Well, after spending the past two weeks in the Middle East in Muslim, Christian, and Jewish communities we have had many different experiences. We drank tea with polite Muslim men in carpet shops all over Istanbul. We spent a week with Jewish guides. We spent time in Palestinian areas moving among with both Muslims and Arab Christians. We had some amazing conversations that I am still pondering upon.

Two kinds of memories come to mind to characterize my experience. In the first one, I was trying to eat a peach walking through a market and I had one arm in a sling. The peach juice was dripping off my chin and a waiter in a nearby restaurant grabbed some napkins and ran to the place in the road where I was headed to put them in my hands. How thoughtful! Amazingly tuned in to my needs. What an example of grace and hospitality!

On the other hand, I had young men in Istanbul talk dirty to my wife repeatedly whenever I was not standing at her side. Gangs of young boys would come and mock us and hit us with their palms laughing. Twice we had the experience of little boys with toy machine guns sitting on balconies pretending to shoot us. Their young minds are being programmed to hate and to kill. It concerned me because I saw so much of it. The older generation has a deep sincere politeness and respect for others. These young boys, however, seem to have a much different mindset. What they will be capable of in the future is troubling to consider.

OK, we finally made it to the holy land courtesy of United Christian Broadcasters on whose international board I sit. We held our board meeting and got acquainted with life in the middle east in the process, visiting historical sites and modern Jewish developments hosted by Jewish guides, then visited restricted Palestinian areas hosted by Palestinians to get their perspective. Then Sherry and I went to Istanbul for the Muslim point of view and were able to enter the Blue Mosque and spend some time with some interesting Muslim people for a couple of days. There are beautiful people everywhere and if you will just listen to them they have something to say that you need to listen to and learn. To see more photos click here.