Ramallah

What a day it's been. Met up with Dr. Sabella and he drove us to Ramallah, the capital of Palestine and headquarters of the PLC (Palestinian Legislative Council). We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into.

We walk into the headquarters, with what appeared to be more of a shanty building, with dirty, empty white walls except for a few posters of their late leader Yassir Arafat. It was mind blowing! This was their national headquarters. The copy machines were dusty, the message board had one notice on it, and the rooms were as plain as can be. We asked why this was the case and found out that they essentially had no money. Their funding was cut off by USAid a while back because it was recognized as a terrorist organization. It was only 4 months ago that they continued aid because it recognized the Fatah organization as a legitimate regime.

Dr. Sabella, himself a representative from East Jerusalem then took us around the facility, introducing us to many of the members, including the Chief Executive of the PLC, General Cleric, and the head of communications. Each had plenty of time for us, welcoming us like we were royalty and providing tea and coffee. I must have had 6 cups of coffee. Maxwell posed a number of questions to each politician, including their impressions on the current proposals made by Bush and Rice. I wish I could comment some of the impressions, but Maxwell is writing a piece for the paper tomorrow, so I'll have to hold off.


Along with these amazing conversations with the leaders of Palestine in their headquarters, a march came up to the steps of the building, where each official walked out to address them and their grievances. It was amazing, as I had the most unique view of the entire protest, being just inside the main door, directly behind all the politicians. The protest was concerning family members of Palestinians that had been imprisoned by the Israeli government. They were applying pressure to the government as the peace accords in Washington, well Annapolis to be exact, as they are fast approaching.

We then went to the President, Abbas' compound and where Arafat was given house arrest for 5 years. It was heavily guarded and it was only through Dr. Sabella that we were able to pass.

Dr. Sabella has been the kindest man, giving his time so generously. We have met his entire family a few times, and at the end of the day, he drove us to his house and we shared tea and fruit with his daughter and wife. We saw the human side of this politician. We saw him laugh and joke with his family. It was so incredibly special, I really couldn't stop telling myself, "what's going on? How did I get here?"


What a day.

unexpected

I had a long talk with this archaeologist who had excavated in the Old City years ago. He described how the "detritus" of past civilizations had constantly raised the level of the streets on an average of about one foot a century. And over the years, as new rulers triumphed over this strategic city, they would build churches over the historical sites.
If you've never been over here, you'd be surprised at Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Hebron, Jericho and Nazareth. They seemed buried belowground, closed in, tinseled, and highly commericial, not simple and primitive, as we all imagine I suppose. It has spoken to the very core, the tension with people today: the search for genuineness, seeing something as it is even if it's not attractive. These churches over the original sites seemed to mask what really happened, displaying beautiful artwork with shiny happy people as if completely forgetting what it really was.

Only when I traveled in the open spaces and saw the Mount of Olives, the Garden Tomb, Cana, Mount Carmel, the Sea of Galilee and the Jordan River did I feel that I was looking at the country as it might have appeared in biblical times.

Maxwell told me what his father, a great minister once said:

"I am recovering the claim that Christ was not crucified between two candles, but on the towns garbage heap in a place so cosmopolitan that they had to write his inscription in three languages. It was a place where thieves laugh, soldiers gamble, and cynics talk smut. That is where the church was formed, and that it where the church should be and if it's not about that, it's about nothing at all."


I saw this soldier walk up to the wailing wall.

losing a bible in the holy land

I lost my bible in the Holy Land. That sounds like the beginning of a joke, but I really did lose my bible somewhere near Nazereth. I was ticked at first, but now that just sounds too perfect. I went to the Holy Land and lost my bible.

So I've been on this mission to find another bible to use for the remainder of the trip. I'd been going through the Gospels prior to and wanted to complete them while I'm here.

I have had the most difficult time finding one. I have easily been to 10-15 stores in search of a bible. I'd even settle with the King James version at this point. So I went to church this morning and asked following the service if I could have a bible because I had lost mine. I offered some money, but they told me that it wasn't policy to allow bibles to be purchased or taken from their church.

Maxwell was there when I asked and was really ticked off that they said no. We went on our own for the remainder of the day and got to talking about it this evening. He thought it was madness, at which I pulled out a bible I had stolen from the church. He couldn't stop laughing. I promise to return it. I just want to read some scripture while I'm here, can you blaim a guy?

There are so many sermons I could pull from this simple tale it's not even funny.

Damascus Gate

I sat on the stone steps with my camera as I have done every day since I arrived. It's a mere hundred yards from our hotel.
Damascus Gate is one of 8 entrances to the Old City, each dating to various periods ranging from 1000 bc when Solomon built the first Temple, to 1572 when the Ottomans had control of the Holy Land.

This is the finest theater in Jerusalem, and I didn't want to let go. All the characters in the drama of conflict were portrayed here in the swirling throngs, and I needed somehow to see them with a fresh eye, to watch them through a telephoto lens and focus on their faces, one by one, instant after instant, and then to put the camera aside for a while and soak up the sensations of sight and sound that have now become part of me.

It is the center of conflicting absolutes, of certainty, of righteousness. Its lofty refinement of intellect and theology has given enlightenment to its violence, mixing the knowledge of time into eternal bloodshed. I'm slowly falling in love with this city.

One of the things I am doing is photographing the wall that has been put up over the last 5 years. I got this earlier today.

from today

I saw this man in an alley and the lighting was just perfect. The Old City at night is just luminous.
We were at Bethlehem University, an all Palestinian university. Here were some Muslim women I captured.
I thought this man's face had the map of the world.

PLC

It's fair to admit we were all very surprised by our meeting's fruitfulness. We met with Bernard, a Member of Parliament for the Palestinian Authority and an elected member of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC). We walked in and he immediately stopped everything he was doing, an added sacrifice given he had just arrived home from a peace conference in Italy with various members of the diplomatic community, including a former Italian Prime Minister.

It was an amazing 2 hours. He shared very openly about the current situation in Gaza, the West Bank, the walls being built by Israel and a whole host of other subjects that were overwhelming to hear firsthand. He put us in contact with a number of people, including meeting the staff of Betheleham University and a Israeli Member of Parliament. I think it's safe to say that we all have felt a sense of being out of our league, most of all myself, though I am playing the least amount of significance in these matters. I am however delighted to be a part of such enriching dialogue.

We met Bernard, his wife and daughter this evening in a really tasty Palestianian restaurant. They were so gracious, they paid for our dinners. Bernard and his family are one of three Christian's in the Fatah Party. Part of his job involves heading up humanitarian aid projects to refugees in camps throughout the West Bank and Gaza. He's truly an amazing man.

His daughter is working for World Vision, a Christian non-profit organization that focuses on development aid. There is so much to say and write about, not sure where to start and end.

We leave for Betheleham tomorrow morning for the day. I'll be taking pictures of the wall that is being built, as well as Maxwell meeting with various staff and students at the University.
A shot I got this evening, with the Dome of the Rock in the background in the Old City.

local food

Maxwell, a typical journalist, doesn't like to eat at the tourist locations. So the last few nights we've ventured into unknown territory. Tonight we headed for a 30 minute walk to a restaurant recommended by some random arab man. Along the way, Maxwell decided to walk into an alley-way because there was a sketchy coffee shop he wanted to check out. Journalists obviously love to find stories, and they'll create one if they have to.

While there, some guys pulled up in a mercedes and offered to take us to our restaurant. Maxwell, in his suit and tie says yes. Now, coincidently enough there is another guy who has joined us. His name is Sean and was formely in the Special Forces in Britain (the highest level of combat training). He even turned the guys down because he had noticed a gun on the guy. So we kept walking through the alley with this guy's directions and it dead-ends into this dark, dirty area with run-down housing and a group of guys stopping conversation to watch us.

So we've got Maxwell in his suit and tie talking like a loud scotsman in a dark alley with a group of guys now interested in us, while our special forces friend is contemplating his next move. Meanwhile, my right pant-leg is starting to soil.

Lond story made short, the salmon was good.

oh yeah, we were ok.

western wall

The Western Wall, or simply The Kotel, is a retaining wall in Jerusalem that dates from the time of the Jewish Second Temple (516 BCE - 70 CE). It is sometimes referred to as the Wailing Wall, referring to Jews mourning the destruction of the Temple. The Western Wall is part of the bigger religious site in the Old City of Jerusalem called the Temple Mount. The Western Wall is revered for its proximity to the sacred Holy of Holies on the Temple Mount, which is the Most Holy Place in Judaism. This means that for Jews the Western Wall is the holiest location that is currently generally accessible to the Jewish people for prayer.

At any hour, Jewish men and women can be found praying at the wall, which is actually a large outdoor synagogue. Many foreign heads of state who visit Israel come to the Wall out of their respect for its significance to the Land of Israel and world Jewry. The Western Wall continues to have a powerful hold on the devotion of Jews all over the world. Over the decades, millions have come as tourists and pilgrims to be able to touch the Wall with their hands and feel the sanctity that is said to emanate from it.

surreal

In most cities of the world, the first to wake are the servants and workers and merchants-. But in Jerusalem it is the pious who greet the dawn. Muslims, Jews, and Christians who sacrifice sleep for prayer. Their calls and chants in the eerie half light of the Old City mingle in an overlapping minor key like separate strains of the same melody.
This was our first experience following a strenuous interogation at customs and arrival at 3am. We got to the Damascus Gate at 5:30 am, just as the sun was rising over the Old City. We were walking for a bit and looked to discover we were walking on the via delarosa, the pathway that Christ walked as he carried the cross. I really can't descibe the feeling at 5:30 am, with most of the city still asleep to find ourselves stepping back 2000 years.
We had a productive day. Besides being completely delerious from travels, we visited much of the Old City. I will be heading up to Nazereth, the Jordan River, and Capernaum tomorrow for the day. We're meeting up with our contact on Thursday, and will venture into Tiberius, Ramallah, Gaza and Bethleham over the coming days.
Surreal. Absolutely surreal right now.

onward

The nice thing about international travel is you have plenty of time to think. I was listening to a song just now and, well, it got me thinking.

I love this one line and it keeps coming back to me: "I'm standing on the edge of me."

I suppose the emotions are heightened right now, but I was reflecting and praying this: I want to stand just on the edge of myself, and peer out into the endless expanse of possibilities that You make available to those who are willing to push and seek for more of what it means to follow You. I was tired of the mundane Christian walk that I emulated. I was tired of believing that this was all the Lord had to offer me. That person is all but dead in me, and I sit here in the terminal at London Heathrow saying with all my heart, "thy will be done."

I love living this chaotic, adventurous life that's oddly shaped and pieced together. Most laugh about it, and I join in the laughter.

I sit here filled with thoughts about Scotland, Eikon, the Holy Land, and beginning to think about the future. I keep hearing an inaudible voice saying, "I've got so much more. Keep going."

onward.

2 years

I remember our 1-year anniversary. We went out for Thai food on Rose street and then met Tony and Yvonne at Calton Hill to celebrate. We couldn't believe it'd already been a year.

This year, well, we're unfortunately celebrating apart. I'm sitting in the Heathrow Airport awaiting my next flight while I'm imagining Kate is at home fast asleep from her flight back from Washington DC.

It's been an adventurous 2 years, that's for sure. We have spent the bulk of our marriage overseas. I wouldn't trade our experiences for the world and look forward with great anticipation towards the many more years of adventures we'll embark on.

joyanna

Kate and I were talking with some people following service at NCC and a woman came walking up to us with a glint in her eye. She asked if we were Dave and Kate Schmidgall. She had recognized us from our blog and told us she'd been following Eikon since we started. JoyAnna had missed the NCC missions conference last year that we had attended just before leaving for Scotland. When somebody had mentioned us, she checked us out and has been following since.

It was one of those moments that gave me an instant rush. When you're doing work overseas, it's the small expressions of support or excitement from others that really energizes you. It's hard to describe, having someone you don't know walking up to you and feeling like they know you because they've been following this ministry and our lives for the past year. It was a boost though. I thought to myself, "so she's the one who's been reading the blog."

JoyAnna Neiner, thanks so much for your support. You need to come along to Edinburgh when the NCC staff makes their way out in May '08.

You really lifted us today.

NCC

Hit up National Community Church this morning. I love this church. I love their locationS, I love their values, their staff. They just got it going on. Had the joy of hangin with my cousin and point pastor Joel and his wife Nina, along with lead pastor Mark and Lora Batterson, and my Aunt Karen over the weekend. It's always guarranteed laughter when we get together.

We talked about Buzz Europe in May. They are planning on bringing their staff over to Edinburgh for a conference for church planters in Europe. It's exciting starting to talk about the plans for the conference.

They are doing a series called "the Elephant in the Church." It's an old idiom that speaks of obvious truths people avoid. It's about the big issues in church that most church's aren't willing to talk about or simply avoid. This morning was on the Apocalypse. Dangerous territory, but really enjoyed his thoughts this morning. I wanted to see him try to cover the Apocalypse in 30 minutes. I follow his podcast diligently, so it was nice to see a service in the flesh.

Inspiring.

jerusalem

I haven't really said anything about this yet, but I'm about to take off this evening from Washington DC for Jerusalem for a few weeks. I'll be traveling with my landlord, who is also a journalist, as the photographer to track down a few stories. We will be traveling into Gaza to connect with a Palestinian MP. He'll get us through checkpoints most westerners would be unable to get through.

I'll be posting more on this, but thought I'd throw it out there and ask for your prayers. It's always an exciting and a little tense traveling into the region.

I'm flying to London tonight, will have a 10 hour layover, then fly to Brussels with a 5 hour layover, then on to Tel Aviv, arriving Tuesday morning at 2am.

So pumped.

The Lahr's

Had a blast shooting my cousin Amanda and Matt's wedding here in Washington DC. It was like a family reunion around here. My brother, sister and parent's all flew in for the event, along with the other family members already in town. So FUN!

I got to do pictures in the Senate Building's Rotunda where they do a lot of press conferences. The reception ended up overlooking the Lincoln Memorial, Washinton Monument and Capital. Unbelievable time and couldn't have been happier for my cousin.

DC

Off to Washington DC for a few days to photograph my cousin Amanda's wedding. Kate and I are pretty excited to get away for a few days, especially when it's Washington DC.

what do you think

Kate designed our new Open Mic logo, what do you think?

Church is a party

Had a great small group this evening. We focused on why we find church important? What's the point? What are the signs you look for in a healthy, growing missional church?
We looked at Jesus' parable of the Great Feast found in Luke 14. If you break it down, Jesus is basically saying the Church should be like a party. That ran along this quote I came across a while back:

"The Church has nothing to say to the world, until it can throw better parties."

This German student that has recently been attending Eikon comes from a Catholic background, so when she got our flyer during student week that said "no perfect people allowed", she thought she'd try it out. The way we DO church is so different from what she's grown accustomed to. It was a joy to listen to her impressions and what it is about church that is important to her.

It really is an important question. I threw out a hypothetical to the group: if someone you meet around town asks why you go to church, can you give a thoughtful response? If we're going, we need to know why we're going.

If you had a clean slate, what kind of church would you create? I had a brief recollection of a year ago, when our small team was sitting in a room, actually living that out: having been called to start a church with a blank canvas. What were we going to do?

life change

is the new 4-part series that we're diving into. I saw some more new faces this morning. It feels like 3/4 of our group have been coming only for the last month and a half. I think the new location has really been a catalyst.

One of the guys that has recently been coming is Dave, a middle-aged man who is a skilled joiner (carpenter). At the end we began talking about how we can maximize the space. I loved hearing him share, with great enthusiasm, some ideas he had been stewing on during the gathering. I'm getting ahead of myself a little, but the pattern is suggesting we'll outgrow our current set-up sooner than later. With the utilization of the old Adventist church stage, we'll be able to fit another 30 or 40 people comfortably. I love stepping out and preparing and expecting growth.

A key we've discovered with planting a church is staying on offense. We're learning to anticipate this continual growth pattern by forming a structure that really is designed for more people than we currently have. Trying to keep a step or two ahead (fully understanding the inconsistent hickups along the way) has provided some stability to this often unstable time of a starting church.

huge potential

There are a lot of musicians in this city, all of whom are always on the lookout for opportunities to perform. There is an open mic night almost every night of the week.

We decided to launch an Eikon Open Mic Night. We believe this has the potential to be the best open mic venue in the city! Here's why we think so:

-Almost all the open mic nights in the city are in pubs. They're cozy, that's for sure. But they're not really distinct.

-We just purchased, with your help, an amazing sound system. It's equiped with everything wireless, including mics and instrument packs.

-We are using a Hall. It's a cross between a concert hall and a cozy cafe. Musicians literally have a chance to perform under amazing acoustic conditions, professional lighting, and in front of a good-sized crowd.

-Our MC, Darren, is one of our worship leaders. He focuses his ministry on the art and music community in the city. He's been connected to the open mic circuit for the past year and has made great initial inroads.

-We're going to provide videos for performers to upload and watch online, as well as photographs of their performance.

-We're adding in artists. We'll be providing blank canvasses where artists can come in and paint or draw during the performances. We already have a number of artists committed for our next Open Mic in November.

Our first night blew us out of the water. It was supposed to be from 8-10, but we had so many musicians show up, we ended up going until almost midnight.

Towards the end of the evening, a famous local musician showed up and was the last act in the evening. So cool!

The Lord has really challenged us to reflect on and pray: Who is God calling us to reach that nobody else is reaching?

There are a number of us that have a passion for serving and loving the art and music community in this city. There is such a need for this!

Please, I beg you, pray for our Open Mic Nights. We're sensing tremendous potential.

Our next one will be November 14.

You can also check out the myspace that is a work in progress:

http://www.myspace.com/eikontheopenmic

starbucks

Kate and I raced up to Aberdeen after my lecture on tuesday evening. We were making our way to one of Radiate's most popular events for students: foyer events at Starbucks. We had heard a lot about it, we wanted to finally see what was going on.

Joe had got in contact with some managers at the main Starbucks in Aberdeen, just on Union street. He got the bright idea to see if they'd be interested in opening up the store just for Radiate to do events! The whole thing sounded absurb to me. I had doubts that they would even have a chance at a massive coffee chain willing to open up its doors to a student ministry.

The coffee drinking culture is extremely popular, but not at night. The Starbucks across from where we live on the main drag closes at 7pm. So the manager at the Starbucks in Aberdeen thought she would give it a try: open their doors for Radiate every other week during closing hours. That was 6 months ago.

Fast-forward. Starbucks is so happy with the events, they have said they can do it anytime they want at no charge. They label it as an event that assists local organizations that are doing good for the community.

Now, everytime they advertise their event, they put a Starbucks logo right next to their Radiate logo! One could only imagine the added legitimacy when they have one of the most recognized logos in the world being their sponsor.

Pretty amazing, actually.

good commercial

I battle with this thought all the time: If we only had more resources, then we could ______. We don't have enough resources to do this, or be the church we could be because we don't have enough people.

I was reading something the other day: "You have everything you need to reach the people that God wants you to reach. When you don't have everything that someone else has, it will drive you to innovate."

-"Limited resources + increasing passion = exponential innovation."


This type of commercial reminds me of that. Project Scotland is a non-profit organization with very limited funds, but this is by far one of the most popular commercials out here right now. I can't imagine how minimal the cost was for this.

if you're in Edinburgh.......

check out our Open Mic Night. Should be a good time this wednesday.

newsletter sign-up

What up y'all (a little shout out to my southern state friends.)

Just wanted to encourage everyone to go to our "Support Us" page and sign up for the e-newsletter. It's gonna be rediculous: coupons to super-cuts, free chocolate, a trip to edinburgh by boat raffle, and so much more!

Well, actually, none of those. But you'll get to read and see pictures of recent happenings.....hey, I can promise it's better than spam.

Tony's Thoughts

This was from the Eikon blog that Tony maintains, thought it was well said:

"We opened up the doors to Eikon's new location ( a room above an Edinburgh Community Arts Cafe called The Forest) for our first Sunday gathering this weekend.The turn out was a 60/40% mix of regulars and visitors.

What is becoming increasingly obvious to us (as it is no doubt to all city churches) is that ministering in a city brings with it a whole new set of challenges. Cities by their very nature are places where people come to do rather than to be to get rather than to give. Doing and being church in this environment brings with it the exciting challenge of being a 'good news community' in the midst of a city community that is in a constant state of flux. Edinburgh, like all cities is a place with a heady mixture of those who have chosen to make the city their home and those who are 'just passing through'. The community that make up Eikon has been a reflection of that phenomenon of 'stayers 'and 'visitors' . What has been up to now a fairly consistent flow of 'Eikon temps' have brought with them the challenge for Eikon to be a place, where regardless of how long people stay with us, they will not fail to meet with the challenge that Jesus calls all of us to and hopefully in the process find their lives changed for the better after being among us."

welcome to the first gathering

Network Groups

We started our "network groups" this week. Pretty excited to roll them out. We've been eagerly awaiting the proper time to begin the various groups. Having moved into a new location, coupled with University starting and a wave of new participants in our sunday gatherings, the timing was right.

It was a big win for us. We had a high percentage of people, particularly a lot of new people sign up. Tony did a good job pushing it this past sunday, so we were all pretty astonished to see all the names that were signed up at the end of the gathering.

Tony and Yvonne are doing Eikon 1.0, which looks at the 5 core values of Eikon. It's great for the newcomers at Eikon to learn and discuss the philosophy of how and why we do church. Myself and Kate are running a group built around nooma videos, which are in short-film format that are essentially modern-day parables. Mike and Claire are running an Alpha Course.

Had a great first night with our group. Some german exchange students came along after checking out Eikon yesterday, which was pretty cool.

Tonight we explored the question: why does God answer one person's prayer and not the others. It was lively.