UMTV Web Brief 7/22/02

Welcome to UMTV’s Web brief, I’m Reed Galin.

With such protracted, bloody bitterness in the Middle East, how do you keep even the hope of peace alive? Maybe, by putting faith in the future - through young people like the ones you are about to meet. They are students at the Hope School near Bethlehem. They spent some of their summer trapped, separated from families, waiting for military operations to end. You could say these boys have been prisoners of war.

THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS “NORMAL” LIFE IN THIS PART OF THE WORLD. VIOLENCE AND RESULTING CURFEWS AROUND BETHLEHEM BY THE ISRAELIS SHUT DOWN “NORMAL” LIFE.

PEOPLE MUST COPE, HOWEVER. AND, THAT INCLUDES YOUNG PEOPLE.

HALF A DOZEN BOYS ARE TRAPPED, BY THEMSELVES, IN THE HOPE SCHOOL. IT IS A REFUGE OF LEARNING AND OPTIMISM FUNDED BY UNITED METHODISTS AND OTHER WESTERN ORGANIZATIONS FOR PALESTINIAN CHILDREN, CHRISTIANS AND MUSLIMS, FROM FAMILIES TOO POOR TO OTHERWISE AFFORD SUCH AN EDUCATION. BUT NOW, THERE ARE NO CLASSES, NO TEACHERS…

Kosay Altakroury: “It’s really hard, but we have to live in it.”

WHEN MILITARY CURFEWS ARE IMPOSED, TEACHERS CAN’T GET HERE. WHEN TANKS COME WITHOUT WARNING, SOME CHILDREN CAN’T CHANCE TRYING TO GET HOME. IT COULD BE WEEKS.

Kosay Altakroury: “We’ve been like this situation before, so we know how to cope, we know how to clean our clothes, so it’s like normal.”

Anan Altakroury: “I hope for peace. We always pray for peace, and stop fighting, let us continue our study.”

THE BOYS WANDER THE EMPTY HALLS. TRY TO FURTHER STUDIES ON THEIR OWN, WHILE FEEDING THEMSELVES FROM FRUIT TREES ON THE SCHOOL GROUNDS. THEY TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR MAINTAINING A CHICKEN FARM THAT HELPS SUPPORT THE SCHOOL, BUT THERE IS NO WAY TO GET EGGS TO MARKET, AND NO FOOD FOR THE CHICKENS.

SOME WESTERNERS MIGHT LOOK FOR THE KIND OF HATRED IN THESE FACES THAT WE HAVE SEEN TOO OFTEN IN NEWS FROM THIS PART OF THE WORLD - BUT THERE IS NONE. EVEN UNDER THESE CIRCUMSTANCES - ISRAELI TANKS AT THE SCHOOL GATE, FAMILIES OUT OF TOUCH - THE BOYS TELL AN AMERICAN JOURNALIST WHAT THEY LIKE BEST ABOUT THEIR STUDIES.

Khalid Zaharn: “I love stories.”

AND, ABOUT THE FUTURE “THEY” SEE.

Mohammed Fatafta: “I like to be a pilot or a businessman.”

Khalid Zaharn: “I hope to go to America and study, be a scientist or spaceman.”

IN THIS PLACE, WHERE PEOPLE CANNOT LIVE PEACEFULLY SIDE BY SIDE, WHERE EVERYTHING AROUND THEM IS FRAYED, THESE PALESTINIAN CHILDREN TAKE CARE OF THEMSELVES AND STILL DARE HOPE FOR…A NORMAL LIFE.

The boys were able to leave the school when the tanks withdrew last month. But, then there were more bombings, the Israelis came again…and Hope School families do not know if their children will be able to attend, or even get to the school, when the new year begins next month.

The Reverend Larry Hollon recently visited The Middle East as part of a United Methodist church delegation. He feels compelled to advocate for the many struggling, non-violent Palestinians just trying to get by, day to day.

I think the tragedy of the Middle East in many ways is that the voice of the Palestinian Christians has not been heard.

I think we don’t see the full story. There is real humanity, there is real suffering, there is real agony.

I think that to stand for human dignity and to stand for human rights does not make one a partisan. That it makes one a Christian. It makes one a humanist perhaps. But the stance that I have taken is not a partisan stance, it’s really a stance for humanity...that when human dignity is threatened anywhere, all human dignity is put at risk.

I think also we tend to not, in this country, have an international perspective. Many times we don’t see ourselves as global citizens. It took the tragedy of 9/11 for the impact of terrorism to be felt in the United States in a direct and personal way, because it was an attack upon our soil.

Christians in the United States really must stand with them, because their voice otherwise is not going to be heard, and there will soon be no Christians in the Holy Land where our faith was born.

A growing congregation is a sure sign of vibrancy for any house of worship. The members of one church are measuring their growth not by bodies, but by bushels. It's a grassroots ministry aimed at tackling a worldwide problem right in their own backyard.

THIS IS THE SOUND OF SERVICE AT BLACKMAN UNITED METHODIST CHURCH - A TYPE OF SERVICE THAT HAS MOVED BEYOND THE BUILDING.

MEMBERS OF THIS CHURCH JUST OUTSIDE OF NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE DECIDED IT WAS TIME TO FEED MORE THAN THE SOUL.

Rev. Gayle Watson / Pastor, Blackman United Methodist Church: “Just to realize that we don’t go to bed hungry every night, but an awful lot of people do and we can do something about it.”

Reather Arnold / Blackman United Methodist Church: “I call it more of a mission, a mission to do something to help someone.”

THEY’RE HOPING TO REAP WHAT THEY SOW AND SHARE WITH FOLKS IN THE COMMUNITY.

Ashley Brown / Blackman United Methodist Church: “Because some people may be old and can’t take care of themselves, and so they’ll have some stuff to eat.”

“That’s okra, and you kind of have to break the crust to get it to come up.”

Freddie Brown / Blackman United Methodist Church: “I think the garden has the potential of bringing all ages together because all ages can get in the dirt and work together. And it’s a lot of fun when you get out here with everybody together.”

THE CHURCH GARDEN ALSO HONORS A WAY OF LIFE THAT IS INCREASINGLY SHRINKING FROM AMERICA’S LANDSCAPE.

Freddie Brown: “We have, as farmers, backed away from farming and gone into other lines of work and such and our children will eventually, I’m afraid, not be aware how to farm and how to raise plain vegetables and I think it’s important that the church steps in.”

Rev. Gayle Watson: “It connects us to each other, it connects us to creation, and it’s just an awesome experience.”

Members say one of the most valuable lessons learned in the garden is patience. And another is - start small. You don't have to have a large area. Last year, the children at the church planted a few turnip greens. This year, the congregation will share corn, tomatoes, okra and onions with people in need in their community.

On the next UMTV web brief …

What is the right way to help the homeless?