Bethlehem

We have arrived in Bethlehem! Dara and I are staying with a very nice family who don't know very much English, but their three younger daughters are very cute and already love us. Wherever we go they are holding our hands.

We went to Jerusalem yesterday and saw quite a few sites, walked around the Old City. Today we went to the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. It was a Greek Orthodox service, which was interesting, but I didn't understand any of it. Their singing voices are beautiful, but it all seemed very solemn.

We start our placements tomorrow. Dara, Chiantelle, and I will be volunteering in a centre for mentally and physically disabled children and adults.

It is definitely different being in the West Bank. It is strange that we are able to go to checkpoints into Israel without any problems, but most of the time the people living here cannot go into Jerusalem. As one man put it : "You have more rights in my country than I do. That is not fair." I hope that we can learn a lot from these people so that we can tell their stories when we come back to Canada and can know how to better pray for these people and this country. One of the families that a couple of the boys are staying with have said that we will be their ambassadors when we go back to Canada. I pray that we can do this well.