Fostering peace and justice in Israel and Palestine through education.

February 2021

editor: brenda@pilgrimsofibillin.org • pilgrimsofibillin.org

Dear Fellow Pilgrims and Friends, Thank you to everyone who supported the work of Pilgrims of Ibillin in 2020. It was a challenging year for everyone, and Pilgrims was not exempt from those challenges. In addition to adjusting the work of our board in the absence of in-person meetings, we also adjusted the programming of Pilgrims as a result of the cancellation of pilgrimages. Then we had to adjust again as we said goodbye to an executive director and invited one of our own, Brenda Mehos, to be our interim executive director. Finally, we welcomed a new group of directors. Their addition during this pandemic means that 2/3 of our board has never met in person! Things to celebrate in the midst of our change and loss   And yet...and yet. Like so many people and organizations, we have found things to celebrate in the midst of all of our change and loss.  Pilgrims hosted our first ever WEBINAR on May 30th — and then hosted three more — all with our peace partners. These events were the first time we were able to bring some of our partner voices to their friends in the United States.  Webinars also reached new people with whom we had never been in contact.  Our transition in executive leadership has resulted in a board that now knows far more about the work of our executive director than we ever did before.  We also saw an increase in individual donations and in the number of donors.  And most important of all, we found ourselves in the position of making a demonstrable impact on the work of our partners at a time when they needed it most. From an increase in scholarship money to technology, capital improvements and undesignated funds, we sent far more money to Mar Elias and our Peace Partners than we have in recent years. You were part of that — thank you! We appreciate your continued support beyond finances. Executive Directory Search Begins  Our search for a new executive director will begin in February. Read executive director responsibilities. Do you know someone who might want to lead a niche, non-geographic non-profit? We will be doing more seminars. Do you know some people who might want to "travel" by way of online conversations? And our board is looking for new members. Do you know any lawyers, accountants and people with fundraising backgrounds? We could use a few. Again, thank you for your support of Pilgrims of Ibillin. You made a difference in the lives of students, teachers and people of Ibillin, Israel and Palestine. Be safe and well in 2021. Peter J. M. Henry President peter.henry@alum.ptsem.edu

Bequest of Jean Blackwell Hopson Benefits MEEI

A Final Gift Can Make a Lasting Impact A long-time friend of the Mar Elias Schools passed in 2017 and left an incredible gift. Remembered as generous and committed to making a difference, Jean Blackwell Hopson of Winston-Salem North Carolina left a total gift of $890,000 that went directly to MEEI through Pilgrims of Ibillin after her death. Her gift has provided many upgrades to the Mar Elias schools these past 3 years including not only the middle and high school buildings but also meeting and administrative spaces. Money from her bequest will fund a much-needed playground shelter in the outside kindergarten area this spring. Please consider Pilgrims of Ibillin and MEEI when planning your will!  It can leave a lasting impact. Jean’s passion for Mar Elias schools and students can be traced to her volunteer experience at MEEI back in 1998. After returning to Winston-Salem she formed a group called “Friendships with Palestinian Christians." Past Pilgrims of Ibillin executive directer Bob Sawyer recalls that Jean was passionate about justice for Palestinians. She wrote letters to the editor of the Winston-Salem Journal and left no doubt about her opinions whenever you had a conversation with her! Her friend Carol Vogler remembers her passion for the Palestinians and thought of her as a mentor on how to approach and speak on a topic that is often uncomfortable here in the U.S. Jean was a remarkable woman Jean Hopson traveled widely and earned her PhD in her 50’s. Her obituary is below. Contact Brenda Mehos (brenda@pilgrimsofibillin.org or call 303-928-0923) if you would like to leave a gift to Pilgrims of Ibillin and MEEI in your will. WINSTON-SALEM 11/18/1929 - 04/25/2017 Jean Blackwell Hopson, 87, was born in Tennessee. Her spirit of generosity and her commitment to "making a difference" in the lives of many led her to teaching, here in the US and abroad. She spent many years in China, Japan, and Kosovo. Jean was instrumental in establishing the library at the Babcock School of Management at Wake Forest University, where she worked for twenty years in the capacity of Librarian, Registrar and Assistant Dean. While working at Babcock, Jean went on to get her MBA in 1973 and her doctorate at Vanderbilt University. She devoted her last years to the Palestinian cause. She made several trips to Ibillin, helping the existing school and enabling it to expand into a University. She had numerous interests. She travelled extensively. She loved music and was also a fine horticulturist. She was predeceased by her parents and one sister. She was well integrated in the community where she lived. Friends will miss her, and, as spring and summer unfold, will look for her in the garden she turned into a gem.

Peace Partner Father Firas Diab – Catholic School in Zababdeh

Pilgrims of Ibillin provides scholarships to the Catholic school in Zababdeh and for Father Firas Diab's job creation program. Abuna Firas’ story was featured recently in an American Catholic Journal. Father Firas told me in a recent e-mail that he wants people to know that he does not have freedom of movement not only to Israel but even inside his homeland of Palestine. He does not have a permit to allow him to travel to monthly meetings with other priests in Israel, to meet with his bishop to tell him about his church or his people. His school and work projects are his way of peaceful resistance. He thanks us for building peace and hope.

Father Firas Diab

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A day in the life of a Melkite priest in occupied Palestine This morning he was very tired after celebrating the Liturgy for his community in Zababdeh and then driving to Nablus passing through several Israeli checkpoints on the way. Nablus is about 20 miles away, but the drive can take hours depending on the check-points and the deteriorating condition of the road. He returned home to Zababdeh around 9 p.m. His Khouriyea suggested he go and pick up some olives from his grandfather’s olive trees, but he was tired so he said “no.” However, he relented, changed his clothes and prepared to pick them up. He returned with the olives and got ready to retire for the evening. At 11 p.m. he received a phone call from the bishop’s office telling him that a driver would be at the border in one hour to give him his monthly salary. He dressed and prepared to drive to the border crossing which is about 40 minutes away. Upon approaching the border he stopped his car and put on his black robe. This proved to be a mistake because the soldier standing nearby was carefully observing all his movements. Father Firas walked to the main gate but the soldier stopped him. Fear began to overwhelm him as he remembered that a doctor was killed by the occupation army at that very spot some time ago. The priest walked a short distance and noticed a taxi coming from the other direction. The taxi stopped by the soldier and greeted him as if he knew him. He told the soldier that he wanted to give the blue envelope he had with him to the priest who was standing nearby. The soldier said “No!” The taxi driver begged the soldier just to leave the envelope on the rock next to him where the priest could pick it up and leave. “No!” said the soldier again. The soldier insisted that the priest go to the gate and be processed through the check-point. This system of harassment can take hours. Once on the other side he could meet the taxi driver who had no permit to enter the occupied territory. Soon a man with a Jeep arrived and offered to drive through the border crossing, pick up the envelope and come back for 50 shekels (about $15). Father said “shukran (thank you), but no.” He was thinking that the man could cross the border, pick up the money and then disappear and his monthly salary would be lost. This month, no food, no school tuition he reasoned. Then he received a call from the taxi driver informing that a man is going to cross on foot and bring the envelope. He will be wearing a blue t-shirt. So, Father said okay and waited at the crossing. A minute passed, then two minutes and then 10 minutes. The priest was panicking. The money had been lost. Suddenly a bearded young man in a blue shirt appeared. “Are you the priest?” he asked. He handed over the envelope. Yes, now there would be food for the family, thanks be to God. On the way back to Zababdeh, in the middle of the night, he mused, “If only people knew how much the occupation controls our lives, how Israelis and Americans think that we are terrorists, and how everyone considers us to be serious security risks.” Tears began to roll down his cheeks. It’s nearly sunrise when he returns and finally is able to sleep. † This story is base on testimony from Father Elias Diab, pastor of St. George Melkite Parish in Zababdeh, Occupied Palestine. Reprinted with permission from SOPHIA - Winter 2021

Why I Serve on the Pilgrims Board

Vice President Rev. Dr. Lucy Forster-Smith has served since 2018 as Senior Associate Pastor for Leadership Development and Adult Education at Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago. Previously she was Sedgwick Chaplain to the University and former Senior Minister in the Memorial Church on the Harvard University campus. Lucy speaks here about why she serves on our board.   A privilege through and through   The invitation came to me as a surprise. I was in the living room of Dr. Duncan Ferguson, a colleague and mentor. Both of us Presbyterians and both of us educators, we had walked down many roads together, holding our passion for the life of the mind and the life of the spirit in college and universities. So that evening when Duncan held forth on his support and deep commitment to the Mar Elias School in Israel and his deep conviction that its work of educating young people as a work of justice and peace in that area of the world caught my imagination. I had actually visited Mar Elias on one of several trips I had taken to Israel/Palestine. I had hosted Abuna Chacour at a point very early in my career as a college chaplain at Carroll College. I was touched and stirred up by his book, Blood Brothers. So, that evening, when Dr. Ferguson mentioned the Board he then chaired as a place that I might serve…if the way were clear, I simply held the door open if an invitation came.   I spent 36 years of my life as a Presbyterian minister in college and university chaplaincy. The campuses on which I served, both private and public campuses including a community college in Washington State had students from all of the USA and the world. My students were often my teachers. Students I knew had endured trials and horrors I could not imagine, especially to have lived through their teen years approaching their 20s. One student told the story of being admitted to the college where I worked with little hope of ever getting there. He was living in Gaza in Israel. But he was able to be smuggled out in the trunk of a car and managed to come to this college. Other students hailed Israel as their home. Having the opportunity, often, the first time for many of them, to encounter Palestinians who were students at the same university…to simply get to know each other, drop prejudice and see the humanity in the other…well, I’ll say it simply washed me with joy and deep hope.   Why do I serve on this Board? If I can serve to support even a tiny opening for peace and generous vision for our world’s future through Pilgrims, that will be enough.

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Board of Directors 2021

Rev. Dr. Peter Henry President  Rev. Dr. Lucy Forster-Smith Vice President Ms. Sarah Morgan Secretary Kip Nickel Consultant & Treasurer

Haifa Bautista Rev. Don Brown Rev. Gail Doering Rev. Mary Sue Dreier Ms. Rima Kawas Dr. Lamontte Luker Ms. Judy Masserang

Dr. Brenda Mehos Rev. Bobby Morris Rev. Susan Mozena Ms. Wren Shealy Rev. Dr. James Thomas Rev. Anne Weirich

Brenda Mehos Interim Executive Director Pilgrims of Ibillin (303) 928-0923 brenda@pilgrimsofibillin.org www.pilgrimsofibillin.org