Some of you know that Shawn, Co, and I went to Israel and Palestine last December. [If you are interested in reading more about that experience click here and here and here and here.]
At any rate, we spent most of the trip in Bethlehem working on a documentary… well technically Shawn sang once and the rest of the time helped with lighting and Co and I were along for the experience only. We were so uninformed about the area there that we didn’t realize Bethlehem is in Palestine until about a month before the trip. (sad, I know)
Neither of us had tons of preconceived ideas about the dispute between Israel and Palestine or the wall that has been erected to divide them. Needless to say, we learned so much in the short time we were there.
I think one of the main misconceptions by American Christians is to think:
Israel= Christian
Palestinian= heathen (read: Muslim)
I was very surprised to learn how many Christian Palestinians are living inside the wall and suffering because of the extremist groups their country is known for….
You all know sweet sister Beth was visiting a week ago. It was a brief visit and the most time we had to catch up was at Barnes and Noble for an hour before her flight. She shared with me something that has bothered me since. I wanted to share it with it to see if maybe together we all can’t do something good about the issue.
Shane and Shane sponsor World Vision, not unlike my husband. Every night they pass out packets about children and ask the audience to take a minute to pray for the child whose packet they have. Beth noticed on one particular night that the little girl in her hands was from the West Bank. She kept the packet and later decided to sponsor the little girl.
Fast forward a couple of weeks. Beth is in Nashville and runs into our World Vision Artist Rep, Bianchi. He was asking about where Shane and Beth sponsor kids so that they could arrange a trip for them to meet the kids. When Beth told him about the little girl on the West Bank, he was shocked. He proceeded to tell her that they have very, very few kids enrolled for sponsorship in Palestine. Beth asked why, since obviously a lot of Palestinian kids have great need living in such a war torn place.
His response baffles me. He told her that World Vision has complaints (yes, you did just read that correctly) about sponsoring kids from Palestine. Now Beth was the one shocked. “So people at concerts see a packet from the West Bank and actually say something negative about it?” The answer: yes. Its not that WV is shying away because of that- apparently the kids just don’t get sponsored.
Now, I am not saying Israel isn’t God’s chosen people and I am not saying its wrong to be pro-Israeli. But isn’t that taking it a bit far? I mean, don’t Palestinian kids (many of Christian- many are our little brothers and sisters in Christ- but even those who aren’t) deserve an education, food, and a chance to know Jesus???
And Beth made a great point that day as we spoke… what about working on the conflict there from the inside out? What about meeting their needs and teaching their children to Know Jesus? Wouldn’t that be more effective than just only supporting military action???
Not to mention the purpose, the marching orders, that God gave to His Chosen People via Abraham:
AND I WILL MAKE YOU A GREAT NATION, AND I WILL BLESS YOU, AND MAKE YOUR NAME GREAT; AND SO YOU SHALL BE A BLESSING; AND I WILL BELSS THOSE WHO BLESS YOU, AND THE ONE THAT CURSES YOU I WILL CURSE. AND IN YOU ALL OF THE FAMILIES OF THE EARTH WILL BE BLESSED
.
I had the great privilege to see what a difference World Vision makes when Shawn and I went to South Africa and Zimbabwe in February 2007. I love this organization. Join with us in letting them know that we support child sponsorship in Palestine…I think they need to hear from some of us who feel differently on this topic. And if you are really feeling moved and bold, how about emailing and asking to sponsor a child from the West Bank? Actions often speak louder than words.
info@worldvision.org
Kate, I think you are so right. Sponsorship would be one powerful way to show these little children who might otherwise never hear the gospel how the Lord feels about them.
I also wanted to say thanks for the comment on my blog! 🙂 I will DEFINITELY be putting pictures of the new room up soon. =)
Annie
Kate, That is disgusting that people are opposed to helping Palestinians. What could be a better display of Christ’s love? Thanks for the post.
My word… complaints? That makes my heart ache for those kids who aren’t being reached because of our ignorance of the situation.
*sigh* things like this make me a little overwhelmed with how much needs to be done to heal the world. Or at least to try.
We’ve been tossing the idea around about sponsoring a kid and what a great place to start. Thanks for the heads up.
(I’m thoroughly glad I postponed laundry to read this…)
There’s an awesome (!) Christian ministry over in Israel that is working solely within the Palestinian refugee camps. Living Bread International Church (www.livingbreadchurch.com) distributes food and bibles, and all kinds of other stuff, to several different camps; Karen Dunham, the pastor, has spoken at my church several times and has all kinds of incredible stories about the work they’re doing. Right now they’re the ONLY ministry doing anything to help the Palestinian refugees. Their work is helping so much that the Israeli army has partnered with them and does everything possible to make sure they have the ability to go wherever they want to help the refugees. It’s really cool! I encourage you to check out the website.
Rebekah,
THANKS for posting that link!
Thanks for stopping by my blog!
I sponsor a sweetie from Kenya through WV, but I hope to take up another child SOON. It’s worth the budget adjustment. Thanks for the recommendation; I will make a West Bank request when the time comes.
hey, thanks for the comment
your man rocks!
Thanks for the comment on my blog. If you’re ever in Northeast Arkansas, let me know and we may be able to arrange a church fellowship in your honor. 😉
Hard to believe that people (and supposedly Christian people at that!) can be so prejudiced and hard-hearted to a child’s suffering. Shame on us!
Happy new week!
Love and hugs,
Diane
No more kids for me anytime soon! The first week after giving birth, I thought I never wanted to do that again…period! Now, I’m feeling better and just enjoying have a little one. We’re thinking 2–3 years difference should be nice. I don’t enjoy being pregnant…but I love the package that arrives at the end!
Ask anything you want about the dogs…if you ever want to email you can anytime. ashleetollett@yahoo.com
Your welcome! Karen is originally from the area I currently live in; my dad was her son’s high school English teacher. The organization/church was all over the local news about 6 months or so ago because one of our county circuit judges decided to resign so that she could move over to Israel full time to direct the administrative operations the ministry. I find it really inspiring! I go to a really small church, but whenever Karen is in the states she always comes by and shares with us what’s going on and how things are progressing.
hello kate! i just recieved your message on myspace! (it’s shayla, i wrote to you about knowing when shawn was the one). i am brand new to this! i don’t know how else to contact you haha except through a comment! hopefully i will learn. thank you for getting back to me. once i figure out how to communicate through something other than a comment it will be easier! your blogs are so beautifully written and very heartfelt. hope all is well your way. God bless.
Good post.
I’m amazed how ignorant people can be, sometimes this ignorance is borderline stupidity!
…and were these “Christians” making these complaints?!?
My father and I co-sponsor a child with basically the same birthday as my dad’s father who passed shortly before I was born. I love it and am always trying to do the little gift packets to send to him. It was because of your husband and Jason Grey that we started participating with World Vision actually. But reading this makes me horribly sad. How can any person who calls themselves Christian dare to deny a child hope, food, and education about God’s love simply because of where they live? I can’t believe people do such a thing, and it’s times like these where I am ashamed of our society. Allowing prejudice, a few bad people within a culture and a million misconceptions determine what you think of an entire population creates problems like this, and I wish people had enough smarts to realize differently. As my mom always says, those who do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it.
That makes me so sick. I can’t believe that people would deny a child. We sponsor two children through Compassion International. I think that everyone should sponsor a child. Also I think that some christians are crazy. I don’t mean to be blunt or rude but that is not the heart of Christ at all. We should all step up and sponsor children from Palenstine and be salt of the earth and light to the world.
I just wanted to recommend seeing the movie Fireproof. It really will change you. I don’t know if you’ve seen it already or even heard of it, but really, everyone should see it.
You’re in my prayers!
I think I love your blog. I’m glad we’re new blog-friends. 🙂
We truly can be ignorant and small-minded as believers. Why do we so often miss the point? Thanks for giving me something to think about (and hopefully do something about).
I decided to step out on a limb and sponsor a child when I went to a Casting Crowns concert. I picked up this little boy named Jefri Tempo who lives in Indonesia. That night as I contemplated what I had done, I felt like I was in the clouds…or..not quite on earth…I was dazed. I was excited. That was last October that I sponsored him. I sent him a package once and wanted to send him more. I received a progress report from him and an updated picture of him. He is 11/12 ish.
On his report he wrote to me and said “I have involved in child creativitycenter. The facilities really help my development. I am grateful to god for his grace through you. Thankyou my beloved sponsor.”
That message made my heart melt into a goopy pile. I was so encouraged that God had blessed him so much and at the same time was blessing me. Unfortunately, a couple months ago I got a letter from World Vision saying that Jefri had been relocated and was now in an area that World Vision does not sponsor, thus ending my sponsorship. It makes me sad. You bond with someone through the blood of Christ and then suddenly you don’t know if you’ll ever be able to do anything more for them.
Word Vision has given me a new child, though. My mom received the packet at home and is forwarding it to me here at school and i’m so excited to receive it. My little boy (I don’t know his name yet) is from Ghanna (spelling?).
Sponsorship is worth it. It humbles you as it blesses someone else.
God bless you, Kate. I am glad you wrote about this. I have a stickynote on my desktop that says “Write a blog about Jefri” and after reading this and all, it is making me think more about him. Thankyou. Stay turned for a new post on my site soon 🙂
-Kristy
Good on you for writing this. Pro-Israel (the nation-state, not the people of God) zealots make me crazy. I love the blogs you wrote a year ago.
What/where is the pic of the barn from? I love old barns!
I didn’t get a chance to respond to this particular post…my dad actually works for World Vision at the US headquarters here in Federal Way, Washington. When I was 10 years old, I got to go to his work to the sponsorship center and pick out any little boy or girl that I wanted to. At that time, I had no clue what countries meant, where they were, what conflicts were going on, etc…but for whatever reason I was drawn to this little girl named Randa. She too is a Palestinian. We began sponsoring her her she was just five years old. She and I wrote back and forth as often as possible. It does take quite a while for letters to get there and back, but we sent each other pictures. I’d send her art supplies for her birthday and Christmas and she always drew me these great pictures and sent them back to me. I loved corresponding with her. As she got better at English and stopped using an interpreter, we were able to talk about the Lord more. She had become a Christian and led her family to the Lord during the time we’d been talking back and forth. I’ll never forget one particular letter she wrote to me…I still have it at home. It shocked me to read these profound words from a 13 year old girl…I have it memorized:
Things have been difficult over here. We have a curfew at night time. I am not allowed to go to school right now. I don’t know when I will get to go back. There is a lot of war, but God is good. He has never let me down, and I know He will see us through this. I thank Him every day for you and your family that have sponsored me. Without you, I don’t know where I would be. I just keep trusting in Jesus daily. I sincerely hope to meet you one day. You have changed my life. Thank you.
Love,
Randa
It actually made me cry! I couldn’t believe such a young girl had such faith in the Lord. I couldn’t believe that I had actually impacted someone’s life like that. It was really scary to see the news. She lived right on the Gaza strip in the midst of it all. I was always praying I wouldn’t get some letter saying my sponsor child had been killed in the conflict. She probably has no idea how much her letter impacted me.
One day about a two years ago, we received a letter in the mail with a new sponsor child in it. There was no explanation as to why we no longer were sponsoring Randa. My did everything at work to find out what was going on. Nobody would ever give him any specific information. I truly had plans to meet this young woman someday. I think about her all the time and pray for her often. I wish so badly that I could find her and know that she’s doing ok.
I’m all for sponsoring a Palestinian child. Sponsor two if you can! It’s so amazing to be a part of their lives. I truly changed my outlook on everything that I take for granted.
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I totally support helping the children in Palestine, but instead of teaching them just Christianity, why not teach them all the major religions of the world and let them choose what they see is right? It would only be justice to give them a choice