The Israeli authorities are in charge of this checkpoint. I told him to come with the "shiroot" (Hebrew for taxi service), and I told him that I will wait for him on the checkpoint on my side. By the way, it was Sunday and I was taking him to my church.

The church service starts at 10 am "Arabic timing", that is 10:15 Big Ben time; most of Arabs are not punctual; time is not an issue for them! Anyway, I went there at about 9:30 am to pick him up. I reached the checkpoint to find that there were about 200 hundred Palestinians being detained there, most of them seeking to go to work inside the Israeli territories. "Sit down or they are going to detain you as well," one of the Palestinians told me. I stopped a little because I did not want to look proud or arrogant before them. But I could not sit there any longer because I needed to get my friend from the other side because that was his first time in Bethlehem and he did not know the way to the church. So I walked toward the Israeli soldiers' booth to find there three soldiers and it seemed that they were doing nothing but standing there. I asked them if I can go to the other side just to get my friend, "show me your ID," one of the soldiers requested, so I showed him my ID.

He looked at it with a scornful smile because my ID was just for the Palestinians and I was not permitted to use it to go to Jerusalem. He ordered me to leave to go back to Bethlehem, but I do not usually take "NO" for an answer. I kept insisting but they kept saying no. one of the many soldiers there said with a heavy Israeli accent "if you do not go I will shoot you," and believe me, they would have. Anyway, I went back to the end of the line worried because of what the soldier had said. While I was waiting, somebody came from behind me and was looking around; this man was my friend from Colorado. I discovered that he had been already in Bethlehem because the taxi driver had taken him from another road.

This is only one incident from many others that has been taking place on the check points with Christian workers. They suffer like we do but in the end they reach their destination while many of the Palestinians cannot. Their passports play a great role for them at the checkpoints but still they are hassled and their freedom is violated. "We stand in the line like the Palestinians do," one of the Christian workers from USA told me. One day this worker told one Israeli soldier to put his gun down because he was pointing it at two Palestinians. Some of the Christians workers, if not most, can see and sympathize with the Palestinians who suffer the Israeli occupation daily. One lady from England who comes twice a year to help disadvantaged children in the Holy Land said "I just get upset of how the Israelis treat Palestinians on the check points." She has seen many things that broke her heart. She has been through some things the Palestinians have gone through. If you ask a Christian worker about what he thought of the situation before and after he came to the Holy Land the answer will certainly be different most of the time.

Some people told me that they thought that all Palestinians are terrorists and they used to pray only for Israel but now their standpoint is absolutely changed. Some used to support Israel blindly but now their eyes are open. Other Christian workers live in Jerusalem on the Israeli side and they have befriended some Palestinian Christians. Many like to come and have fellowship but it is hard. Some live only 10 minutes away from Bethlehem and they cannot come because sometimes it is hard to find a taxi to take them back.

The Christian workers thought that the Holy Land is such a war zone but many of them have the time of their life here. First of all and foremost is because they are serving the Lord where the Lord has sent them. They also enjoy the fellowship with the Christians of the Land; singing praises, praying and worshiping the living God together. Let us not forget the food and the exotic nature and scenery. Despite all the hassle they go through they take pleasure in sharing with the suffering with the national believers. "Remember the prisoners as though you were prisoners with them." I was told by some foreign Christian workers that they would hate leaving the country after spending some time here. It grows on you and you fall in love with it. Some have told me that Palestinians are so hospitable and generous and they invite them always to their houses. They say that they do not see this much in their own country.

Hospitality is a very important thing in the Middle East; sometimes it is an honor issue. Maybe, it is an adventure for some to live here in the midst of the longest conflict in the Middle East; I think that it can be quite adventurous sometimes! Paul is another British man who enjoys serving the Lord in the Palestinian refugee camps. The kids there just enjoy playing football (soccer) and other games with him. One day I was going through the camp and children came and gathered around him calling his name. Paul said, "I go to the refugee camps to play football with the kids and the kids got really to know me which is wonderful. I also go to a place called the center inside the camp where all youth hang out. I play chess with them, they are very good at chess, and they also play computer games and learn another language.

I go into Muslims homes in the camp and I listen to their frustrations about the situation and help them when it is possible. They are so welcoming and they offer me tea and Arabic coffee. At Easter and Christmas we give them Gospel materials, Christian music, Jesus video, tracts and toys. The rest of the time is just building relationships with the people and dropping hints about Christ." It takes great love to serve in the refugee camps because they are not the best places in the world. They are kind of small ghettos. They have very narrow streets and their houses are aligned closely to each other. They are so close to each other that it seems that they are one big building. Many people there live in spiritual darkness and it is great to see such foreign Christian workers bringing the Light of Christ to this darkness. It's a quite hard for Palestinian believers to go themselves and serve in the refugee camps because the refugees will deem it as a strange thing; but it is easier for foreigner to do the job because the refugees like to see foreign faces among them. It is not all this rosy though.

I am a Palestinian but I am Christian before everything else and the truth needs to be told; there are much political corruption going on here in the Palestinian areas. Some foreigners cannot see it all but other can. Anyway their duty is showing Christ and spreading His gospel, they have almost nothing to do with political matters. Some do though. Let me not forget to mention that there are about 7 evangelical churches in Bethlehem alone; beside other many evangelical churches in other places in Palestine. There are Presbyterian, Baptist, Pentecostal, and non-denominational churches. If a person is used to sitting down or like to left up his hands; stand up or dance for the Lord, he/she can find her/his type of church here. Many of the Christian foreign workers go to worship in most of these churches.

Ben, a Christian volunteer from England who loves spending time in the Palestinian areas and fellowshipping with the Christian Palestinians said, "Being with these brothers and sisters has been such a blessing to me in my walk with the Lord. Their faith in such oppressive circumstances is an inspiration and a challenge.

It is a passion of mine to see the eyes of British Christians open to the reality of life for their fellow believers in Palestine." If God put Palestine on your heart to come and preach the gospel here and be a light for Christ, please come. Your presence is an encouragement to many Christian Palestinians who need you to be beside them, have fellowship with them, and worship Yasu'o (Arabic for Jesus) with them.

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