beautiful & ugly (dual narrative): israel

This morning started off with a typical Global Immersion Project gathering in the garden of our hotel in East Jerusalem. We had just spent five consecutive nights here and little did we know, at the time, but after the Dual Narrative day (Isarel & Palestine) we were about to step into, we would need a change of scenery. TGIP co-founders, Jon Huckins and Jer Swigart explained how the day was going to unfold. They tried to reveal the complexity of it, and they forewarned us about the tension we would be exposed to. They said, "today we will see the best and worst of religion!" They continued, "you will not enter into the Christian narrative, but our presence, as Christians brings the third monotheistic faith that will and must collide with the best and the worst."

Fast forward, as we came from the Israeli settlement of Hebron to the Palestinian side, I met an IDF military member named Abed. We exchanged minced words through his broken English and various hand motions. We talked about the length of his shift at his post. "Ten hour days four days in a row" he said using his fingers to help communicate. We talked about how I was from America. Once he heard this... Curling his arms in the air, he communicated that our army in the US was strong. I agreed and we both chuckled a bit. At this point, as we exchanged laughs, I felt like I had been placed alongside a new friend in the midst of a long day. Then he asked "what you think of Israel?" I said that it was a beautiful country. This brought a big smile to his face followed by an agreeing nod. His next question hit me completely off guard as his tone changed a bit. "And Palestine?" he asked. Hearing him clearly, but unsure exactly how to respond I said, "huh... What was that?" He said a second time, "what you think Palestine?" as an inner battle in my mind and heart ensued, I said again, hmm, what Philistine." the next thing I knew the tip of his gun was touching my shin. He said one last time, "what you think of Palestine?" I swallowed what felt like a rock in my throat and said, I think it is beautiful too." He said, I don't agree and turned around.

Fifteen minutes later I found myself sitting alongside the rest of our team and a local peacemaker, Eliyahu McLean. He had led a group of us to the house of a Palestinian man named Ribhi. Ribhi opened his home for our combined groups. And just prior to the start of our time we all took part in a collective Muslim, Jewish and Christian prayer for our meal, for peace in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict and our time together. Ribhi's, wife, daughters and sons served us. It was a true Palestinian meal right on the floor and they did everything they could to make us feel welcome in their home. It was beautiful!

It is hard for me to fully comprehend the tension that exists here in Israel. An American friend who lives here in Israel recently said to me, "you will find corruption on both sides of the wall." Well I've now walked both sides of the wall. There was corruption. There was tension. It was ugly. But it was also beautiful. On both sides.

new testament narrative: israel

As the Global Immersion Project team prepared to explore the historic Old City of Jerusalem we selected the lens of the New Testament to guide our day. This meant that as we would walk on the outside wall around the Old City, pray at the Wailing wall alongside the Orthodox Jews and thousands of others, climb the Mount of Olives to see Jerusalem from Jesus' perspective and visit the Church of the Holy Seplechure (site of Jesus' tomb and where His cross laid at Golgatha), we would not only be walking in Jesus' steps, but we would be diving into the coinciding scripture in such a way that would promote worship. On top of that, it turned out that the Old City was celebrating the culmination of both Ramadan and the Shabbat. So rad!

It did not take long for my worship with the Father to begin. We made our way through the Damascus gate and directly into the Palestinian quarter of the Old City. Here the smell of freshly made laffa bread, the sounds of vendors selling their goods and visions of ethnic cultures colliding all led to a heightened sense of God's presence. Unfortunately, it wasn't quite what I anticipated it to be. I quickly found myself wrestling with various assumptions I had as I entered the Old City of Jerusalem and I needed to bring voice to them.

My understanding of the Old City of Jerusalem, as a contemporary location with four quarters which "the State of Israel" is allowing to exist, led me to believe that the state of Jerusalem might actually be better now than it was prior to the Israeli takeover in May of 1948. This way of thinking is incorrect. And as I worked to flush this out with God and the historical insight of our TGIP leaders, I began to understand why.

Today, I came to understand that life from a perspective rooted in American ideology, is one that believes that a more developed life with an established infrastructure is better. But I don't know if that is exactly the case. Is it?

Prior to 1948 when Palestinians held control over the Old City and the heart of Jerusalem, we never heard what they did or did not allow. There isn't much that we can find that relates to conflict. There actually wasn't distinctive division between the quarters as there is now. I believe, as I experienced today from an 88 year old


Palestinian coffee shop, along the Via Dela Rosa Road, where Jesus walked with the cross, that Palestinians are great hosts. A couple of other ways we have experienced this comes from the care our hosts at our hotel extend to us, the intentionality by the owner at the restaurant we've gone to in the evening and even the fact that the Palestinian quarter is the only quarter that has directional signs to help guide you through the challenging ally ways of the Old City. Each of these examples contradicts my thought process that life today actually might be better in Jerusalem than it was back in a different era.


The result of this process for me, was that I learned that it was ok to be curious and ask questions. Something I do well with others but struggle with internally. This thought did not come quickly for me. I wrestled with God throughout the majority of our day as we went from sight to sight. And as I sat where he sat and walked where he walked I began to change the posture of the approach to my own heart. I had to extend humility in order to know that my assumption was wrong. This was tough! I believe that admitting that we might be wrong is extremely challenging in our Western world, because it means that we might be inferior to someone else. So, when was the last time you challenged yourself and the assumptions of your heart? When was the last time you allowed God to examine your heart when you thought you were right? I know I am currently under the microscope and even though it is tough, it isn't as painful as I thought it might be. Its actually freeing.

preliminary readings: israel

Our readings are already starting to have an impact on our team as we settle into Jerusalem... There were so many sights and sounds that we had been waiting to experience and they are now becoming a reality in ways we couldn't have imagined.

When I shared with people that I was receiving credit for this trip as a part of my studies with Western Seminary, they became curious about what our readings were. A number of them asked about what I was reading. Well, I can honestly say that under the solid tutelage of The Global Immersion Project, our learning community was not missing out perspective wise. There was an extensive amount of reading done as we prepared to gain as much well rounded knowledge as possible to help the cultivation process. 

Below is a list of books that we got our hands dirty with and our hearts changed by. I personally did not read each and every book from cover to cover, but Blood Brothers, by Elias Chacour and Allah: A Christian Response, by Miroslav Volf were the most powerful for me in this process.

Texts for TGIP's learning community #1 (not in any specific order)

1. Embracing Israel/Palestine (Michael Lerner)

2. Blood Brothers (Elias Chacour)

3. Allah: A Christian Response by (Miroslav Volf)

4. Light Force by (Brother Andrew)

5. Christian Zionism: Road Map to Armageddon (Stephen Sizer)

If any of these seem worthy of a read on your end or something you might be interested in, please feel free to let me know and I will gladly pass along my copy for you to read.

adventures of flying: israel

The first leg of my adventure to Israel consisted of a simple domestic Southwest flight from OAK to LAX. I thought it was going to be a time to stop thinking about almost everything and crash before the long 13 hour leg of the journey from LAX to Istanbul. One would think...

Oddly enough about halfway into a two hour flight, as I had settled into some deep dialogue with another member of our Global Immersion Team, I was struck by what seemed to be evolving in the rows of seats directly in front of us. A fierce heavy set man with dark thick sunglasses (we will call him Fred), 2 rows in front of ours, was turned around yelling at a 5 year old little boy named Jack. Now Jack, his sister Ali, and dad Tim were on their way to Disneyland for vacation. Apparently Jack had bumped the man's seat not once, but twice and Fred was not going to have any more of it. He was upset with Tim and decided he was going to let the flight attendant know about it too.

Now, I know we have all been there. We have all been in the same spot as Fred, where our seat is being kicked repeatedly by a little kid, at the worst possible moment in our day. So my heart actually broke for Fred. I did not agree with who he was being or how he was handling the situation, but I could sympathize.

At the same time though... As a dad of two beautiful little girls, who at times have the ability to be Jekyll or Hyde, my heart was breaking for Tim, whose hands were tied. He was doing the best he could to manage the situation. He was trying to be sympathetic with Fred who was being irrational, trying to keep a smile on his face, and trying to teach his son a lesson in the midst of challenging circumstances.

The next thing I knew the other two members of the our TGIP team and I were inviting Tim and his kids to switch rows with us. We could feel the tension rising. We all were observing the flight attendant as she was unsure of what was unfolding exactly. And others around us were beginning to wonder what the next step was too. But in that moment I learned that we all have choices to make... We can be observers to the life that is happening around us or we can embrace the moments where God allows us to intentionally love another by standing in the gap for the other. That gap in this case was just a simple row on a plane. And Tim didn't need to accept. He just needed to know that we cared enough to offer. Maybe even Fred felt loved as well, even if it did just come as a result of feeling relief.

In the end, we changed rows, Fred stormed off the plane as soon as we landed, Tim and his kids were headed off to a peaceful time at Disney, and our adventure to Israel continued... But not without a lesson about pursuing the other in love and not judgment.

set to go: israel

My bags are packed, my boarding passes are printed and all I have is roughly 24 hrs of total travel time before I touch down at Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel!

After four months of discussing, thinking, reading, dreaming, watching documentaries, processing and learning, the journey is now underway. Today I embark on a life changing experience with the members of The Global Immersion Project's first ever global learning community. TGIP's focus is to cultivate difference-makers through immersion in global narratives. My focus is to be fully present in such a way that I am ready and available to hear what God has for me to learn.

Before this blog moves too far forward, I want to go back and take a look at the context of how I got here.

On January 25th I hung up the phone after a long call with my good friend and Global Immersion Project co-founder, Jer Swigart. I took a deep breath as I tried to digest the fact that he had just invited me into the process of making a dream of his become a reality. The dream: to cultivate difference makers through the immersion in global narratives. The location: Israel. “The Holy Land,” I thought to myself. “Holy crap!” I immediately picked the phone back up and called my wife, Lana. As I started to share with great excitement all that Jer and I had discussed, I began to realize how little I actually knew about this historic place rooted at the center of my Christian faith.

Through most of February and into the beginning of March this trip was honestly something I had just said yes to and wasn't deeply rooted in. I had not really begun to engage with any of the realities that came with embarking on an adventure to the, conflict driven, land of Israel. When I shared with people that I would be going to Israel in August, their feedback was mixed. It was either how cool they thought it was going to be to visit the places that Jesus and the disciples walked, or how concerned they were for me as I entered what they knew to be hostile territory with historically conflicting narratives. They would ask if I was more excited to go to the Temple Mount, the Sea of Galilee or the Mount of Olives. Or they’d ask if I could afford to leave my role as a husband and dad of two little girls to place myself in harms way? And even though these were all thoughts or questions I had raised in my own head, there was a bigger one that God was starting to press on my heart. How are you going to embrace the posture of becoming a learner? How are you going to accept that I have called you to be stretched? I had much more to learn than I knew and I was facing questions that came from a skewed perspective of a land others didn’t seem to know very well either.

Therefore as I entered into our teams’ first meeting on March 20th, I knew three realities. One, my understanding of the relationship between God and Israel was limited to only a few passages in the Old Testament, where God promises the land and a nation to the descendants of Abraham (meaning his son Jacob and therefore Israel). Two, my knowledge of the Israeli and Palestinian conflict at that time, started and ended with NY Times articles on throwing rocks, blogs about peace protests and global headlines regarding a war over the land both parties occupy. And three, as a leader in ministry, God had brought forth this opportunity with TGIP so that my awareness of both of the above would grow. And because God is moving in my heart to comprehend that it is one thing to read about issues of injustice around the world and something altogether different to find myself processing its realities as I sit in the middle of it.

It did not take long for my inner emotions to wrestle with the tension that exists between the Israelis and the Palestinians. As we read and watched real stories from both sides unfold... I immediately felt my heart breaking for one side and then for the other. We 're supposed to choose sides aren't we? I don't think so. I struggled to understand why they couldn’t just choose peace. Then history began to unfold with each story I read, each character or person I was introduced to and each film I watched, I learned a bit more about the battle for this land and the peace that seems so vital for each side...

At this point, I will not break down all the details of my studies, but I will pass along the fact that I am very eager to be on the ground, in Israel, with the rest of the TGIP team. And even though I have taken in a lot of information over the last few months and I feel more prepared to enter into the conflicting narratives then before, I still only feel like I am scratching the surface. In order to learn I must proceed with humility into this time.

I am not sure if this is fully feasible or not, but having been moved by God into this time, I want my narrative and the eyes of my heart to be opened (Ephesians 1:18) to what it means to live in His unfolding story for the sake of others, and as a result I hope that God uses me to cultivate others to do the same.