrims visited sites that reflected the
Christian presence in that country. Then they entered Israel by road to
experience Jesus' ministry around the Sea of Galilee, Jerusalem and
Bethlehem. 

Each day began with Bible study and devotions, visits to archeological sites
and lectures, and ended with forums on the Middle East conflict with
Palestinians and Israelis. Neal Christie, with United Methodist Seminars,
led the group in exploring the region's political and socioeconomic issues
and understanding how they relate to the Middle East conflict.

Pilgrims spoke with residents of Palestinian refugee camps and Jewish
settlements, plus Palestinians whose homes were destroyed by the Israeli
army for lack of proper permits.

Miano voiced the concern that many commercial tours of the Holy Land amount
to trips to a spiritual "Disneyland," in which Christians experience the
region from the windows of a bus. Pilgrimages should offer an "authentic"
experience for Christians, he said. "The meaning of the Bible doesn't become
vivid until you talk to the people of today."

For the Rev. Charles Lippse of the Holston Annual Conference, the pilgrimage
was his second, and he felt more freedom this time. At some sacred sites on
his first trip, he was not allowed "to walk among the stones, not even to
touch them," he recalled. "A pilgrimage to the Holy Land calls for the
pilgrim to touch, to listen, to question, and to dialogue with the people of
the land."
 
A United Methodist resolution on Holy Land tours urges church members
visiting the area to have contact with local Christian leaders and hear the
concerns of both Israelis and Palestinians.

Elias Jabbour, a Palestinian Christian and founder of the House of Hope, an
international peace center in Israel, lamented that Christian visitors do
not try to connect with Palestinian Christians. Nor do they realize that
many Palestinian homes and villages were destroyed during the construction
of basilicas and other sacred sites, he said. "Three million Christians take
pictures and never see me standing there. They never see me."  

LaVeeda Morgan Battle, of the United Methodist Church's North Alabama Annual
Conference, said her original goal was simply to "walk where Jesus walked."
However, hearing the human stories "educated and enlightened me to the
continuum of struggle and conflict in the world."

"We (experienced) the same cultural, societal and religious issues and
conflicts of Jesus' day and looked for ways to offer signs of solidarity
with the oppressed and the oppressor," said the Rev. Linda Butler, clergy
member in the Iowa Annual Conference, describing the pilgrimage.

After listening to the wide range of perspectives on the Middle East
conflict, many realized that no easy solutions exist. "As we listened to
various Palestinian and Israeli residents talk about life in this land from
their perspective, I realized how difficult it is to live together if you
only see things from one perspective," said Kathy Stolz, of the Northern New
Jersey Conference.

A three-day national conference on "Mission and Pilgrimage in the Holy Land"
is planned for Oct. 21-23 in Indianapolis. For more information, contact
Miano, (718) 641-4453, or Neal Christie of United Methodist Seminars on
National and International Affairs, (202) 488-5612.
# # # 
*Bryant is the program director of communications and associate editor of
Christian Social Action magazine for the United Methodist Board of Church
and Society.

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