Group Poems
A time of group reflection and prayer
For our final devotional, the youth brought together the entire group for a reflection through prayer. They initiated an exercise, aptly named, a group poem. Every member of the pilgrimage wrote two lines of a poem and then passed it to the pilgrim next to them, who then wrote a single line. They continued this, each pilgrim writing a single line—one after another—around the circle until the final poem reached its original author. The author of the poem was given the option of finalizing their poem with a single line; many found that their poems were perfect without a final addition. The theme of these poems is Growth.
Remember: Each line of these poems is done by a different pilgrim: coming from a different background: sharing a single experience of pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
Sami Qumri
As I meet new friends
My experience continues to grow
With everything I have and everything I already know
What I know most is God’s Love for me.
At the foot of great Calvary
Where my Lord died on a tree.
And rose again just for me
We grow in friendship and understanding
With every big and little thing.
We can flourish in difficult times as well
Look forward and not dwell
On time past and time present
In the future…
And for evermore…
My mind begins to soar
I open my self to new things
As we experience the old
We look forward to the new!
AMEN!
Or a new experience
Or wherever he may take us
He will guide us there
Amen!
Keith Yamamoto
(Chaperone)
The most difficult thing about growing is
Accepting my limits and my connections to others
Because you might not like certain people
Or temptation might be too hard to resist
But this pilgrimage has made a difference in my growth
It made my faith stronger and bigger
It made things that were hard to believe…true
And yet now I feel more secure
I know I believe and I feel good
That others have felt it too, my friends and fellow pilgrims
So connecting is easy
If you have Love and Faith
Your heart is full of love and word
And if you stay true to yourself
He will lead the way
Being a true Christian is a big decision
To see what Jesus saw
And to know and feel God’s love
First hand in my life
Gives a fire to life worth sharing; worth living
A flame so bright
Ever lasting joy
Making our lives something wonderful
And that can last forever
Amen. Alleluia!
Elizabeth Bacon
As we go on this journey
Our faith grows like a tree
Growing with our faith
In a wonderful place
How good it is to be
Part of the tree of life
Eating of its fruit
Tasting the sweetness
Planting seeds
Making our roots grow
With wind, water, sun—love grace, patience…
The tree grows mighty and strong
For ever and ever
In God’s eternal kingdom
Never lost
And as it ages, it will still keep growing strong
Its seeds spread eternally and make their presence strong
In our hearts
And in our souls
And our spirits
Will be satisfied
And together
Our trees will come together
Into a
Beautiful forest
With God.
Shelby Przyk
Growth can be many different things
It can be physical or spiritual
It can be magical or difficult
When I think of growth
I think of the time I spent here
My heart grows with more belief within each minute
I soon thirst to grow more
And become closer to my faith
And close to my true self
Closer to true salvation itself
I get to know more about Jesus Christ
To see one true meaning of things
And help understand who I am as His follower
Journeys are hard—but true destinations are always bright
Being blessed by Jesus Christ makes it hard to leave
To see my faith in a different environment
But to know I carry that faith with me
And no one or anything can take it away
From me!
And now I long to pass it on
And cherish it forever
With those I keep and carry in my heart
With those I meet and have yet to meet and know
That is the meaning to grow.
Chris Tumilty
(Leader)
We’ve walked a wonderful walk
Wrinkled with wishes and hopes
Through ancient streets
A long cardo and modern villas
And we expanded our knowledge of a different place
Through running rivers that wash away sins and bring a new beginning
And tombs that mark the “end”
Will keep my faith for the Lord strong
Rechristening our baptismal vows
Sharing that we’ve learned
Hearing the thoughts of others that they kept in their hearts.
And forever keeping this with me
Will always change my life indeed
Jesus changed the world, thus changed me too
Now I’ve earned the right to say
God is always with us and is risen
To fight for something stronger
And help me when I’m weak
Help me when things get rough
Jesus will remain in our heart eternal
This experience was truly a gift
From God
And now I must share
All of this love with others and tell of God’s great mercy
On my good good walk.
Deb Neal
(Leader)
Coming to the empty tome—broken
Leaving filled with Hope.
Touching Calvary
And making friends,
Getting wet at the Jordan
And remembering who I am and to whom I belong
Walking the many paths of Jesus
Being denied as Jesus was
Being filled with the Spirit at the western wall
Seeing how the people’s faith is strong
Seeing how people can change from our little doubt
These new experiences overwhelm me
With many feelings of Joy
I know I am prepared to take this back home
And change the lives of others
Hopefully to those who need it most
We pray for them to have the strength to learn and grow
So that they may feel what we feel
We are all one in his heart
We are like a herd of sheep in God’s hands
To never be alone
And to know of God’s Love and Healing for us
His guidance and grace…
Amen.
Kathy Peniche
I started with little knowledge of God and his family
Now I understand more and can take this knowledge back to share
I will remember this trip forever and ever
Nothing can ever replace what I experienced here
It would take the return of Jesus to be better than this
Will my friends’ ears accept what my eyes have seen?
Or will they not believe anything I tell them?
Will they cast me out?
Or will they fit me in?
Or will they be by my side listening?
I know somehow things happen for a reason
And I have to let that experience take its course
God will always lead the way
Truth delivers you away from evil sins
To see the lord in someone else’s eyes
And to feel God’s love first hand
Brings hot tears to my eyes
And in a moment
I feel forever
That I am at peace
That I am a bringer of peace
And that peace must be told
Through me.
August 11th 2008
Pilgrim baptismal vows
Wadin’ in the water—at the Jordan
The pilgrims wrapped up their day on Monday, August 11, with a renewal of their baptismal covenant at the Jordan River.
This is the baptismal covenant as understood through the hearts and minds of our pilgrims.
Kathy P.
Will you continue to go to church and believe in God’s teachings?
Chaz and Shelby
Will you persevere in resisting evil such as giving in to negative teenage peer pressure, disrespecting your parent’s aspirations and guidelines and do not exchange blows but words and agree to disagree, and each time you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord?
Elizabeth, Catherine and Ruby:
Will you spread the good word of God through your voice and actions?
Lizy & Malcolm:
Will you love Christ and others regardless of their differences?
Elaine:
Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, especially in teenage controversy, not only in your country but in all nations around the world and respect the dignity of not just your elders but of all ages and younger?
Afterwards leaders Chris Tumilty and Deb Neal, using water from the river and olive branches as asperges, sprinkled the entire group with water as a reminder of our baptisms. Then pilgrims collected water from the river as a memento.
August 8th 2008
The Living Stones
At St. George’s Guest House cook Mossa Lahlahe unveiled with great gusto a Palestinian specialty for lunch: maklob. Translated in English, it means “upside down”. It’s cooked in a huge pot with either beef, chicken or lamb (we had beef) first, followed by cauliflower, and topped with rice. When it’s ready to be served, Mossa flips it onto a huge tray, and voila! A delicious meal was had by all.
Mossa says he was born in Hebron and has been at St. George’s for 28 years. He lives at the guest house and cooks most, if not all, the meals served here. He says his uncle helped him come to St. George’s. He has nine children, eight girls and a son who is about to be married in two weeks. His children live in Hebron.
August 7th 2008
The Living Stones
Dr. Ali Qleibo, whose family is among the oldest in Jerusalem, who talked with our youth pilgrims outside the Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount, one of the holiest sites for Muslims, after a brief conversation about Islam.
Muslims believe the prophet Muhammad, accompanied by the angel Gabriel, ascended into heaven at this site. Located in the Muslim Quarter of the old city, it is the oldest Muslim shrine in the world, but is no longer open to visitors because of the struggle for ownership within the city of Jerusalem, he tells us.
In Judaism the location of the stone is venerated as the holiest spot on earth, the site of the holy of the holies—the inner sanctuary of the tabernacle and later the temple in Jerusalem, which only the High Priest could enter on Yom Kippur. Muslims are concerned, Qleibo says, that Israelis will enter the Dome and declare it a synagogue.
He is a Palestinian Muslim whose relationship is so bound up with the city and its holy sites that he points out a small stone structure nearby which was his grandfather’s prayer room and library. Matter-of-factly, the author, lecturer, artist and social anthropologist admits that his family has held a key to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, believed to be the site of Calvary, where Christ was crucified, since about the 7th century. And yes, it is an actual key.
August 5th 2008
‘Living Stones’
A blog about the people and places we encounter
“We will not be enemies,” reads a sign outside Daoud (David) Nassar’s “Tent of Nations”. L.A. youth pilgrims left our tour bus to trudge about half-mile along a dusty, rocky road past barbed wire fences, around huge boulders and to duck beneath a rope to reach the home of Daoud (David) Nassar.
Nassar, a Palestinian Christian, shared with us the story of how ‘Daher’s Vineyard’, a hundred-acre stretch of land five miles south of Bethlehem, has also become known as the “Tent of Nations,” a place of hope and peace.
He points out various tents, which include a greenhouse where his family grows vegetables. Goats and chickens, even a donkey, reside in another tent—which offers shade from the hot desert sun. Other tents are used as sleeping quarters and meeting space—filled with picnic-style tables—for pilgrims, volunteers and Christian and Muslim youth from Bethlehem.
He also takes us inside the cave where his grandfather, Daher Nassar, lived after he bought the land in 1916. Despite the late afternoon heat, the cave was cool—the reason his grandfather, father and uncle lived there, Nassar explained. Caves are cool in summer, warm in winter.
It has been recently “renovated,” using stone from the rubbish heap of a local quarry and with the help of volunteers like Dominic, from Germany, who has been doing community service with Tent of Nations for a year. He is also in the process of transforming another cave, discovered several years ago, into a chapel.
“Learning Hope, Planting Peace” is the motto of Tent of Nations, where Nassar offers recreational activities for young people. When they arrive, the animal tent becomes a petting zoo. He says the only zoo available nearby is in Jerusalem and Palestinians need to apply for a special permit to go there.
The cave becomes a meeting place and an open-air stone seating area is transformed into a theatre. There are olive, fig and grape harvest festivals, “work camps” for those who wish to do volunteer service, and a tree planting campaign with the ambitious goal of planting 1,000 olive trees yearly.
“We just had a group of American tourists who stayed overnight,” Nassar says. Groups from all over the world have volunteered their time and energy, including European Jews for a Just Peace.
He has been embroiled in a court battle for decades over this stretch of land. In 1991, the Israeli government declared it state property. Nassar says he is not allowed a permit for running water, for electricity, even for the tents, which house guests and livestock. The reason? He points across the valley on three sides to Israeli settlements. “We are up high, on a hill, they want to build another one,” he said.
Yet, he adds: “we want to do something positive out of a difficult situation,” so he uses a generator for electricity, collects and purifies rainwater for cooking and other uses.” And he started Tent of Nations “to build bridges people to people. I want everyone visiting, everyone.”
Tent of Nations also offers summer enrichment programs in the arts and camps for young people to give them something constructive—otherwise he is worried that many youth find mischievous outlets for their energy and frustration. Earlier in the day, the L.A. pilgrims witnessed a little of that frustration when several young pranksters lobbed oranges at our tour bus.
Although we were all a bit surprised, no one was hurt. Our bus driver reported the incident to the Palestinian police because a small upper window on the bus was broken. The police apologized profusely and promised to look into it. Iyad Qumri, our travel guide, said nothing like this had ever happened before. He, also, was very sorry for what happened and assured us, and we assure all you, that our young people are safe and we will keep them so.
Please continue to pray for a just peace in the Middle East. Nassar plans to be in Los Angles in October, hoping to meet with congregations to tell his story. Perhaps some of us will get a chance to meet with him during his visit. To volunteer, to get involved in the Tent of Nations solar project or for general information, visit the website at: http://www.tentofnations.org
--story by the Rev. Pat McCaughan (associate at St. George’s, Laguna Hills, photos by the Rev. Keith Yamamoto, (associate at St. Margaret of Scotland, San Juan Capistrano), husband-and-wife chaperones along on the youth pilgrimage.
July 8th 2008
A Message from Bishop J. Jon Bruno
to the Pilgrims
Thank you for committing yourself to this Hands in Healing Youth Pilgrimage to the Holy Land. I'd like to remind you to be prayerful during the experience that you are about to enjoy. The Holy Land is truly a home to reflection and prayer.
Remain caring and open to all cultures and people. Experience the Holy Land with the depth and understanding of the connection and responsibility we all have towards each other. Act with a full and open heart. It will take you extra time and out of your normal comfort zone. You are the youth; the growing strength of our diocese and our church. Go and show the world your power and love through responsible behavior.
On your pilgrimage, your experience is what is important. You are encouraged to enter into dialogue with your leaders. They are all capable people and are there to help you in every way.
Your presence, youth, and love are truly hands in healing for the Holy Land. The strongest hands create the strongest friendships.
I pray you have joy, laughter, and a wonderful learning experience. Reflect on the power of silence, peace, and joy. In silence, in stillness, ponder the greatness of your existence, and the truly endless love of God and the endless power that is within you. This will serve you well during this pilgrimage.
Thank you for your commitment to pilgrimage as an act of biblical education and spiritual advancement. Devotion to God, church, and love shine through every crevice of this pilgrimage to the Holy Land. A pilgrimage is not vacation. It is actually hard work. Expect to be challenged spiritually and mentally in many directions. Pilgrimage calls us into reflection of our human character in union with our God. Meditate on the power of Jesus in your life. Pilgrimage is sacred time.
Love, listen, and laugh as you journey through the Holy Land.
Salaam and Shalom,
+J. Jon Bruno
July 8th 2008
A History and Opinion of the Israel-Palestine Relationship
by: Chris Tumilty
Religious tolerance overwhelmingly dominates the character of the American citizen. The right to freely explore a spiritual experience, in any format, is the historical soul of American freedom. Israel, on the other hand, actively engages itself in a religiously infused polity; forcing the Christians, Muslims, and Jews into a nose dive of economic and human rights issues.
During Israel’s establishment, following World War II, the ‘Mother Country,’ Great Britain, removed itself from their 1922 commitment to the League of Nations to establish an economic and cultural base for a Jewish state in the Middle East; do to fighting between the Palestinian Arabs and the Jewish immigrants, Great Britain found it an irreconcilable construction between two civilizations that differ in community, culture, and religion.
By 1947 the United Nations had taken steps toward ‘corpus seperatum’ as defined in the UN Partition Plan to divide the Palestinian and Israeli state (UN General Assembly Resolution 181). The resolution was adopted by Israel November 29th, 1947, but the Arab League rejected the two state solution (and why should they—it was their land, right?).
May 14, 1948, Israel was announced a sovereign state.
Almost immediately, Jordon, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Egypt attacked the new neighbor. Jordon annexed the west bank of the Jordon River. Egypt annexed a small strip along the Mediterranean, known as Gaza. Unfortunately for the Arabs, the attacking countries never had a cohesive, planned attack—divided, they fell one by one. Israel took out Egyptian air superiority, and defended itself against Jordon’s military high ground in the West Bank.
Israel presently occupies and controls the invasion areas from sixty years ago. They refuse, rather intelligently, to give up the territory—clear and proven insertion points for invasion. Israel has also constructed a wall, Berlin in likeness, within the bounds of the separate state of Palestine (protecting the Israelis from further/future “invasion” from the West Bank).
The point is peace though. Not vicious actions, ping-ponging back and forth; because, clearly, they’ve been trading blows back and forth for decades. But I fear a ‘peace treaty’ will never bring peace to this region. I believe it will only be accomplished when a ‘people treaty’ is established.
When people visit and see the current state of the West Bank, they will voice their opinions. There is no ignoring it. People will rise up one day and demand freedom and peace for the downtrodden locked in the West Bank and Gaza.
July 8th 2008
I still Weep:
A Reflection on Pilgrimage to the Holy Land
by: Deb Neal
It is quite difficult to come up with a statement that can fully and completely express my feelings about the experience of pilgrimage to the Holy Land. The different levels from which I saw Palestine—the political, historical, academic, social and spiritual—come together in my soul in a rather complicated yet compelling mosaic of sense.
It seems to make sense that the place where, in history, our Lord brought upheaval on one level and peace on another should still be in political turmoil. It makes sense that the people who have traveled to this land to study and learn are touched deeply in their hearts by the warm and hospitable greeting they receive from the people who live here. It is not surprising that this experience was so spiritual that the effect on my life has touched the deepest of places in my soul. And it makes sense that I can find few words to explain it.
There were many experiences that moved me and depending on the time of day different scenes will come to mind to give me a sense of outrage or sense of peace. However, the one experience that has touched me in a way I never imagined was praying at the Western Wall (the Wailing Wall).
I still weep - standing with my forehead against the ancient stone, cool to the touch and smoothed by thousands of years of the tears, the sweat, and the prayers of generations of women. I became a part of the never ending cycle of prayer, continually raised up by Jewish, Muslim, and Christian women; standing together as one, holding up our children, our husbands, our friends, our families, our pain, our joy, our faith – laying our lives at the feet of God and knowing we are not forgotten by Him.
I do not think that as women of different faith traditions our prayers were different at all. I think we all long for the same thing – peace in our time.
Come and See
by: Pat McCaughan And Keith Yamamoto, Pilgrims Still
We are excited to be part of the leadership team to bring young people from the Los Angeles Diocese to the Holy Land.
Our first trip (which was less than a year ago) was life changing for us as Christians. To walk in the places Jesus preached and healed and to meet our indigenous Christian brothers and sisters who still serve as custodians to so many holy places were truly amazing. There is no other city like Jerusalem - connected directly to the origins of Christianity, as well as, Islam and Judaism. At its best, Jerusalem (“City of Peace”) is a model of God’s grace in a religiously diverse community.
We can't wait to see and hear what the Holy Land is like through the hearts and minds of the members of the Youth Pilgrimage.
Our hope is that we all get reconnected to God through Jesus Christ and get reacquainted with the Bible as a living word that still speaks to us.
