Leadership Fellows Global Awareness Trip to Israel-Palestine
After their third year in the Leadership Fellows Program, HELM fellows participate in a Global Awareness trip. The destinations vary, but the goals are always the same: that fellows would learn about faithful accompaniment in our interconnected world and engage in conversations around authentically and effectively walking in solidarity with Christians and DOC partners around the world. This year, we saw our students deeply engaged in both the immediacy and the long, tenuous story of Israel-Palestine. Seven fellows, along with HELM’s President, Board Chair, and Program Coordinator spent six days learning and growing together under the guidance of Dr. Peter Makari in Global Ministries. Especially meaningful were the opportunities to hear real-life stories of Palestinians today, learning how we might be able to walk alongside them in solidarity and in hope. The group returned to the US with full hearts, and their own stories to share. Please meet our fellows below and hear what they found most vital and life-changing throughout their Global Awareness trip.
Katie Varon
I was previously aware of Palestine’s occupation, but I had no idea the extent of the inhumanity and injustice done to them, and I am so grateful to HELM, Global Ministries, and the Church for showing us this perspective of the Holy Land. It feels impossible not to talk about, and it feels equally impossible to feel satisfied with just one conversation.
I am much more aware of the geographic, structural, and institutional forms of violence, in addition to the literal violence. The existence of settlements, the need for permits, the Canadian trees, the checkpoints and movement restrictions, the wall around Bethlehem, the lack of money for Universities and community centers— everything is negatively impacted by occupation.
Sara Wilson
The thing that most changed me was the personal connection that I had with people who live this reality every day. I cannot unhear each person’s story that we heard. I cannot unsee the destroyed homes and bullet holes in the buildings. I cannot unlearn the history or the current situation that Palestinians are experiencing daily. I will never fully understand the hurt, pain, loss, suffering, struggle, hope, or fear that they endure as individuals or a community, but I can do my best to understand, learn, listen, share their stories, and uplift their voices so that they can be heard. I feel the responsibility to make known what is being filtered and hidden from the people outside of Israel-Palestine.
Dylan Wyly
What I witnessed on the ground in Palestine was not at all what I had heard from the media, institutions, or my close inner circle. I witnessed not a conflict or war, but instead an oppressive apartheid regime doing everything in its power to silently control, humiliate, and erase Palestinian people and their culture. I will never forget the experience I had on my visit. I will never forget the Palestinians we talked to who would freely share endless stories of the oppression that they face every single day.
Sophia Patchin
Because of this life-changing trip, I have a deeper understanding of my personal faith, and I have a greater knowledge of the Palestinian reality and ways we can help them here in the US. My biggest take away is seeing the hope in individuals despite the unimaginable injustices they face every single day. How beautiful would it be if these individuals could have hope and love in a just world instead of in an unjust world?
Eli Baldwin
As a future teacher, I was excited to visit a school one day. The kids were so happy and excited to see some new faces. They danced with us, gave us high fives, and made us give them lots of piggyback rides. After we left, it really sunk into me how genuinely happy these kids, and even the adults were, even living in the terrible conditions that they do. These displaced Palestinians have been stripped of their homes, denied access to basic human rights, and constantly live in fear of being attacked or killed by Israeli military officers, yet they were some of the most kind and loving people I’ve ever met.
They just want to be treated like human beings. They want peace, and an end to the suffering, violence, and the oppression they face every day. We often hear media outlets make claims that Palestinians are raising their children in hatred and teaching them to be terrorists, but this is the furthest thing from the truth. When I was interacting with the children, all I felt was love.
Even among the kids, they are ready for a change, and I think they know kindness and love are what help create peace. I want to help change the narrative that people have towards Palestinians, especially Palestinian refugees, and children. I want to help the world see that Palestinians are not terrorists or fueled by hatred; they are human beings, who hold an unbelievable amount of love in their hearts.
Abby Bender
While seeing the Holy Land and visiting the historic and biblical sites I have learned about since I was a child was a breathtaking experience, meeting people from Palestine will always be what I remember from this trip. What has changed the most in my head and in my heart since coming home is knowing how much the Palestinian people are hurting and just want to live in their homes without fear of being thrown in jail or killed by Israeli military. We in the United States are very lucky that we live in a place where we do not have to think about what would happen to us for simply speaking out against our government or not obeying military officers as they forcibly take our land for their own gain.
Maci Mazza-Fredley
So much of what I had already seen and heard about this ongoing “conflict” does not even scratch the surface of the realities taking place in Israel-Palestine. Human rights violations, disregard for international law, and apartheid are affecting the lives of millions of people living in Palestine. After witnessing such egregious atrocities, it is clear that the rest of the world needs to know the truth about what the Israeli occupation is doing to Palestinian families and communities.
Something I will always carry with me is the love that Palestinians have for their communities. So many asked us to “share our stories when you go back home.” The truth about what is happening daily in Palestine is something we as global leaders now carry in our hearts and minds forever. We can never un-see and un-hear what we have. We can never un-experience the love and acceptance we were shown when going into vulnerable spaces, refugee camps, and holy sites. I will never forget the names of those who told us their stories. It is now up to us to share their stories with those around us, and hopefully one day, see the end of this humanitarian catastrophe.