"I love Jesus too."

Last week, I visited the house of Wala'a, the friend I met on the Beit Sahour bus. I felt instantly at home when I entered her house and met her family. It is rare for me to feel so comfortable right away when meeting people, but there was just something about her family that made me feel at ease and like I had known them forever. As always, we were fed a feast. Wala's sister heaped a giant mound of stuffed grape leaves on my plate, along with bread and pickled vegetables. And, as always, I managed to finish my entire plate. I will never get over how great the food is here. This was on Ash Wednesday, so we had to leave their house only one hour after getting there so we could make it to the church service. Wala's family is Muslim, and as we were explaining the significance of Ash Wednesday to them, her mother said, "I wish I could go with you tonight. I love Jesus too." This was really touching to hear. I think many Christians assume that Muslims don't have anything to do with Jesus, but in Islam, Jesus is a respected teacher. It is good to be reminded of all the similarities in religions.
This week, we took the kindergarten on a tour around the center of Beit Sahour to visit different professions, because they are learning about different careers. We passed a mosque and, in an attempt to figure out the word in Arabic, I pointed to it and asked the little boy next to me what it was. He replied, "Yesua" (Jesus). Maybe he was just confused, but I think maybe there was something more to his response. I wish we were all a little more like children and able to see God and Jesus in more than just Christianity. God is definitely not limited to the Christian church.