I miss you all!

Hi everybody! I'm hijacking Suzannah's sign in because I can't write logs myself (if someone can get me permissions, that'd be great!). I want you all to know how much I miss being in your presence. I've finally gotten around to checking the blog, and it is so good to be hearing what all of you are up to.

Suz and I are still in Seattle, working off our (well, my) school loans. We're both in the non-profit world: She with an org. providing family services and healthcare to the uninsured and me working at shelters and subsidized housing projects in the downtown area. We're both on the search for new jobs, but as with others, we've been struck by how hard it is to find good jobs! And more than that, knowing what direction to take. Suz and I both want to go back to the Middle East, but in what capacity? It's a huge challenge, this introspective process of discernment.

We recently had the opportunity to attend the Living Stones conference here in Seattle focusing specifically on Palestinian Christians and generally on the Pal/Israeli conflict. I didn't realize how prevalent nonviolence was among Christians in the Holy Land. All four of the Pal Christian panelists had been raised to believe that nonviolence is the only way to resolve conflict, and they represent the rule, not the exception. Get four Christians from the US in a panel and I suspect 3.9 of them profess faith in some sort of just war theory. Interesting, huh? One factoid among many from a powerful conference.

Before I sign out, I wanted to see if there was still interest for Suz and I to share about our experience in the West Bank after the MESP semester concluded. We never found the time to put life on hold long enough to truly share adequately about our experience to you all. Let us know...

With lots 'o love,
Matt