This fall, Middle East Studies Program (MESP) students enjoyed three lengthy sessions and three meals with Abuna (means our father) Elias Chacour, Palestinian Christian author of Blood Brothers and founder and principal of Mar Elias Educational Institutions, currently serving over four thousand Muslim, Christian, and Jewish children, located in the Galilee region of Israel. Discussions covered themes such as Eastern Christian spirituality, parable readings in a Galilean context, and of course, stories about Abuna’s struggle to find paths of reconciliation between Muslims, Jews, and Christians in Israel and Palestine. Abuna took questions on many of these subjects including the peace process, Yassir Arafat, and the quality of life experienced by Israeli-Arabs compared with Arabs in other parts of the Middle East. As always, Abuna shared his idea of what evangelism involves. Comparing the morality of many Christians to that of Pontius Pilate, whose hand-washing symbolizes human resistance to the Biblical command to be our brother’s keeper, Abuna emphasized instead the need for Christians to act on the Master’s words by getting our hand’s dirty in the work of the Gospel. He also invited students to visit Ibillin, the site of a school system from elementary through university level, and seek ways of working or volunteering in their educational endeavors. As always, students learned something new about their own faith tradition and its manifold expressions in this part of the world.

Related Links
	Middle East Studies Program
	Mar Elias Educational Institutions