Beyond the Propaganda and Fear

Growing up in the United States, I heard a lot about the Middle East and Central America... and not much of it was positive. Palestinian and terrorist were usually synonymous and Guatemala for me was where the Guerrilla war was happening.

When I spent six months in the Middle East, I had to learn to let go of some of my fear and be with people on all sides of the conflict. I was still afraid much of the time… especially when Clinton decided to visit Israel while we were there and then bombed Iraq. We celebrated Christmas Eve in Bethlehem and spent Christmas day in Jerusalem. Christmas Day happened to also be the first Friday of Ramadan, the Eve of the Sabbath so the streets were full. As our group was walking from Jaffa Gate to the Mount of Olives to worship with the Expat community, a man approached me. He told me that he wanted to kill me—my blond hair and blue eyes made me easy to select as not from Israel. Our government’s policy was affecting the lives of many and I represented America to him. I said something in Arabic to him and melted into the crowd. Forever Christmas will have the nuance of death for me.

Now I live in Guatemala. Last week my sister in law received a few prank phone calls and yesterday my husband received a phone call that “they are going to kill you.” We have received prank calls before but this is the first death threat we have received by phone. It is usually someone from the church who wants power and wants to threaten us into leaving—it could be the same reasons this time. It brings fear and we will investigate the number and then inform the members of the church, if it is indeed from them, that such threats are taken seriously and have legal consequences.

We could end here and have all of the propaganda who heard growing up be validated. But that would not be correct.

In the Middle East I received my call to be a pastor and in Guatemala I have had that call fulfilled (almost officially =D ). Each country has a painful history of violence and war but each of these countries also has a rich history and depth in the present that have much to teach us as well.