|
“A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you many have.' Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?" Luke 10:30-36 NIV |
| In January 2001, I had the privilege of taking a class at Jerusalem University College called The Geography and Locations of the Bible. This college-level course had us studying the landscape and geology and geography of Israel, and then we went to visit the areas we had studied. |
|
|
|
The Wadis form a series of steep valleys out of the hill country to the Jordan River and the Dead Sea. This particular wadi empties at the city of Jericho.
We drove in the bus out a narrow road which made its way on a switchback route about five miles back into the wilderness. When I say "wilderness" we in the states do not have anything to which to compare this area. The weak limestone shale all around gives the appearance of desolation. There are a few grasses growing on the north side of the hills, and some plants down deeper in the wadi. |
|
It was in this area that Jesus came when "thrust" into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit, to be tempted by satan. |
| We gathered at a cross on the top of a hill, from which we could look into the deep canyon of the wadi and out over this barren area. |
| There we read Psalm 23 and the account of the Good Samaritan. The thought that shepherds still brought flocks of sheep and goats to such an area astounded me, for one. Where would they find water and food? |
|
But, up the edge of the wadi came a shepherd as if on cue, leading his flock of goats and sheep. The shepherd and those animals had no trouble with the slippery shale. And the "flock" stopped now and again to nibble at the grasses. It was not as barren as it appeared! |
|
After our time of reflection on the Word, we were allowed to search around some, and a group of us hiked up a path that led over to where we had seen the shepherd and flock.
We were taking pictures and looking around, when one of our number, Glenn, took a few steps off the path, where all of us had been hiking as well, but somehow slipped. He fell and began to cry out in pain. Daniel, a surgeon with our group, checked the leg and confirmed that Glenn had broken it. It seemed too sudden to have been the case! Here he was moaning on the ground where seconds before he had been standing, laughing and shooting pictures! Wink, our professor, came and checked on Glenn, knew there was nothing for him to do but phone for help, and said to all of us: "All of you, listen, you need to stay on the paths or this could happen to you." He was a bit miffed with the fact of the mishap, but acted decisively, by phoning both the college and an ambulance. |
|
Meanwhile, we prayed over Glenn, and began to construct a make-shift splint for his leg, by breaking a lunch tray in half and securing it to his leg with a few belts. It took about a 1/2 hour for the ambulance to arrive. The paramedics spoke no English, and had trouble understanding what the injury was. They loaded him onto a stretcher, and took him to the ambulance and then off to the hospital. |
|
Steve, an assistant teacher for our class, who speaks Hebrew fluently, met Glenn when he arrived at the hospital, and stayed there with him for the hours following to assist him. His assistance was invaluable, as Glenn could not get around at all. Hospitals in Israel do offer good care, but a person really needs to be their own 'advocate' to get treatment. And there is no infrastructure for care after surgery, so the family is expected to be there to assist. Steve and other staff people from JUC filled in for this need in Glenn's care.
Glenn had indeed broken his leg, in two places, both bones, one up near his knee and the other bone down near the ankle. His treatment required surgery, screws, plates and casting. After surgery, he was placed into a room with six beds, five of which were filled. There was Glenn, two Israeli men and two Palestinians. "It was a small middle eastern village," Glenn said later. Since the family was important in the meeting the needs of a patient, the families of these men would be in the room during all of the daily visiting hours. One of the men had 3 wives and many, many children. Glenn said that visiting hours were like a cocktail party. When the Doctor came in and talked to Glenn about his case, everyone paid attention. There are no curtains between the beds, so the displayed x-rays were open for everyone to see. As the Doctor showed the breaks, and the screws etc, everyone responded with "Oooos," and "Ahhhs". They were available to assist with Glenn's needs, as well, especially when no one was there from JUC. Indeed, Glenn found that everyone helps everyone else. During the lulls, the men talked together. All of them spoke some English. One of the men had taught Hebrew at an inner city high school in Philadelphia for years. He said, for the first 3 weeks, he would just talk to the boys. They could sit anywhere they wanted and were to find the place they were the most comfortable. And he invited them to tell him anything they would like to share. And he invited them also, to ask any question they had of him. He shared about his life, and they shared about their lives. At the end of this time the day would come when he would tell them: "Ok, do you like the place where you are sitting? Fine, that is your place. Each day I will be taking roll and you will be in your seat. If you are in the seat behind or before, or next to the place where you are sitting today, I will mark you absent." He told them that now that they were comfortable, they had some work to do and that could only be accomplished if they respected the boundaries of the class. Because he had spent so much time establishing community, where the boys cared for each other, in his 25 years of teaching he never had a discipline problem! But, if he had begun with the rules, it would not have worked. First they had to know he loved him. They talked about the political situation, comparing it to their current situation and their past experiences. There was amazing agreement between the men. One of them said, "I do not like what Arafat is doing, he is ruining our chances to make a living." Another told how he would like Israel to be in control of the government for if the Arabs are in control it will not work as well. As they spoke together, these men arrived at a plan for peace. They said there are two steps to peace. First, ban all media. They decided and after being there I would have to agree, that the media is a major problem in the ability to have peace. Since the news media inflates and exaggerates, it is difficult for people to have an understanding of the true situation. There are problems on both sides. But the media coverage causes those problems to increase. Second, they decided to let everyone know that they are actually all in a hospital room and they need each other. No media, and everyone is responsible to care for each other. If only we could remember the same thing. That we are responsible for each other and that we cannot live if we are tale-bearing upon one another. I believe these men in that hospital room came upon a truth which would affect not only Israel but the whole world. And Glenn? He spent the next 5 days in that room. Upon release he spent a couple nights with us at the university and we were able to eat a few meals with him and have him share with us some of his experience in Israel. (Glenn is the gentleman on the left side of the tables.) May that peace impact your life. Pastor Brian |
|
|
| ||||
Send E-mail to: Click here to contact us Or Telephone: (503) 324-7711 |