The Eudaimonia Blog

As a reminder, all excerpts on Bishara Awad’s story are taken from his book Yet in the Dark Streets Shining. This book was recommended to me by Dr. James Houston former principal and founder of Regent College here in Vancouver.

Because Hebron was on lockdown, there were military checkpoints which would make it very challenging for Andrew, Bishara and Salim to make it into the city. Andrew said to the two, “I trust the Lord to help me get there. I don’t want to put either of you in any danger.” Bishara responded, “As long as you are going, I am going with you… My friend, are you sure you want to do this?” To which Andrew responded, “I have given the men my word that I would meet with them on Wednesday at eleven a.m., and I am not going to back out of it.” While the trip into Hebron had a few setbacks, for the most part it would be uneventful, the Lord answering Andrew’s prayer, “Lord, you made blind eyes to see. Please now make seeing eyes blind to this car. Please protect everyone in it!” When arriving to the Islamic Center in Hebron they would find a room filled with about a hundred men. Andrew’s voice filled with emotion, he whispered to Bishara, “I am so glad we did not give up.” Both parties had taken great risks to be at this gathering.

The first words spat out of the imam’s mouth were, “Why are we being punished? It was Israelis who massacred us (referring to the recent murders at the Ibrahimi Mosque), and yet we are the ones confined to our homes while they roam free. . . . The murderer, may his name be cursed, did not act alone. After the mosque, at least ten more people were killed. Someone was killed while assisting the ambulances in front of the Al Ahli hospital. My friend’s son was hit in the neck with a bullet. He is paralyzed now. Haram! And yet we are the ones being treated like criminals. Where is the justice?” Another one interjected, “The soldiers quietly watched the whole thing, I think some of them enjoyed it.” Another shouted, “They even shot and killed more of us when we were burying our dead at the cemetery. Ya Allah! They are dogs, and sons of dogs!”

While translating to Andrew (who was Dutch), Bishara silently prayed, “Dear Lord, help us to comfort them.”

Bishara writes that many of these leaders of Hamas had barely returned home from their year-long exile to Marj al Zubour when they as a community experienced the terrible mosque murders. As Bishara writes “It was easy to see why hatred bubbled in their hearts.”

The imam continued, “And after everything else, we have been confined to our homes for almost a month, with only two hours a week to leave the house to buy food! Are they trying to starve us to death?” He then spat words,… but then softened for a moment, “I am sorry we cannot offer you our traditional hospitality. Inshallah, the best we can do right now is simply to be together. Thank you for coming.”

At that point, Salim opened a large package the group had smuggled into Hebron. It contained Bibles, books and Jesus videos. He began to distribute them to the group. Andrew began to preach and Bishara translated, “I’ve come bearing gifts for you. I wanted to provide you with a wonderful meal, but this is an even more important feast. As it says in the Bible, ‘man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ Here is some spiritual bread that I hope will nourish and comfort your souls. Don’t let the dust settle on these Bibles! Read them and you will be blessed!”

The imam then introduced Andrew who had visited Marj al Zubour many times, “Brother Andrew has traveled a long way to visit us today. He was a friend to us when no one else was. Please listen to him with the respect he deserves.”

Andrew then went on to share the testimony of how the Lord intervened in his life as a young man, how he had been set free from so much anger, and how his life had changed when he realized that Jesus had laid down his life for him. Andrew added, “And not just for me, but for all of you too. This is how God proved his great love and faithfulness to us, by his death on the cross. Why? Because of his love for the whole world!”

A few of the men appeared agitated and the murmurings began but then died down. One of the men stood up and said, “Here is one of the main differences between us. Christianity is a religion of love and ours is one of justice. God is Ar-Rahman Ar-Rahim, the All-Compassionate and Most Merciful. But he is also al Qahhar, the One who subdues evil and oppression. Hamas will avenge the wicked deeds. Israel must feel the pain for what they have done.

Andrew listened, paused and then responded, “I understand your anger and pain. But there are better avenues than using violence to try and bring about justice. God is not blind. He sees what is happening here. ‘Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord.’ It is better to leave these things to his hands.” Andrew then urged them to open their hearts to Jesus who could help them find the greatest inner liberation, even in their tragedy. He then turned to 1 John 4:

⁷ Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. ⁸ Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. ⁹ In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. ¹⁰ In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. ¹¹ Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. ¹² No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.

The room became quiet and Andrew concluded:

¹⁹ We love because he first loved us. ²⁰ If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. ²¹ And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.

Bishara writes that it was a tough message and in this situation an almost impossible one, but the men seemed to listen quietly.

As the meeting ended, the imam presented Andrew with his own well-worn Qur’an, admonishing him, with a twinkle in his eye, to “not let the dust settle on it.” After kissing many of the men on both cheeks, the three, Andrew, Bishara and Salim returned to their taxi.