With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your god?" (Micah 6: 6&8.)

You have my father’s blessing; come, enter and possess the kingdom that has been ready for you since the world was made. For when I was hungry, you gave me food; when thirsty, you gave me drink; when I was a stranger you took me into your home, when naked you clothed me; when I was ill you came to my help, when in prison you visited me (Matthew 25:34-36).

Dear Family and Friends,

My son Charles and I returned to the United States at the beginning of July for a one-year assignment as Missionary in Residence at the Presbyterian Center in Louisville. After a quick visit in Rhode Island, we flew to Kentucky to get settled in a spacious furnished apartment in Furlough House on the grounds of the Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary. Furlough House is provided and maintained by Presbyterian Women for use by mission personnel. I feel truly blessed to be able to stay there. The area is green and parklike—quite a startling contrast to Cairo.

Charles, who will be 9 in February, is attending third grade in the Louisville public school system. After initial nervousness, he has adjusted well and is making excellent academic progress. He is still transitioning—he misses his friends in Egypt and the pattern of life familiar to him there.

With Charles in school, I began working in the Middle East Office of the Worldwide Ministries Division. Among other things, I’m working on an ecumenical advocacy project to end the Israeli military occupation of Palestine. Specifically, I am assisting in developing for the church community educational resources that will raise awareness of the history and reality of the conflict in Palestine-Israel. (See http://www.pcusa.org/wmd/ep/country/conflict/). This has involved a learning curve for me. I have been living on a steady diet of e-mail press releases and Middle Eastern news articles, many forwarded by PC (USA) Mission Specialist Doug Dicks who has been in Bethlehem for many years. These articles recount the appalling situation of Palestinian Muslims and Christians.

To quote from the Advent message received December 3 from Christian personnel working in the Holy Land: "We live in a land plagued by injustice and where terror exists in many different forms. The acts of Palestinian suicide bombers, whether against Israeli civilians or soldiers, are publicly and swiftly identified and condemned as terror by the world community. But, unfortunately, Israeli actions inflicted upon a predominantly unarmed civilian Palestinian population—confiscating land, shelling residential areas and refugee camps, bulldozing agricultural lands, demolishing houses, assassinating political leaders and activists, expanding settlements, torturing political detainees, killing children—are too seldom acknowledged or condemned as the acts of terror they are. For Palestinians living in the Holy Land, this silence by the Israeli and international public compounds the experience of loss and destruction, creating feelings of abandonment, resentment and despair."

It is wonderful to be in the United States at this time of year—to be with family and friends, to enjoy the Advent season, the music, and other signs of Christmas missed in the past several years. However, my sense of homecoming and familiarity is counteracted by the events of September 11 and by the tragic suffering of the peoples of Afghanistan, Iraq, and Palestine-Israel. During this Advent season, as we anticipate the coming of Christ, as we reflect on the child in the manger in Bethlehem, let us also reflect on the children of present-day Bethlehem, the children of Palestine, the children of Iraq and Afghanistan. Let us spend a little time imagining their pain, their suffering, their terror, their hunger, the bleakness of their lives. As we pray for new eyes and new hearts for our leaders, let us spend time also meditating on what God is calling us to do.

May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up the light of his countenance upon you and give you peace both now and forever more.

Wishing Christmas blessings to each and everyone,

Nancy and Charles

The 2001 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 139