Pilgrimage of Hope

Reporting live from the West Bank has always been hurling of stones by Palestinians at Jews who exchange with gunfire.

As the motion pictures keep rolling on your television screens, you watch stones smashing of helmets of Israeli soldiers whiles ambulance rush to take injured persons with gunshot wounds to the hospital for treatment.

Do the Western Media tell us the truth or the reality on the ground at all times? Your answer is as good as my. But you won’t be able to answer right unless you visit the area to access the situation yourself.

Crossing Gilo border from Israel to Bethlehem which is under [Palestinian Authority], recently was as easy as any exercise I have ever done in my life.

Apart from gun-wielding Israeli border security officers who were manning their side of the border checkpoint, not a single soldier from the Palestinian side was spotted manning their side of the border.

After the free flow of tourists, pilgrims, visitors and holidaymakers across the border, I stood still for a while, heave a sigh of relief, turn round and asked where the security personnel are?

Wondering where I was, I turned around again and looked at the tall concrete wall that separates Palestine from Israel, the long cross-border security tunnel and realized, “Oh yeah I am in Bethlehem and now under Palestinian control”.

The hospitality of the people in the city, the beautiful ancient but well-maintained manger baby Jesus was put, the gift of the three wise men and the shining star on the spot where the saviour Jesus Christ of Nazareth was born, called me to visit Bethlehem, the city of Bread for the second time.

Infectious smiles on the faces of Palestinian commercial drivers just over the border checkpoint, who are always ready to help tourist, visitors, pilgrims and holidaymakers will always make one to return for a visit.

So for me twice a Jerusalem Pilgrim [J.P], it was not surprising to cross the border to the city only to be mobbed by commercial drivers who asked me where I was going and how they could help me.

“Where are you going and how can I help. Please come and let me take you to your destination. Do not be afraid, I will treat you nice because you are in safe hands were the welcome message” I received from these kind Palestinian drivers.

Among the several drivers who came to my side, Mohamad a taxi driver got the green light from his cousin and drove me from the border checkpoint to Bethlehem Bible College [BBC] which was not far from the church of Nativity where Jesus Christ was born in a cave over 2000 years ago.

Few minutes after we took off from the taxi rank near the checkpoint in Bethlehem, Mohamad got me scared a bit by breaking the news of a massive strike which was ongoing in the whole city of Bethlehem.

The general strike was declared by the Palestinian officials in Bethlehem district of the occupied West Bank on Saturday, September 9, 2017 to mourn 22-year-old slain Palestinian, Raed al-Salhi whose body was returned by Israel on Friday night after being withheld from his family in al-Duheisha refugee camp for six days.

As the strike was on, the busy streets of Bethlehem went dead silent, stores and shopping malls were closed within the stipulated time from morning till 3:00 p.m. before business bounced back.

Tourists, holidaymakers and visitors who were not aware of the strike were not barred from either visiting the Church of Nativity, Jesus birthplace as well as other equally important places like chapel of St.Catherine, shepherds fields, Church of Milk Grotto, the manager square market, Rachel tomb and Herodion.

A little bit scared and shaken that I would be caught in the strike, I kept looking over my shoulder as I tried to be more submissive in speaking to the residents as I needed direction to go to my destination, [BBC.]

Because the strike affected schools, shops and malls, transport services, colleges and universities, I was caught standing at the main gate of the college for over 45 minutes before another Mohamad, a "Good Samaritan" handed me his phone to call my host.

When I was not making any in road, the idea of aborting the visit and return to Jerusalem where I stayed also didn’t come to mind as I was urged to wait further for my host to be contacted and suddenly Dr. Salim J.Munayer a lecturer at the college appeared at the gate and took me in.

Bethlehem Bible College [BBC] which was solely founded in 1979 by Dr. Bishara Awad, a Palestinian, exists to train people to serve Christ in the world, advocate a Palestinian evangelical perspective and model Christ through community development in the city of Bethlehem, a Palestinian controlled territory.

The lord used Dr. Bishara Awad, to start the light for him with a gift of 20 dollars from a local pastor and the college have four buildings well equipped with 150 students being trained to become pastors, church leaders, Sunday school teachers and educators and the college is fully recognized by the Palestinian Authority, Ministry of Higher Education.

After a wonderful tour of the Bethlehem Bible College led by the founder Dr. Bishara Awad, who is now in retirement, we visited the Church of Nativity, the birthplace the birthplace of Jesus Christ of Nazareth which took place over two thousand years ago.

A lot has changed at the Church of Nativity as the whole place is currently undergoing a massive renovation but the power and joy at the spot where the Saviour was born, the manager, in which baby Jesus was put and the gifts from the three wise men could still be felt with the blue haze indicating the presence of the Holy Spirit.

Long queue was expected at the birthplace but not at the time where the city was dead silent because of a general strike.

But even when the strike was in effect, the line up spilt over onto the streets with pilgrims, holidaymakers and visitors, hopeful of being allowed to visit the holy place.

The little town of Bethlehem, which in Hebrew means “city or house of bread”, has many biblical associations reflecting a tranquil, pastoral existence.

As its name signifies, in antiquity the district was known for its fields and terraces. In the old Bethlehem, is often referred to as Ephrat, which means fruitfulness.

Here nearly four thousand years ago, Jacob buried his young wife Rachel; here was the home of Naomi and her family; here Ruth gleaned in the fields and fell in love with her kinsman Boaz; here their great-grandson David was born and here Samuel “anointed him in the midst of his brethren”[1Samuel 16:13].

But the event which took place here and transformed the course of history was that “Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea” Mathew 2; 1. Today, this town, surrounded by a beautiful hilly landscape, is the home of Christians and Muslim Arabs, many of whom are skilled artisans and craftsmen.

After fruitful discussions with my host, a tour of the birthplace of Christ, I enjoyed lunch in Bethlehem and headed back to the checkpoint to be let into Jerusalem.

Whew, I heard myself blowing hot air out of my mouth with charred lips because it was really hot and sunny, that made everyone to sweat from the hot sun.

That was not a problem because I was born in a tropical country Ghana, therefore, it was not alien to experience a near heat stroke as it was the condition in Bethlehem on that day.

The problem was checking in from a Palestinian controlled area back into Jerusalem where a few Palestinians who were ahead of me in the queue were being double-checked for their permit to enter Israel.

When it got to my turn, I flipped my Canadian passport open showing the Israeli soldier manning the border with the small entry permit chit issued me at the Ben Gurion Airport and the soldier flipped his finger to instruct me to go.

When all seemed over and I was calming down and pondering over the day’s experience in Bethlehem, a Palestinian controlled West Bank, we came to another Israeli checkpoint five minutes drive after the checkpoint.

The public bus driver pulled the brakes and two soldiers came on the bus checking for permit. I again showed him my permit and there was no problem.

But we had to wait for not less than fifteen minutes because the soldiers had to double check a Palestinian passenger’s permit.

After that the driver was allowed to go and we had a nice look of the beautiful scenery of Jerusalem, the giant fortified walls of the old city and many more.

It was really an experience having visited Bethlehem on September 09, 2017 where there was no hurling of stones by Palestinians at Israeli soldiers or tooting of guns by Israeli soldiers at Palestinians which created an imaginary scene of peace and how the world would have been lovely with it.