You have probably seen in various St. Mark missives that we will be welcoming an International Peacemaker from Palestine, Muna Nassar, to our area at the end of September. Muna will be presenting at the Saturday and Sunday worship services at St. Mark on September 28 and 29, and will offer a workshop at the Presbytery of Los Ranchos meeting on Saturday, September 28 at St. Peter’s by the Sea Presbyterian Church (16911 Bolsa Chica St. in Huntington Beach) at 12:30pm. Muna will also be meeting with our youth and others from the presbytery during her stay here.
A few introductory notes may be in order.
1. “International Peacemakers” is a ministry of the Peacemaking Program of the Presbyterian Church (PCUSA). They invite leaders of partner churches to share their experiences from around the world as peacemakers. This is one of the missions supported each year by our Peacemaking Offering, which we receive on Worldwide Communion Weekend, the first weekend in October.
2. Muna is part of a movement in Palestine called “Kairos Palestine.” The word “kairos” is from one of the two Greek words in the New Testament that refer to time. The other is “chronos.” “Chronos,” as you would imagine, refers to chronological time, the succession of seconds, minutes, hours, days, etc. “Kairos” has come to mean something more like “the right time,” a propitious moment that calls us to take a stand, offer a word, etc.
3. In 1985 Christians in South Africa issued a document called The South African Kairos Document, issuing a call for churches to recognize the realities of life under Apartheid, to resist, and to demand change. Similar documents were written in other contexts, such as Central America, Zimbabwe, and India. In 1989, a group of Christian Palestinians issued the Kairos Palestine document, officially entitled, “A Moment of Truth: a word of faith, hope, and love from the heart of Palestinian suffering.” You can read the Kairos Document here. It is not a brief read, so you will want to give yourself time.
4. In 2010, the General Assembly (G.A.) of the PCUSA approved a report from the Middle East peacemaking committee and commended the study of the Kairos Palestine document to all members and churches of the PCUSA. They also directed the peacemaking group to write a study guide for that document, which you can find here.
It is hard to find a topic that generates more controversy between Jews, Muslims, and Christians than Palestine/Israel. Even among PCUSA commissioners when the G.A. meets every two years, the conversations are difficult and decisions are negotiated very carefully. In 2003, the G.A. approved a study entitled “Resolution on Israel and Palestine: End the Occupation Now.” In 2008, the G. A. approved a more moderate approach, arguing for the need not to “over identify with the realities of the Israelis or the Palestinians.” Even so, the PCUSA has consistently recommended studies that help to show the realities of injustice with which Palestinians live daily.
When Muna Nassar visits us, we will have the opportunity to speak someone who can offer us a Palestinian Christian perspective on Israel/Palestine. I invite you to prepare for her visit by reading the documents that I have linked above, formulating your questions, and opening your heart to her testimony and witness to us. As the authors of Kairos Palestine said, “As Palestinian Christians we hope that this document will provide the turning point to focus the efforts of all peace-loving peoples in the world, especially our Christian sisters and brothers … We believe that liberation from occupation is in the interest of all peoples in the region because the problem is not just a political one, but one in which human beings are destroyed. We pray God to inspire us all, particularly our leaders and policy-makers, to find the way of justice and equality, and to realize that it is the only way that leads to the genuine peace we are seeking.”
Mark of St. Mark
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