September 2010: This Kairos Moment
September 2010 Bulletin Insert Format [PDF]Septiembre 2010 en español
For I am sure that nothing in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. Romans 8:38, 39
The Palestinian Christian community, with roots dating back to earliest Christianity, now numbers less than two percent of the population in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. But the community prominently offers a non-violent witness for justice and peace. Last December in Bethlehem, Palestinian Christians launched “A Moment of Truth.” They called it a “Kairos” document, the word in early Greek meaning “opportunity” or critical moment in time, and meant to allude to the crucial South African Kairos document which in 1985 prompted debate about Apartheid worldwide. The Kairos document states that “… Love is seeing the face of God in every human being. Every person is my brother or my sister. However, seeing the face of God in everyone does not mean accepting evil or aggression on their part. Rather, this love seeks to correct the evil and stop the aggression.”
The believer in nonviolence has deep faith in the future. Palestinian Christians write, “Our hope remains strong” based on the expectation in faith of a better future. “In the absence of hope, we cry out our cry of hope… We believe in God, good and just [and that God’s goodness] will finally triumph…. We will see here ‘a new land’ and ‘a new human being’, capable of rising up in the spirit to love each one of his or her brothers and sisters.”
We pray, for hope, patience, and steadfastness and a time for repentance. Though their numbers are few, their message is great and important, in a land in urgent need of love.
Peter Makari is Global Ministries Area Executive for the Middle East and Europe.
You will find the Kairos document, action resources and updates at: http://globalministries.org/mee/kairos/