Now in Israel . . .

Dear Friends:

Our apologies for the relative silence of late. Our circumstances over the next three weeks should allow for a steadier stream of communication. I'll offer just a brief re-cap of events here, and in a few days offer a more substantive reflection.

We concluded our time in Cairo with a delightful dinner with new Egyptian friends named Hanni and Lucy. Hanni is a theology professor at the seminary with which we were associated in Egypt and a very thoughtful and bright light in the Egyptian Protestant community. He and Lucy are moving to Princeton in January for him to begin work toward a Ph.D. in theology. He offered many insights as to the spread of Islam in Egypt and the future role of the Christian church there. More on that later.

In order to accommodate cultural demands, most Christian churches worship on Friday. Our family ventured down to old Cairo and attended an ancient Coptic Orthodox Church. Once we figured out that the women (and children!) were supposed to sit on the other side of the sanctuary from the men, we received fewer stares and were able to enjoy the incense, chants, and were even privileged enough to get doused by the baptismal waters as the priest flung them out across the congregation. It was wonderful.

Saturday brought a reprieve from the noise and heat of Cairo as we joined the Ellingtons on what was to be a brief visit to Taba, Egypt, a resort town in the Sinai on the coast of the Red Sea. The scenery was breathtaking, and we enjoyed it until both Suzanne and I contracted a vicious case of food poisoning which leveled us for two days and from which we're still recovering. Unable to travel, we had to forego Jordan, recover another day in Taba, and today have landed in Israel, and what a day it has been!

We began by walking (yes, all luggage, all backpacks, and all three children) across the Egyptian and Israeli border. A rather grueling way to start the day, it was merely a precursor for what was to come. Next came the effort to get a taxi to take a family of five (still standing on the side of the road with all their luggage) to the bus station where we would find transport to Jerusalem. I won't go into the details, but I'm sure our children will remember several of the encounters!

Yes, we purchased tickets on the Israeli equivalent of Greyhound and traveled through the Negev, past the Dead Sea, and up the long hill to Jerusalem. Curving through winding desert roads, our driver put Jeff Gordon to shame and kept all passengers in a high state of alert. This was good in that there was a confrontation between two passengers on the bus that became quite boisterous and almost violent until another passenger intervened. Gladly it settled quickly only to re-erupt in a more confrontational fashion just a few minutes later. Though I'm not fluent in Hebrew, I'm fairly confident it was over something as serious as pulling down the window shade.

Some of you have taken the long slow climb up the Jericho to Jerusalem road and know the grind it is on large vehicles. Our bus (finally!) slowed to a crawl and then actually came to a complete stop at which time the driver offered an explanation in Hebrew. I leaned forward to the person in front of me requesting a translation which went something like this: "It seems there are some protestors blocking the highway. They don't want Israel to pull out of the Gaza strip. They're everywhere right now." And indeed they are! We couldn't approach the regular bus station because of the protestors and had detoured to a location much closer to our hotel (thank you, God!). After lugging our eight weeks of luggage across several city blocks in Jerusalem and checking in, we ventured out to a modest meal where once again we ran into protesters. Only this time, it wasn't an organized rally; it was more like a mob. We quickly decided it was time to go back to the safety of the hotel where CNN informed us that Israeli security forces are working hard to keep things under control. I can't say that I have ever prayed for Israeli security forces before, but I think I'll start tonight!

Other than that, our day has been uneventful and full of grace. Our children are handling this remarkably well, though they are a little worn by all the confrontation in this culture right now. We're looking forward to the relative serenity of Tantur Ecumenical Institute where we will start our studying tomorrow.

We think of you often and pray for you regularly. We're safe, happy, and relatively healthy. Keep us in your prayers.

Peace,

Bob, Suzanne, Abbie, Will, Hannah