This morning we worshipped at the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem. Due the large number of American vistors and the guest preacher from Minneapolis, the church was spoken part in English and part in Arabic. The opening hymn of the service was "O Little Town of Bethlehem"--as soon as I saw that I was overjoyed! not only is it one of my favorite Christmas songs, but there is something so right about singing "O Little Town of Bethlehem" in Bethlehem! Listening to the song in two languages was so moving, beautiful and a real Penticost moment.
While I could not understand the exact words that were being spoken in Arabic, through the emotion and the spirit of the service I could follow everything that was happening around me. Worship this morning has definitely been one of the highlights of the trip for me so far. Tomorrow we leave Bethlehem and cross the border into Jerusalem to continue our journey.
A blog of Louisville Seminary students and friends traveling to Israel and Palestine in January, 2011.
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