The waters of everlasting life...

Yesterday, we visited the Taybeh, the only all Christian town in the Holy Land. Taybeh has really suffered from the exodus of Christians from the Holy Land, with many houses remaining vacant, and the town suffering from some pretty severe brain drain, as educated youth choose to move to and work in North and Latin America. We did visit a great sign of hope for the town, the Taybeh Brewing Company. Started by a local man, who while studying at Harvard began to brew his own beer. After studying brewing in the United States he decided to return home and open a brewery. Now the only brewery in the Middle East, Taybeh Brewing is a local business bringing economic development to the region. It took a family's commitment to local business development, instead of immigrating elsewhere, to help bring this economic engine and jobs to the community.

We also visited Nablus, where the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts has helped to renovate the emergency room of St. Luke's Hospital, which is run by the Anglican Diocese of Jeruselem. St. Luke's is an important part of the medical network in this economically depressed West Bank town. It delivers 2500 children every year, and promises to serve anyone who comes to it without regard to their ability to pay. Infant mortality in the West Bank is about four times higher than in Israel proper, showing the incredible disparity in the occupied territories. The Episcopal Church here is a really important part of the local social services structures in the West Bank.

From there we visited the site of Jacob's Well, where Jesus met the Samaritan Woman in John's Gospel. It is an amazing site, with a Greek Orthodox Church recently rebuilt by a local priest over it. The priests of the church had been attacked several time by Israeli settlers who have sought to take control of the Holy Site. One priest was killed, and his remains are interred in the church. Broken marble stairs from grenade explosions also remain from the attacks. The faith and fortitude of the local community against great suffering is really incredible. In the basement of the church is the well of Jacob, where one can lower a bucket more than 50 feet down to gather water for drinking. It is here at this well that Jesus said that the water from the well will always leave you thirsty, but that he had the waters of life. It is faith in Jesus that inspires the work of places like St. Luke's Hospital, Taybeh Brewing Company and the Orthodox community gathered around Jacob's Well, not just the stones of the holy sites. Their work and discipleship is truly an icon of God's movement and Christ's living water nourishing lives.